Even in tough economic times, you have to keep investing in training

"A company has to look at its employees as patients on an IV drip system, he says, "You can't send them to a one-day training and send them home. Just the same, one drop of IV does a patient no good. It's the constant drip or continual training that makes the difference. Plug employees in and keep the drip going."

Training benefits your bottom line. It helps maintain and improve quality and productivity, says Stan Cherkasky, managing partner of Change Management Consulting, global management consulting and training company, in Wayne, N.J.

More important than the bottom line, though, is the message shops send, when they train, to their most significant investment – the employees. "Employees really appreciate when a firm makes an investment in them. When you train you're treating employees like professionals. Employees want to be valued," says Cherkasky, who is the principal architect of the Performance Improvement Breakthrough methodology, and the Six Sigma Lean Advantage, strategies designed to boost ROI and build customer loyalty.

Hanks notes, "Investing in training is like attending church regularly. If you go to church once and hear a great message, can you go on with your life, needing no further guidance? Or do you choose to go back to build on what you've learned? It's the same with training. You can't expect employees to remain on top of their game by attending one training session."

Experts say what's most necessary is rethinking the whole philosophy on why to train. If an owner is fully committed to training, the shop's leaders will do everything in their power to see that plans to educate their employees are carried out, according to Cherkasky.

"It starts with asking shop owners, 'Do you understand that your employees are your most valuable assets? Do you realize the benefits of training?'" he says.

Once the mindset shifts and owners understand the importance of satisfied employees, this can lead to a greater ability to satisfy customers, grow the business, and solidify a reputation in the community as best auto body shop around, says Cherkasky.

Once the commitment to train has been established, there are some creative options. For one, owners may choose to cross-train their employees on different aspects of the business, which can create flexibility.

"Don't forget about the office personnel in your quest to train," adds Cherkasky. Owners can focus on simple training on answering telephones, ordering parts, working with insurance companies, calming irate customers and building trust over the phone. Customer relations training can go a long way toward establishing better relations with the pool of potential customers. "A trained staff is a focused staff that knows the sun rises and sets with the customer," Cherkasky says.

"In some cases, even an owner may benefit from customer relations training or how to deal with insurance companies," he adds.

As far as funding training, Cherkasky recommends tapping into state and federal funding assistance programs. Some offer partial reimbursement to outright grants to subsidize training.

For shops, it's important that every person has the knowledge, skills and abilities to help produce a proper, safe repair. If an owner believes in the value of training, the future is endless in terms of business growth. Cherkasky says, "If the shop owner values his/her employees, and these are big ifs, understands the need for continual improvement and that everyone needs to be trained, then it's easier to see that training and investment in his/her staff makes good business sense."