HCC: Service Organization

The organization of a service department is about more than technicians and clerks and management. Designing the structures is about facts and not feelings. The time for shop and field jobs starts the design. The technology, tooling, and processes used take us the rest of the way. Exploring the service department organization from a factual foundation is the goal of this program.

The density of supervision to technician has long been in dispute in this Industry. This program aims to put that dispute to rest by providing definitive measures of labor efficiency and quality at the forefront, and not having “cost” drive decisions about those two fundamental elements of a service department. From Roman times to the current US Army supervision has been a constant and defining attribute of high performance. We discuss the appropriate levels of supervision and provide a model for the participants to use for their business.

The clerical support in a Service Department covers all aspects of record management, as well as labor controls, job controls, job process and work in process, as well as everything to do with warranty and technical documentation, either in printed or electronic format. The dealer business system is critical in supporting this function. This program will be of benefit to everyone in management and supervision of the service function.

HCC: Service Flat Rate Standard Times

Customers want to know how much the repair work will cost before they approve the job you will perform. We have to provide this important information. In order to do this, we must manage our repairs with job codes. We must determine standard jobs, and then track them every time we perform them. In this way, we can develop a “standard time” which is different than average time. You will learn the secrets of flat rating in this very detailed program.

The job code structure is where this begins. The manufacturers provide a job code for use with warranty jobs. This is the same logic that dealers must use to manage the repair and maintenance jobs. The code needs to be easy to understand and search out in a file or on a system. Once we have the job codes, then the inspections and job structures need to follow the same logic. How to develop the job codes and then utilize them to develop and manage history is a critical element of this program.

The determination of the standard time is also misunderstood by most. It is NOT about the average time to perform the job. Learn the perils of assuming all the risk on jobs, and how to provide for those risks with standard times. This program will be of value to anyone in management who wants to move away from a job shop structure.

HCC: Service Shop Floor Scheduling

Our customers all want predictable, consistent, high quality service work. But, equally important to them is a completion date for the work you are doing for them. You need to be able to provide a completion date, and you need to meet that date. To do that requires very specific activities and deliveries. Parts, labor, supplies, and outside purchases all are involved. This program will help you learn how to establish and manage shop schedules. To date, in most surveys on customer attitudes, customers indicate that they want “honesty” in the top five. That should tell us that completion dates, which are rarely met, is an area that needs a lot of attention.

This program leads to the items that are required in developing a schedule that can be met for all customers and internal departments. The typical rationales used to explain away why completion dates are rarely met are exposed and dealt with in a manner that allows acceptance of the need to change approach.

Each day, each technician needs to be given eight hours of labor, but no more than eight hours of labor. This requires that each job have work elements that are never more than eight hours in length, so that the answer to the question “will you complete everything I gave you to do today?” will be either yes or no. If yes, then the schedule is intact. If the answer is no – that will be dealt with in this program.

MCE: Purchasing & Expediting CSA

With the rapid changes we have experienced in our industry, we have reached the point where the skills and the knowledge of our employees is a critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. We have arrived at the point that we must find every part that every customer orders, and do this on the day that they order the parts. Supply chains and transportation logistics are complicated subjects and need specialized skills.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the purchasing and expediting job function. In assessing this task, we have taken all of the classes involved in the Parts Business and created a skills and knowledge assessment questionnaire. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered for the Parts Business and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

MCE: Parts & Service Marketing CSA

With the distribution networks supporting construction equipment becoming even more dependent on absorption and contribution margins we have recognized the critical nature of comprehensive and current marketing information. The Dealer Management Systems now offer comprehensive call reporting, machine population and all of the attendant reporting structures on market potential and market capture. The Sales Function requires very strong parts and service marketing.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the parts and service marketing job function. In assessing this position, we have taken all of the classes involved in selling and marketing and created a skills assessment. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered for Marketing and Selling. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

MCE: Product Support Sales CSA

Selling is as old as the hills and most people think it is a function that requires you be good with people.  The Sales Function also requires strong back office support. Dealer Business Systems development has allowed the management of territories with market segmentation and call reporting. Territory Potentials and Market Capture have also required we be able to provide office support to the sales force.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the sales support job function. In assessing this position, we have taken all of the classes involved in selling and marketing and created a skills assessment. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered for Selling. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

MCE: Product Support Sales Management CSA

Selling is as old as the hills and most people think it is a function that requires you be good with people.  Sales requires very serious organizational skills. Not just a personality. From the rapid changes we have experienced in our industry, we are at the point where the skills and the knowledge of our employees is a critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. The leadership involved with the sales team is critical. The challenges in maintaining a motivated, skilled work force is not easy.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the sales job function. In assessing this position, we have taken all of the classes involved in selling and created a skills assessment. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered for Selling and Marketing. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

MCE: Service Management CSA

There are some fundamental truths about people and their work: everyone wants to do a good job, everyone can do more than they think they can, and everyone is fundamentally lazy. In management and leadership we have to deal with the people and the processes. That is the job. You lead people and you manage the process.

The job of the manager or supervisor starts with the basic job function description and moves on to standards of performance. Everyone has to understand what is expected of them, as well as accepting that what is expected of them is both achievable and important. The various aspects of management are exposed in this power program.

In dealing with people, you also will need to be able to communicate with the employees.  In this program we explore two of the main forms of communications: praise and criticism. This part of interpersonal relations can be learned. These are skills that can be learned by following a simple plan. We discuss this plan in detail, which has many common elements with both praise and criticism to provide you with a better ability in working with your employees.

MCE: Construction Industry Technician CSA

With the rapid changes and developments experienced in capital equipment over the past few decades we have reached the point where the skills and the knowledge of technicians is the critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. This has included changes in machine design, computerization of componentry, telematics, and the use of exotic materials.

The Construction Industry Technician comprehensive skills assessment covers the four major areas of equipment: Engine, Drive Train, Hydraulics and Electrical. In creating this assessment, we have taken into consideration the major manufacturers.

We have created a series of multiple-choice questions within each of the four categories above. The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into a score.
The following reflects how our clients use the assessment programs.

1. Recruiting: The assessments should be part of the process of recruiting employees. In conjunction with background checks and interviews, the assessment gives you a much more objective evaluation of the applicants before they are hired.
2. Performance Reviews: The assessments should also be part of the process of the annual performance review with each employee.

Upon completion of a specific Job Function Skills Assessment the student will receive their score. This score will rank their skills based on the results we have seen from the thousands of assessments taken.

MCE: Rental Industry Technician CSA

With the rapid changes and developments experienced in capital equipment over the past few decades we have reached the point where the skills and the knowledge of our technicians is the critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. This has included changes in machine design, computerization of componentry, telematics, and the use of exotic materials. Additionally, the technology within dealer management systems continues to progress at a rapid pace with VoIP, AI, and “smart” systems to name just a few.

The Rental Industry Technician comprehensive skills assessment covers the four major areas of equipment; Engine, Drive Train, Hydraulics and Electrical. In creating this assessment, we have into consideration the major manufacturers. The Rental Industry Technician assessment recognizes that it is not necessary for these technicians to be able to have the skills to repair and rebuild major componentry.

We have created thirty multiple-choice questions within each of the four categories above. The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive skills assessment, these assessments have been developed to be used to create a specific technical training program for each employee in the repair and maintenance business.