Diesel Connect Recap: Recruiting Without Breaking the Bank

Jay Goninen began his Diesel Connect presentation with an embarrassing story.

Like many embarrassing stories, this one involves the San Diego Padres.

(Editor’s Note: This is a heavy-duty repair blog, not a Padres-bashing blog, but Suz has some beef with them and is from San Diego, so…I’ll allow it.)

The Co-Founder and President of WrenchWay had arrived in Phoenix early, and decided to bring his son to Chase Field to watch the Diamondbacks take on the beachcombing invaders. One of the Padres was coming in from the field and tossed the ball he was carrying up into the stands.

Aha! A magic moment! Jay stuck his hand out, thinking he’d catch the ball for his son.

At the last second, he glanced to the left and saw another man also angling to catch the ball, which ended up bouncing off Jay’s hand. It eventually landed a few rows down in the hands of another father-son duo.

Jay turned to his son. “I’m sorry, buddy,” he said.

“Dad,” his son replied, “you took your eye off the ball!”

Whoops.

Still, it wasn’t a lost cause. Jay started thinking about the talk he was slated to give at Diesel Connect and realized taking his eye off the ball ran parallel to the current issues the industry faces with recruiting and retaining technicians. “You see that ball coming down at you, you know that this is an issue, but it’s really easy to take your eye off the ball and look elsewhere*, right?” he asked the crowd that assembled for Diesel Connect. ““It’s really easy to have the daily fires take over, and it makes it really, really tough to prioritize this really, really important thing.”

We’re embedding the video of Jay’s presentation in this post, so you’ll be able to see everything he’s talking about (and hear the extended version of the Padres story). But if you’re a bit pressed for time, you can read the recap with some of our favorite takeaways right here.

WHO ARE TODAY’S DIESEL TECHS & WHAT DO THEY WANT IN AN EMPLOYER?

Since you’re all loyal readers of this blog, you know that Jay is a semi-frequent guest star, often providing insights about hiring techs and keeping them around. You also know WrenchWay recently released the results of their first-ever Voice of Technician survey, which you’ve probably already read, yes? If not, you should read it right now. Seriously. Go do that, then come back. We’ll wait.
You back? OK.

The VoT results indicate a workplace that’s primarily male and, erm, how to put this nicely? Getting a little longer in the tooth. We’ve talked at length about the need for younger people (and Jay covered that as well in a recent Shop Owner Roundtable!), so we won’t linger too much on it here—just know that getting young folks into the industry remains important.

But to attract techs, you need to know what they want in a place of employment. Jay provided some good information around that, and in short:

The modern diesel technician wants good equipment. They want shops to help them continue their training and upskilling. They want to be treated well—like the professionals they are. Paid vacation would be nice. You know what else would be nice? For shops to either get them tools or help them get their tools.

This, Jay acknowledged, might be a little shocking to shop owners.

“As this next generation comes up, they might not be so open to having to supply all their own tools,” he warned.

Yes, friends, we’re talking about Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

“I know it’s a lot,” he added, “so … it might not be the most realistic thing in the world … Sit down with your technicians and say, hey, we’re considering this. We want to make sure that we’re taking care of you. What could we do better on the tool front?”

SO, HOW CAN SHOPS IMPROVE THEIR HIRING PROCESS?

We know you’re all reading this because you want to recruit like you’ve never recruited before. Well, friends, rejoice! Jay had a lot of advice on that topic. Here’s five things you can do right now:

Make recruiting a priority. This is the area where too many shops emulate the Padres and take their eye off the ball. These shops want to recruit and hire, just like the Padres want to win a World Series. They really, really do!

But there are approximately ten thousand things to do per day in any given repair operation. That’s not counting all the tiny (metaphorical) fires that might break out while you’re just trying to go about your business. Shop owners get distracted. They take their eye off the ball.

(The Padres, meanwhile, have no excuse.)

Jay encouraged attendees to take recruiting a little more seriously. Put a meeting on the calendar once a month and talk staffing with your leadership team. Think about who might be up for promotion or who might want to specialize in something. Figure out where you’re shorthanded, where you might soon be shorthanded, and what kind of hiring you’d like to do. Do you have an older tech with an eye on retirement in the next five years? The time to find a youngster and start the knowledge transfer is now—not five years from now.

Even if you aren’t hiring someone every month, keeping recruitment and staffing top of mind will cement it as an essential part of your business.

Improve job descriptions. Who’s seen ads like this? “Family-owned company hiring a rockstar tech. Must have 10 years of experience. Benefits, competitive pay. Apply at XYZ.”

Yeah, dude, those don’t get you anywhere anymore. Talk about your shop. Explain exactly what benefits are involved. Share pay. “Including the salary can be a really, really uncomfortable thing,” Jay acknowledged. But the more transparency we have in this business, the better!

Get on social media! Up to 75% of technicians are not looking for a job at this very moment. Rather, they’re open to new opportunities, and if your shop keeps crossing their social media…well, you’re staying top of mind, aren’t you? (It works for wooing customers, too, which is why Fullbay and our pals at Dieselmatic encourage a social media presence.)

But go beyond “We’re hiring” posts. Show techs why your shop is an awesome place to work! Post content they care about! Show them you’ve built a great team in a great facility, and that you guys know what you’re doing. Let techs get to know you over social before you start slapping up “Join our merry team!” posts.

Clean up your hiring process. Want to get around the tech shortage? Don’t make techs jump through seven hoops and watch the Padres blow a seven-run lead to apply at your shop.

This happens more than you think. Jay recalled a WrenchWay client who required applicants to take a half-hour assessment before even being allowed to apply. “Of course they weren’t getting candidates,” he said. A complicated pre-hiring process isn’t a great look—if there’s chaos before getting hired, what’s it going to be like after they’re hired?

Have you ever walked through your shop’s application process? Are you sure the forms work and are being delivered to a functioning email? Do you have a turnaround time (“We’ll contact you within two days”) stated on the form? If any of the answers to those questions are no, get crackin’.

Build relationships with schools. Making friends with local high schools and trade schools can absolutely help you build a technician pipeline…but you do actually have to make friends. “I think one of the frustrations that a lot of the schools have is that a lot of shops will show up at graduation time asking for their graduates,” Jay said, pointing out that some shop owners will absolutely do that.

Build a relationship with a school. Find out where you can help them. Do they need parts? Maybe you have parts. Maybe you can send over a tech and an engine and do a teardown for the students. Maybe they need funding.

“I know there’s a lot more automotive programs and diesel programs at the high school level, but the amount of budget cuts that they’re facing right now is debilitating,” Jay said. “If we show up, and we know when that instructor is struggling, and when they’re really having to have these tough conversations with administration, if we can be visible and present and help them out, we can really, really make a difference here.”

CHECK OUT WRENCHWAY!

There was a lot more in Jay’s presentation that we think you’ll find fascinating—including recruiting trends, setting up a job shadowing program, and even answering audience questions. You’ll definitely want to watch the whole replay, so plan on setting aside about an hour—and maybe getting ready to line dance, too (you’ll understand after you watch it!).

You can also visit WrenchWay and check out their Voice of Technician survey to get a better idea of what techs want these days—and better refine your own hiring process.

Happy recruiting!

*Don’t feel too bad. The Padres can’t keep their eye on the ball, either.

(Editor’s Note: As this article goes to press, the Padres have just finished smacking around the Nationals in a no-hitter. Guess they can keep their eye on the ball after all…we’ve sent out a search party for Suz.)