M A G A Z I N E
10 years’ experience – that would be the man to train and nurture new guys as they come in the door and that is a role that every Pirtek centre needs. Unfortunately, he handed in his notice on my second day to go to work for a large customer, which left me with two relatively new MSSTs. One had been in the industry for around one year, so he had some experience. The other guy had barely begun his training so I had my experience to get these two through the day, every day. In the absence of a senior engineer to mentor the younger MSSTs, I was often directing them on how to deliver the service required to meet the Pirtek expectation. Engineers with that level of experience working alone can only get you so far. At peak times I was covering a number of bases, working 12 to 14-hour days serving customers on the trade
counter. That pile of orders builds up during the day because of the need to provide that level of service at the counter and trying to keep the engineers running. At the end of the day I’d be coming into the office to get hold of all those orders that had built up during the day before suppliers shut. Recruitment In the service industry in general, there is a significant problem finding the right calibre of person. You have to sort the wheat from the chaff and that’s a
hard game when you’ve got a constant requirement to supply a level of service. ‘I’ve never taken anyone on short term’ There’s a big cost involved in taking someone on – to commit to a guy, put him on the training, put him in a van, supply a uniform etc. You’ve got to form
a very quick impression, pretty much gut feeling.
There’s a pool of guys who go round all the different companies. I’ve learned never to entertain them again, because if a guy’s jumped around that many times, there’s always a reason. The best way is to take on someone who’s fresh. Take somebody with a basic aptitude, who can work with their hands and is well suited to fixing things quickly, professionally and to the right quality
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