T-TEN Opens 37th Technician Training Program
July/August 2017
The demand for qualified automotive technicians continues to rise, and finding and retaining talent continues to challenge the industry.
To address this ongoing need, Toyota’s Technician & Training Network (T-TEN) and Gulf States Toyota recently announced an automotive training partnership with Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas. It will be T-TEN’s 37th program nationally and the fourth in Texas.
T-TEN was launched in 1986 to provide a strong pipeline of talented, career-minded, highly trained service technicians for Toyota and Lexus dealerships. The program typically offers a class size of 20 to 25 students per year and leverages Toyota’s industry-leading training with both a classroom and hands-on laboratory setting over a period of 24 months.
Whether they’re creating their own program or tapping into an existing T-TEN program, dealers should be focused on consistently finding, and retaining, these skilled workers, says Rick Lester, T-TEN’s technician development manager.
“Like many businesses, success lies in the people you hire and retain,” he says. “When challenged with the attrition rate the auto industry is seeing right now, dealers have to develop strategies in their own markets, especially if they don’t have access to a T-TEN program.”
Part of that strategy involves learning how to work with younger employees, who often have different expectations and are more mobile in the workplace.
“They want to feel part of the organization,” Lester says. “It can be as simple as sitting down with a young man or woman and explaining their role in the organization and the pathways to improving their wages and skill sets.”
To address this ongoing need, Toyota’s Technician & Training Network (T-TEN) and Gulf States Toyota recently announced an automotive training partnership with Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas. It will be T-TEN’s 37th program nationally and the fourth in Texas.
T-TEN was launched in 1986 to provide a strong pipeline of talented, career-minded, highly trained service technicians for Toyota and Lexus dealerships. The program typically offers a class size of 20 to 25 students per year and leverages Toyota’s industry-leading training with both a classroom and hands-on laboratory setting over a period of 24 months.
Whether they’re creating their own program or tapping into an existing T-TEN program, dealers should be focused on consistently finding, and retaining, these skilled workers, says Rick Lester, T-TEN’s technician development manager.
“Like many businesses, success lies in the people you hire and retain,” he says. “When challenged with the attrition rate the auto industry is seeing right now, dealers have to develop strategies in their own markets, especially if they don’t have access to a T-TEN program.”
Part of that strategy involves learning how to work with younger employees, who often have different expectations and are more mobile in the workplace.
“They want to feel part of the organization,” Lester says. “It can be as simple as sitting down with a young man or woman and explaining their role in the organization and the pathways to improving their wages and skill sets.”
