Fighting for time and attention in a busy shop isn’t easy. Between packed schedules, tight turnarounds, and day-to-day chaos, it’s no wonder training often ends up on the back burner. But if you're noticing low training participation rates, it's possible there is more to the problem than just trouble finding the time.
In this blog, we'll break down why your automotive team might skip their training, and how you can adjust your training approach to get your team more engaged so they can grow their skill sets.
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Before we fix low engagement, we have to understand why it’s happening in the first place. In most cases, technicians and service advisors aren’t skipping training because they don’t care—they’re skipping it because it doesn’t feel doable or worthwhile in the moment.
Here are some of the most common reasons your team might not participate in training:
If training is too generic and doesn't apply to the work technicians and service advisors do every day, it becomes easy to tune out. No one wants to sit through hours of material that doesn't align well with their role or responsibilities.
Your team works hard, and finding time for training, especially traditional classroom-style sessions, can be tough. After-hours classes might sometimes be necessary, but they can also add stress or take time away from family and personal responsibilities. If training isn’t flexible or built into the day, it’s going to fall to the bottom of the priority list.
When training feels like something they’re doing just to say they did it, motivation drops off fast. People want to know there’s a reason behind it—whether that’s building a new skill, progressing in their career, or just feeling more confident on the job.
Commitment to training only works when there’s a direct link between learning and better performance. If it’s not obvious how training helps solve real problems in the bay or at the front counter, it’s going to feel like busywork.
Related Blog: Causes of Low Automotive Technician Productivity
Once you understand what’s holding your team back, it gets a lot easier to make training work for them—not against them. You don’t need to scrap your whole approach. Sometimes, just a few small tweaks can go a long way in helping your team actually participate in training and stay consistent with it.
Here are some simple, realistic ways to make training easier to stick with—and more likely to get done.
Hours-long courses at the end of the workday are hardly what most of us would call convenient. And while yes, some training will have to be in this format, it doesn't mean you're confined to it.
To make training more manageable for your team, consider trying out some of the following strategies:
If people don’t see how training helps them in the real world, it’s hard to get them to care. Adult learners are different from kids—they learn best when the material connects to something they actually deal with on the job. When training feels useful, it sticks.
Here are a few ways to make that connection to the real world clearer:
The more training feels connected to what they actually want to do or get better at, the more likely they are to stick with it.
No one wants to be told what to do without any say—especially when it comes to how they learn. If you want better training participation, involve your team in the process. When techs and service advisors feel like their input matters, they’re more likely to stay engaged and follow through.
Here are a few easy ways to involve your team in the training process:
Positive reinforcement goes a long way when it comes to training. If someone’s putting in the effort to stay consistent, it’s important to acknowledge it. Recognition doesn’t have to be over the top. Sometimes just knowing that their progress is seen and appreciated is enough to keep people motivated.
Here are a few ways to build recognition into your training process:
The more your team sees that their effort is valued, the more likely they are to keep showing up and putting in the work.
Read More: Auto Repair Shop Employee Recognition Ideas
If training isn’t treated as a priority by leadership, training participation rates are going to stay low. People watch what their managers and senior techs do—not just what they say. When leaders take part in training themselves, it sets the expectation that learning is part of the job.
Here are a few ways to lead by example in automotive training:
Read More: Lead the Way: How Shop Owner Training Sets the Standard
Generalized content is an easy way to turn off your techs and service advisors. When material is too broad, it’s hard to connect to it. But if the material is more tailored to the team member’s role and experience level? Now we’re talking.
Here’s how to make sure your training content stays relevant and keeps your automotive team engaged:
If you're looking for how to make training more engaging, relevance is key.
Read More: How to Create Customized Training for Different Levels and Roles
If training expectations are vague or constantly shifting, it’s no surprise when participation drops. Your team can’t follow through on something if they’re not sure when it’s supposed to happen—or how much is expected of them. A little structure goes a long way in increasing training participation rates.
Here are a few ways to add that structure:
When your team knows what’s expected and when, training becomes less of an afterthought—and more of a normal part of the workflow.
If the goal is to increase participation rates, your team needs to see where they stand. When progress is visible, it’s easier to stay motivated—and it gives everyone a reason to keep showing up. Transparency turns training into a team effort, not just another task on the to-do list.
Here are a few ways to highlight progress for your team:
Improving training participation rates doesn’t require a complete overhaul—just a better approach. When training is accessible, relevant, and tied to real outcomes, your team is much more likely to follow through. Today’s Class is designed to help make that happen.
With flexible, role-specific lessons and tools that make it easier for teams to participate in training regularly, Today’s Class can support the structure you need to keep learning consistent and valuable.
Ready to talk about how Today’s Class can help increase participation rates for your automotive team? Reach out to our team to see how our training platform can support your goals and keep your shop growing.