100-up for Suzuki's Master Technician Programme
Feb 16, 2011
Suzuki GB Plc's Master Technician Programme has reached its first 'century', having produced more than 100 graduates who are now putting their skills to work in Dealer service centres across the country. Their achievement reflects the success of Suzuki's national training strategy - first introduced in 2002 and supported with a comprehensive e-learning format in 2006 - and provides all its technicians with the opportunity, guidance and resources to develop their talents along a clear career path.
The Master Technician is at the pinnacle of a three-tier training and assessment package, the high standards of which have been officially recognised by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) with its Quality Assured Award. All new technicians joining Suzuki Dealerships register for the New Dealer Technician Course (NDT), the first step towards achieving the Accredited, Senior and ultimately Master Technician qualifications.
"The training is designed to be flexible as well as thorough," said James Richardson, Suzuki National Aftersales Manager. "Our technicians are able to access their training modules on-line at any time using their individual web ID."
"Each level is divided into different subject modules, all of which require an 80 per cent pass mark before the technician can move up to the next stage. Passes remain valid only for a set period of time, which encourages momentum in the technicians' study and steady progress."
Having such a thorough, effective and popular training programme -- a further 144 technicians are currently working through the Master Technician modules -- directly supporting Suzuki's customer satisfaction targets, as Richardson explained: "Having technicians with the finest skills and experience and specific, detailed knowledge of the Suzuki model range means our customers can be confident of receiving professional, prompt and 'right-first-time' service.
"And the more men and women who come through the Suzuki training process, the better we will be able to strengthen our customer relationships and deliver on our after sales targets," said Richardson.