Jay Goninen is a co-founder and president of WrenchWay, an online community dedicated to promoting and improving careers in the automotive and diesel industry. He also now owns his family's repair shop, and hosts the Beyond the Wrench podcast.
He joined Cole Strandberg, host of The Collision Vision podcast, driven by Autobody News, for an episode of the “Operational Excellence: Shop Strategies” series to talk about how to recruit, retain and develop a world class team for your collision repair shop.
Current State of the Collision Repair Industry
Goninen said many owners are taking steps to understand why some techs are leaving, and why other people who may have considered working in collision repair are deciding not to.
“I think as we're getting a better understanding as an industry, you are starting to see shops adapt and get better at this, be a little bit more intentional about recruiting in general,” Goninen said.
Goninen said he sees comments on social media that paint the industry in a negative light -- which are seen by young people who might be considering career plans and their parents -- so shop owners need to be “taking care of our best and brightest and making sure that they are really, really happy.
“It's not an easy job. It's very labor intensive. It takes the right mindset,” he said. “Until we're able to get our best and brightest to speak glowingly about the industry, we're going to continue to struggle.”
Building Relationships with Local Schools
The industry as a whole must invest in building a pipeline to bring in new talent, Goninen said.
“I think a lot of shops in the past would look at it and say, ‘OK, we're not getting an immediate ROI on this, so we're just going to completely ignore it,’” he said. “We need for shops to be active in their schools and really supporting them at a program level, not just a student level.”
Only supporting a local school to hopefully eventually employ a new graduate isn’t the way to go about it.
“We need to be supporting that program. That ultimately is the one that's going to be the engine that's going to be able to push out more skilled labor. You're not going to get that immediate ROI, but you have a sustainable pipeline for the future that will produce that consistency that I think everybody is looking for,” Goninen said.
The first step is to call or email the school to get connected with the people who are part of the collision repair education program. Be persistent, Goninen said.
“That can be kind of a struggle, because maybe you're talking to an administrator. Some teachers honestly aren't the best at getting back to us when we do reach out,” he said.
Once you’ve connected with the right people, follow through on any promises you make.
“If you offer to go and speak to a class, make sure you get up there and get it done,” Goninen said. “Make sure that it's planned out. Have an idea of what you're going to talk about.”
Don’t just talk about your own shop, Goninen added -- educate students on the industry as a whole and all the opportunities it offers.
“I think as you get more and more involved, you do become more passionate about that program,” Goninen said. “You do have a vested interest in seeing that program have success.”
Attracting New Technicians
Shops need to “be a good place to work,” Goninen said. To get there, managers need to be honest with themselves about what needs to change, and make it happen. They should also ask for feedback from existing employees.
He suggested a shop’s leadership team meet at least monthly to discuss what they’re doing to become a better employer and recruit more technicians.
Improving job descriptions can be difficult, but it pays off. Collision tech job ads tend to all look the same.
“We get frustrated as shop owners when all the technician is looking at is money,” Goninen said. “The reason why they're looking at money is because they can't see anything else.”
Goninen suggested trying AI tools like ChatGPT to help spruce up job descriptions. “It can make it sound a little friendlier, or a little bit more attractive,” he said.
Most good techs are already working, Goninen said. Branding can help a shop stand out enough to convince a tech to switch employers.
Shops should also clean up the hiring process. “Make it easy to apply with you or at least have a conversation,” he said.
He suggested adding a “careers” page to the shop’s website. “Data shows if they are serious about looking at a job in your organization, they are going to research your website,” Goninen said. “Make sure that there's a clean place for them to hit the ‘apply now’ button.”
Goninen said he bought his family’s independent collision repair shop in early 2024, so he has been able to put those tips to use and see firsthand how well they work.
“They already had a pretty good culture at the shop,” Goninen said. “I’ve been able to add a lot of the stuff that is intentional around recruiting.”
When a talented technician who was working at a dealership came in for an interview, the shop’s leadership took him out to lunch, rather than do a traditional sit-down at the shop. After lunch, they walked him through the shop and introduced him to the team. He ultimately came to work for Goninen’s shop.
While the shop is currently fully staffed, Goninen said, he recently hired a 16-year-old apprentice, to develop the next generation.
Now the shop just needs to keep its foot on the gas, he said. Having managed shops before, Goninen has seen how quickly a fully-staffed shop can suddenly be understaffed.
“We had one [shop] where we rebuilt the staff and we were in a great spot. We're just sitting back like, ‘Hey, yeah, we did it. We're in good shape,’” Goninen said. “Well, over the course of the next few weeks, I think we had one technician who left to go work for their family business. Another technician got in a car accident and had some medical issues where he was going to be out for nine months.
“We went from being really happy with what we had to scrambling to try and take care of all the work,” Goninen said.
That experience taught him to take advantage of when a shop is fully staffed to work on relationships with local trade schools, or perhaps send a text to a tech who interviewed with the shop before just to check in with them.
Retaining Technicians
WrenchWay’s “Voice of the Technician” survey showed a lot of good techs are constantly looking for more training, especially as technology in cars evolves.
They also want to see a clear career path, with the steps they’ll need to take to earn a raise or promotion. The lack of a path can create anxiety and drive a good tech to look elsewhere.
So too can a lack of communication from shop leadership, Goninen said. “If they're in the back and they don't hear much other than what they need to be doing on their daily agenda, they're not going to feel great about where they're at,” he said.
“It all comes down to listening to that person,” Goninen said, adding he prefers one-on-one meetings to understand what his employees want out of their career. Then he can figure out what he can help them with -- like arranging training to earn certain certifications -- to set a path. He also suggested meeting with employees regularly to review their progress.
It’s also important to talk to your shop’s team about how the shop is performing financially, as growth enables the shop to offer more opportunities to its employees, Goninen said.
“You don't have to show them all your books, but be able to have good KPIs that you can show to the team and have open dialogue about that,” he said.
“Let’s grow together,” Strandberg added. “Let's make opportunities with each other, alongside each other.”
Continued Training for Techs
Goninen said his shop has four full-time techs, so when one leaves for training, it reduces productivity by 25%. That can be tough to absorb, but if a shop doesn’t allow its techs to keep up with training, it will be left behind.
He suggested making a plan in the last quarter of one year, or at the beginning of the next, to map out training for all of the shop’s techs for the coming year.
“Once you lay out a plan, register for the classes, pay the money,” he said. “Once you've paid for them, then you feel obligated to send your person.”
Key Takeaways
Make recruiting a priority. “Even when things seem great, you're not coasting. You're constantly trying to get better,” Goninen said.
Build relationships with local schools. “You can get involved by just simply making a phone call, sending an email,” he said.
Clean up your hiring process. Add a careers page to your website.
Abby Andrews