Januray 16, 2009
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Dolly is an apprentice who was hired at ‘Roy Rump & Sons’
this spring using CARSability as an assessment of her
strengths and training needs.
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Where People, Training, and Technology Meet
A look at Automotive Service and its Web-Based Future—Part II
In a previous issue of CASP, we announced that automotive service managers are about to get a major boost in their power to improve productivity and enhance staff development through CARSability, a webbased skills assessment tool developed by the Canadian Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) Council. CARSability is a reality now as it was officially launched on November 23, 2007 at AXIS 2007 (Aftermarket Exchange Industry Symposium) in Toronto.
CVMA’s Mark Nantais: Training as a lifeline
The overwhelming importance of this program for the Canadian automotive service sector was recently put in perspective by the comments of Mark A. Nantais, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association: “A word of advice for shop owners and technicians: consider ongoing professional development and skills upgrading as your lifeline to continued success in the motor repair and service industry— full stop! If technicians in the repair and service industry are not aware of new sophisticated motor vehicle technologies and they fail to thoroughly understand how they work, they cannot fulfill their obligation to their customers— that is to properly fix the problem and provide high quality service.
“And this is where CARSability comes into play: it is really an innovative and, flexible tool for any employer or individual in the repair and service industry. One of its key success factors is its usability and the fact that it was developed together by employers and workers in the real world—it has relevance to the industry and its various occupations.”
A fast and professional assessment tool
The assessment allows shop owners and service managers to readily assess the skills of new hires and to define and track skills development opportunities for existing employees, while providing employees the opportunity to develop personal training plans. Individual assessments are made up of about 100 detailed, multiple-choice questions and take approximately 1 hour to complete. Participants can quickly and effectively evaluate their own occupations-related skills against national benchmarks for 34 key automotive industry occupations.
Affordable, accessible, available
CARSability offers cost-effective skills assessments, accessible 24/7 on line, using any major credit card for as little as $20. Flexible corporate member subscription plans can be tailored to suit subscriber’s requirements. Available in French and English, CARSability provides ‘automatic’ links to industry’s best available training sources. Participants receive e-mail alerts as relevant training opportunities become available.
Nantais, again: “The repair and service industry and the many men and women that are the pillars of the industry, need to continuously seek all sources of information about the complex world of technology development and be current on the products that enter the market. Current means seeking out skills development programs, like those developed and delivered by CARS. All too often, a technician may not be aware of just how skilful he or she may be, or what their strengths and weaknesses are, let alone knowing where to go for appropriate training. The CARSability program gives a technician or an employer the tools to make such an assessment.”
With the launch of CARSability, CARS reaffirms as a national leader in human resource and training development initiatives that increase industry workforce skill levels and productivity, “Consider CARS like a car,” says Nantais. “It’s a much needed vehicle to get us where we need to go in the repair and service industry along the road of continuous skills improvement. The road on which CARS travels is full of curves and hills that need to be navigated, and those curves and hills represent the constantly changing technology.”
www.carsability.ca | 
