Julian Lloyd, MD of ProVQ, explains the benefits of breeding your own vehicle technicians.
What do you sell? Is it parts, labour or service? Or is it actually none of these? In reality you sell skills and knowledge; an ability to do that which your customers cannot. To do that profitability you need highly skilled and knowledgeable staff and they’re becoming increasingly difficult (and expensive) to find. But, have you ever considered employing an apprentice and growing your own skills and knowledge?
The benefits to you, the employer, are real; there are currently over 6,000 motor vehicle repair and maintenance apprentices and some of these may be working for your competitors right now.
So how do you go about it?
Firstly you need to choose a quality apprentice training provider, such as ProVQ, and that company should be able to provide you with all the help and support that you need.
Talking from our own experience, our first action is always to assess your business need to confirm that an apprentice is right for you. Employing an apprentice is very rewarding but also different to employing a skilled technician, so we will help you to understand what to expect.
We will then recruit for you and with you. We receive over 15,000 applications each year for apprenticeships with our customers throughout the UK and we will match those best suited to your business need.
We short-list, interview and test on your behalf and you’re welcome to join us for this process as we can do it in your business or at a suitable local location. The best candidates that meet your need are then placed in your business on work trial (usually a week each) to see how well they fit with your existing team. We’ll then contact you again to see how they’ve performed. Perhaps you’re delighted with both, but one just has the edge. In this case we’ll ask you to go ahead and employ them.
A few weeks after they’ve started with you, you’ll both receive joining instructions inviting your apprentice to attend their first technical training block at the ProVQ National Automotive Training Centre in Shropshire. We’re gentle with them on the first afternoon and at the conclusion of the day they’ll be taken to the International Hotel at Telford to get to know their course colleagues better and have a good night’s sleep. It’s then that the hard work really starts!
Over the next three years they’ll attend our centre for 22 weeks, learning everything from the 4 stroke cycle to hybrid technology. Each time they return to you their knowledge is broader and deeper and their skills more honed. This leads to greater productivity and higher profits for your business.
Tens of thousands of 16 year olds finish school in the next month and an increasing number of these want to work for you. Now’s a good time to strike while the iron is hot! To request further details about the range of apprenticeship options available from
EMPLOYING AN APPRENTICE – 5 BENEFITS
1. Doing it your way
2. Loyalty
3. Enthusiasm, energy and drive
4. Lower employment cost
5. Relevant training on today’s technology
Log on to: www.provq.com, email: info@provq.com, call: 01743 762800 for more details.
