New Technician Excellence Program Announced for 2022

GM has announced the all-new Technician Excellence Program (U.S.) for 2022 to recognize dedicated dealership service technicians. (Fig. 1) Enrolled technicians who achieve Gold Certification, Master Technician Certification (MTC), or World Class Technician (WCT) status, as well as meet other required training and service criteria, can earn quarterly earnPOWER points. The more certifications technicians obtain across the 11 service categories, the more points they can earn.

 

Fig. 1

 

The goals of the new Technician Excellence Program are to help:

• Increase technician satisfaction and retention through meaningful reward opportunities.
• Attract more technicians to work at a GM Dealership.
• Provide quality repairs as a result of increased training, which may lead to higher customer satisfaction.

 

Award Criteria

In order to qualify for earnPOWER points, enrolled technicians must meet the following requirements:

• Meet training requirements for Gold, Master Technician Certification or World Class Technician Certification
• Be 100% trained in Fundamentals (Bronze) by the end of each quarter
• Be 100% trained in Emerging Issues by the end of each quarter
• Be Gold/ASE certified in each qualifying area
• Be the technician identified on 25 or more Warranty/Policy/Field Action repair orders for that quarter

 

Repair orders (job cards) with an open date within the quarter and that include a Warranty, Policy, or Field Action repair (line) qualify for payout in the program. Pre-Delivery Inspections (PDIs) are excluded. A multiple-line repair order is only counted once. The technician GMIN must be assigned on the repair order in Global Warranty Management. A $0 repair order will not count toward the minimum requirement.

The 11 training categories are:

• Automatic Transmission/Transaxle
• Brakes
• Diesel Engine Performance
• Electrical/Electronics
• Engine Performance
• Engine Repair
• Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
• Hybrid/Electric Vehicle
• Manual Drivetrain & Axle
• Mechanical/Electrical Body Repair
• Steering and Suspension

 

Certification Levels

Bronze Certification – Achieved when a technician has completed 100% in the Fundamentals category. This is a qualifier for a technician to be eligible for the program.

Silver Certification – Achieved when a technician is Bronze Certified and has completed all in-dealership training (e.g., Web Based Training, Video on Demand, online instructor-led training) in any given STS area.

Gold Certification – Achieved when a technician has earned Silver Certification, is ASE-certified in any given STS area, and has completed all hands-on training in the same STS area. The more Gold Certifications, the higher the reward.

Master Technician Certification (MTC) – Achieved when a technician is 100% STS in both Silver and Gold for a given STS area, successfully passes the GM Service Technical College (STC) Certification Event (a hands-on assessment) for that area, and is ASE-certified in the same area.

TIP: Once technicians earn Master Technician Certification, they will continue to show MTC in the Center of Learning for the current year and the entire following year to allow them time to complete any additional required training necessary to achieve 100% STS. As a result, technicians may show MTC-certified in the Center of Learning in any given area, but still need to meet the additional program qualifiers to earn quarterly rewards for being MTC-certified in the Technician Excellence Program.

World Class Technician (WCT) Certification – Achieved when a technician successfully achieves Master Technician Certifications (MTCs) in the following training categories, along with their accompanying ASE Certifications:

• Automatic Transmission/Transaxle
• Brakes
• Electrical/Electronics
• Engine Performance or Diesel Engine Performance
• Engine Repair
• HVAC
• Manual Drivetrain & Axle
• Steering and Suspension

 

earnPOWER and My GM Rewards Points

Technicians will receive earnPOWER points each quarter based on the following certifications:

• Gold Certification – Earn up to 500 earnPOWER points per quarter.
• Master Technician Certification – Earn up to 1,000 earnPOWER points per quarter.
• World Class Certification – Earn up to 1,500 earnPOWER points per quarter.

 

In addition, technicians who are World Class Technician-certified and current on all training will earn 250,000 My GM Rewards points (valued at $2,500), annually. Points can be applied toward a number of options, including certified service, parts, accessories or an eligible, new GM vehicle purchase or lease. My GM Rewards points are not stackable with the Dealership Employee Discount on a new vehicle purchase, although a negotiated purchase may provide satisfactory savings, especially after the first year. Member enrollment is required to receive points and all WCT technicians within My GM Rewards are classified as “Silver” status upon account activation in the program. Refer to the program guidelines for complete details.

 

What to Do Next

Service technicians enrolled in the Technician Excellence Program by their dealership will receive a confirmation email from Program Headquarters and will be able to monitor their progress in both the earnPOWER and GM Excellence Executive Dashboard app in GlobalConnect.

• Technicians should confirm their role and profile email address are up-to-date in GlobalConnect/Center of Learning. The email address should be unique to the technician (not a general dealership email address).
• Technicians should access their Learning Paths now in the Center of Learning and work toward achieving Gold, Master Technician Certification (MTC), and World Class Technician (WCT) Certifications.
• Ensure you have the appropriate Learning Paths assigned based on your current area of service and/or desire to expand your skills.
• Make sure you are up-to-date on your Fundamentals.
• Make sure you are up-to-date on Emerging Issues Seminars.
• Work with your Service Management to enroll or get on a waitlist for any necessary hands-on training.
• Schedule your ASE certifications to obtain your desired Gold Certifications.

 

Technicians also should have an earnPOWER account set up with the email verified. Log in to earnPOWER through GlobalConnect, which makes access easier by not requiring you to remember your earnPOWER login information.

World Class Technicians need to have a My GM Rewards account set up and have access to their My GM Rewards Member Number. Technicians can access mygmrewards.com to enroll or locate their My GM Rewards Member Number.

For additional information about the Technician Excellence Program as well as training opportunities in your dealership, talk with your service manager.

 

– Thanks to Patti Marino