Designed to recognize and reward dealership technicians for their technical training achievements, the Technician Excellence Program (U.S.) has kicked off enrollment for the 2026 program year.
Enrollment takes place through the GM Excellence Executive Dashboard in the Global Connect App Center and will continue through December 31. Dealers must enroll technicians each year in order to participate in the program. Enrollment is not automatic and does not carry over from the previous year.
Program requirements remain the same for the 2026 program year and include training achievements in the Center of Learning as well as a repair order count qualifier based on data from the Global Warranty Management system.
Enrolled technicians will be rewarded quarterly for achieving Gold Certification or Master Technician Certification (MTC) status in 11 technical categories. Technicians earn World Class Technician (WCT) status when they achieve 8 of 9 MTCs with their accompanying ASE/Gold certification in each qualified area at the end of each quarter. (Fig. 1)
New dealership technicians also receive a $500 gift card for the purchase of tools upon completion of one year of service if the technician’s Center of Learning profile is created in the same program year.
Fig. 1
For complete details, refer to the 2026 Technician Excellence Program Guidelines on the GM Excellence Executive Dashboard. Here are a few highlights of the program.
Award Criteria
In order to qualify for earnPOWER rewards, enrolled technicians must meet the following requirements:
- Must meet training requirements of Gold, Master Technician Certified (MTC), or World Class Technician (WTC). New STS training courses can be added by the Center of Learning and need to be completed prior to the end of each quarter. Earnings are higher for more certifications across the 11 service training categories.
- Must complete a minimum of 25 warranty repair orders (RO) per quarter to be eligible. Each enrolled technician’s current count can be viewed on the Technician Excellence Dashboard, which is updated weekly. Eligible ROs include those with a technician’s GM Identification Number (GMIN) paid through Global Warranty Management (GWM) that include a Warranty, Policy, Dealer-Installed Parts Warranty, Field Action, or Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) add-on (e.g., dealer-installed accessory) line. The RO is counted when the RO is submitted to GWM by your dealership, not the date of the RO or when the repair was completed. World Class Technicians are exempt from the repair order count qualifier.
- Must show 100% trained for viewing the applicable Emerging Issues seminars at the end of each quarter.
- Must show 100% in Fundamentals/Bronze Certification at the end of the quarter. All Fundamentals courses are web- or video-based and can be completed in-house.
Tracking Progress
Service technicians can monitor their progress toward achieving Gold, MTC and WCT Certifications throughout the year using the GM Excellence Executive Dashboard found in the Global Connect App Center. (Fig. 2)
The Dashboard includes technicians’ progress and earning potential for each certification as well as indicates if they’ve met the qualifiers of the minimum 25 RO count. The RO count is updated weekly.
Fig. 2
Technicians can view their training progress toward certification on the Center of Learning website, including which required courses still need to be completed. Technicians may not be up to date on Fundamentals, Emerging Issues, and/or ASE certifications even though Master Technician Certification (MTC) or World Class Certification (WCT) status is shown on the Center of Learning.
TIP: Be sure to confirm your email is up to date in the Center of Learning.
Points Redemption
earnPOWER Rewards can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, travel and much more. Technicians who meet the qualifiers will receive earnPOWER points each quarter based their highest level of certification:
- Gold Certification – Earn up to 500 earnPOWER points per quarter.
- Master Technician Certification – Earn up to 1,000 earnPOWER points per quarter.
- World Class Technician Certification – Earn up to 1,500 earnPOWER points per quarter.
- Technicians who are World Class Technician-certified and current on all training also will earn 250,000 GM Rewards points (valued at $2,500) annually.
GM Rewards points can be applied toward several redemption options, including eligible paid service, parts and accessories, or an eligible, new GM vehicle purchase or lease, a certified pre-owned GM vehicle, or a CarBravo certified used vehicle purchase.
New for 2026
GM Rewards points earned through the Technician Excellence Program are now stackable with the Dealership Employee Discount on a new vehicle purchase. This includes points earned in previous program years.
Member enrollment is required to receive points. Refer to the program guidelines for complete details.
Quarterly Payouts
At the conclusion of each quarter, all program criteria is reviewed to ensure all quarterly requirements have been met. With this information, GM Program Headquarters determines participating dealers’ service technicians’ qualifications for the quarter.
World Class Technicians with a validated GM Rewards account who have met the quarterly training requirements will receive the annual GM Rewards points at the conclusion of each quarter.
For more information about the Technician Excellence Program as well as training opportunities in your dealership, talk with your dealership service manager.
– Thanks to Tara Sculley
