Talk to anyone in the motor trade at present and the chances are that the issue of staff recruitment will come up early in the conversation. The industry is facing a skills shortage which makes retaining key staff in the workshop more vital than ever. One vehicle manufacturer that has an impressive record on this front is ŠKODA and Autobiz has spoken to one of its top dealer technicians about how the brand has created a progressive and fulfilling working environment. 

Kieran McGinty is a ŠKODA Diagnostic Technician at DMG Motors in Donegal and has been recognised for his first class work not just at a national level, but at global level through the ŠKODA Challenge competition. 

Kieran has been involved at DMG Motors since his early teens, doing part time jobs around the dealership and on the company’s busy agricultural side. He comments, “I always had an interest in all things mechanical so working in a dealership workshop seemed to be a natural career choice.”

Kieran completed an apprenticeship with DMG, but once qualified soon found that the need for training was very much ongoing. He says, “With the pace of technology in the automotive world moving so fast, getting the right vehicle manufacturer training is more vital than ever. ŠKODA has always been excellent at delivering this and I have completed numerous courses in general repairs, diagnostics, advanced diagnostic and more recently with the arrival of Electric Cars, hi-voltage vehicles. The training is always highly informative, practical and top quality. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to keep up with the training requirements, but it is ultimately very rewarding and is essential to keep in touch with technology, especially with concepts such as connected cars now coming on stream.” 

Another area where Kieran says ŠKODA provide excellent technician support is in providing fast accurate and well formatted technical information. He can access a wealth of information online and he also finds that as a vehicle maker, ŠKODA listens to its technicians and will take on board their ideas. He comments, “With ŠKODA you feel that you are very much part of a bigger team and not just working on your own. If you come across a problem there is always help at hand and because the brand listens, any minor issues with new vehicles are isolated and corrected very quickly.”

Kieran also finds this attitude extends to both the dealerships and their customers. He comments, “As a vehicle brand ŠKODA is very much one that values its dealers and works on a relationship of long term trust. This is something that reflects on customer relations and promotes long term loyalty.” 

Another aspect of working in a ŠKODA workshop that has been very rewarding for Kieran is his involvement in the ŠKODA  Service Challenge programme, an annual competition that offers a benchmark for measuring the qualities of the best employees in the global ŠKODA service network. Kieran was the winner of the national title for top diagnostic technician in 2015 and went on to compete in the international final in 2016, finishing second and 2018 winning the top prize in Croatia. He says, “Competing in these competitions really highlights the skills and expertise that is throughout the ŠKODA network. The competition is intense, but is also very rewarding.”   

Through competing in the ŠKODA Challenge Kieran has played an important role in promoting careers within ŠKODA dealerships and has helped to raise the profile of automotive technician jobs. He says for example that transition year students that visit the workshop each year are shocked by the high-tech nature of the work undertaken, with many changing their views on the career potential of the automotive trade. In some cases this has gone on to directly bring new recruits to the company, where Kieran now plays an important mentoring role. 

Speaking about reasons to consider technician as a career path, Kieran says, “We are in the process of the biggest changes in the automotive world since the car was invented in terms of electrification, connected cars and autonomous driving. This makes it a very exciting industry to be involved in. Whatever type of vehicles we end up with, they will still all need repair and maintenance, so good technicians will always be in demand, even though their day to day activities may be very different.”

Kieran adds, “By being in a manufacturer trained dealer workshop, technicians will be best placed to cope with these rapid changes and I am confident that ŠKODA will be right at the cutting edge when it comes to development.”