HVAC Technician Training: Why Weekly Company Meetings Aren't Enough!

Why HVAC Companies Struggle to Train Technicians

We started down this road because we saw a need in our HVACR industry. There needs to be a way for small and large companies to train their technicians using an authoritative source of information and applicable procedures to produce growth for both their technicians and their companies. Growth can't be accomplished with only a single team meeting once a week. Something needs to be put in place to coincide with these limited team meetings or trainings. Limited time is the problem we are all familiar with, not a lack of care. 

A possible solution: Incorporate an online training platform? Plenty of platforms exist that expose people to trade terminology, images, and awareness, but few go to the extent of helping technicians to actually do their jobs well to provide a path for them to level up in their careers. I mean teaching how to think through problems, providing multiple demonstrations on step-by-step procedures, showing how to reduce frustration when troubleshooting, and applying safer, more streamlined processes.

How Training Improves Tech Retention

We focus on our "Big Three Goals". The first is investing in technicians so they can grow and become more confident and valuable to support their families well. If this goal is accomplished, the next two are more likely to happen.

If this first condition is met, the second is that companies who employ these growing technicians become smarter, stronger, faster, and less confusion and mistakes occur. This means profitability goes up and mutual respect and admiration grows.

The third condition is that customer satisfaction goes up. More customers are doing research in our present age. I mean, research is so easily at our fingertips now. Why wouldn't they? Customers can tell when you are confident and knowledgeable. Beyond that, system reliability and lower energy usage over time based on proper equipment installation, setup, sizing, and integration into the building envelope can be experienced by customers initially and over time.

In regard to this third condition, yes, I get we still have to deal with quality concerns based on the equipment we are installing and energy grid problems that affect sensitive circuits in our systems. However, with the first two conditions being met, we have better overall jobs being done.

Do you see that this is a cycle? Technicians experience direction and growth because their company provides educational investment. Companies retain higher level techs for longer because they provide a means for growth. Companies are better organized because now there is a common source of truth in how procedures are performed and what they all understand to be true. Customers benefit from work performed by both the company and technicians. 

There is a lot here, but this is what we built and are continuing to build out through our online AC Service Tech HVAC Academy at https://acservicetech.com/academy.

Individuals can sign up on their own. Whole companies can sign up by contacting us at info@acservicetech.com.