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Spotlight on Patricia Richards

By Mike Levy (January 2007 Issue)
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Patricia Richards has a driving ambition: to change gear in the UK automotive industry. As chief executive of Automotive Skills, the Sector Skills Council for the retail motor industry, she believes there is a new, very positive, mood to demonstrate greater confidence to consumers. For her, the industry, which employs around half a million people in the UK, is willing, ready and fully engaged in change. ‘There is a real commitment to raising skills in customer service and care,’ she says. She also believes that the next five years will see a transformation in an industry that is facing some critical management challenges head-on.

The automotive industry is made up of over 70,000 businesses from factory gate to breaker’s yard with dealerships, body shops, car rental and roadside assistance, and many other sub-sectors in between. Though the industry is committed to developing the so-called soft skills, there is nothing fluffy about Richards’ objectives: ‘Our job is to help improve the profitability of one of the country’s most important industries. We are facing major challenges, especially in skills requirements. We need to better understand the changes taking place over the next decade and analyse the skills implications – including how it will respond to increased competitive challenges and opportunities.’

Automotive Skills has recently carried out a survey of skill needs. ‘The largest shortage is for technicians,’ says Richards. ‘Sixty-nine per cent of the businesses surveyed said that was a problem for them. But there’s a growing number of employers who are finding it difficult to find people with the softer skills as well.’ These include, she says, communication skills, problem solving, customer handling, team working, and management skills. ‘The focus historically has been on developing the technical and practical competences needed, but we also need to find the right people to help build customers’ trust and confidence in a concerted and consistent way.’ For Richards that means working on essential management and leadership skills which are now, more than ever, critically important.

One of Richards’ first tasks was to oversee the development of a new management standard for the industry: the Automotive Retail Management Standards (ARMS). These were launched last summer and are being promoted right across this diverse industry. ‘The standards have been extremely well received and some, like Nissan/Renault, are requiring managers across all their dealerships to participate in an ARMS programme, ultimately aiming for total compliance with the standards.’ This is an industry that is working hard, recognising that hand in hand with quality assurance goes service delivery in its broadest definition. It is an industry that cares about safety and understands the importance of consistently good service.

Management and leadership lie at the heart of the changes taking place with ARMS, a standard designed by the industry for the industry being central and (most importantly, says Richards) in a language the industry can understand. ‘It builds on generic management skills,’ she says, ‘but is shaped to the very specific requirements of the automotive industry.’

ARMS is being delivered through the sector’s approved assessment centres, as well as through some HE institutions such as the Henry Ford College linked to Loughborough University (in the UK) and via some of the manufacturers’ own development programmes.

The skills issue is also being tackled at the other end of the scale – via the Young Apprenticeship Programme targeted at bright 14 year-olds. ‘The government has just announced the second programme,’ says Richards. ‘It is aimed at those young people who are likely to get good GCSE grades, are well behaved and interested in knowing more about our sector.’ What inspires them, she says, is the sheer diversity of opportunity that this industry can offer. They very quickly find that if they want a career in the fast lane, then the retail motor industry is dynamic, fast moving and exciting, not to mention glamorous and sophisticated. With more than 32 million vehicles on the road, the possibilities on two wheels, four wheels and even big wheels are endless!

‘Spending two days a week out of school, these young people get a very good chance to see what the sector can offer,’ explains Richards. ‘They learn how exciting their prospects can be. We show them there are many routes to the top of the career ladder.’ It seems to be working: the automotive Young Apprenticeship programme has around one place for every three applicants.

Gender balance is an ongoing challenge in an industry still seen by many to be about greasy hands and rusty tappets. ‘There is a long way to go in attracting enough young women into our industry,’ suggests Richards. ‘We have to tackle long-held stereotypes.’ She is, of course, a role model in her own right but there are many others – she cites Nikki King (MD of the truck company Isuzu) and Sue Brownson (MD of a very large BMW dealership). ‘We are building a broad set of case studies to show young women what an exciting and fun industry this is.’

A very diverse industry, then, with significant scope for training providers to be involved. Richards believes that independent trainers can play a big part in the development of the industry over the next five years. ‘The industry is very well able to provide all the technical expertise required but the people skills area is definitely one where external trainers can bring a lot of value to the industry.’ This is especially true of customer care programmes but, she says, they must be geared to the needs and language of this industry.

Formal classroom training can be difficult in an industry made up of thousands of small private firms, scattered over the whole country. ‘It’s not feasible for a small garage in the rural areas of Scotland to send its young recruits out to the local college.’ E-learning may be one answer, Richards believes. ‘Online learning and e-learning are key elements of our strategy – especially where the materials are customised for our sector’s needs.’

What are the industry’s key training challenges in the next five years? Richards has clear views: ‘We are becoming increasingly internationalised. Many UK dealerships are expanding across Asia and Europe, bringing its own challenges of managing and developing an international workforce. Also in the next few years, technician accreditation will become a widely accepted means of demonstrating that a technician’s competences are regularly updated and assessed. I envisage a thorough and independent process which will give greater confidence to customers. This will also be an industry which is widely recognised as one that has taken today’s challenges seriously.

Given these huge challenges, does Patricia Richards have time to enjoy life? ‘Yes, of course. This is a great industry to work in and great fun – it’s very close knit … like a family. I enjoy the work and its challenges – and Automotive Skills is on a path to become one of the best sector skills councils in the business.’ That’s what you call a Driving Force.


Patricia Richards will be speaking at the Partners in Learning Conference on 11 and 12 May 2005 at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. To find out more visit www.partnersinlearning2005.co.uk

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