Joe: So it looks like your company has our very first HVAC graduate Chris Barnett in our program! First, on behalf of Nexstar Network and NexTech Academy, we want to congratulate you all!
Jason: It is Exciting for us; we are recognizing Chris with a company-wide breakfast and present him with a couple of certificates of his achievements including the certificate we got from NexTech and to show the other employees the importance of NexTech and how much it helped Chris.
Joe: In regards to Chris, how has his progress been?
Jason: Chris has been a model employee. He had a mechanical background, he used to be a diesel mechanic and used to do commercial fishing, but zero experience in HVAC when he started NexTech. Within six months, he was in a service truck producing revenue for our business. He has exceeded our expectations exponentially, and he completed way more modules than he was expected to and went through all four levels in a year. And that was all him. His drive and focus were terrific, and he has been a model employee.
Joe: How do you guys coach the students during the training? Do the students do work on their own time, or do you allow classroom time at the office? More specifically, are you going in the field with them, or do you have more senior technicians within your organization do that?
Jason: We give the students a minimum of one module per week that they need to complete on their own time per week, along with clear expectations from us regarding the program, and in regards to going in the field, we send them out with lead technicians within the company to help guide them and grade them on their skills assessments, and I give the final pass or fail. I also then sit down with them during their 1:1 meeting, and I verify they understand everything.
Joe: How many technicians do you currently have in your company?
Jason: We currently have about 27/28 technicians between plumbing and HVAC, with 19 in HVAC that strictly do service and maintenance, and about eight plumbers.
Joe: If you could give any advice to other members considering NexTech Academy what would it be?
Jason: Do it!! It’s the best thing for training younger people, and the trades need people. So my recommendation to other members is to do it! Chris is a pure example of what can happen with other companies going through NexTech Academy. To other members, they need to look for these young kids fresh out of high school that really want to get involved in the trades and hire for character, and train for skill. So we will hire people fresh off the street as long as they carry themselves properly. When you incorporate NexTech, it also teaches them not only the technical skills but the soft skills for customer service, and when you combine the service system on top of that, it is a no brainer. Then with all that combined, it comes back full circle. We are super excited about the NexTech program and look forward to using it for the foreseeable future.
Joe: So how is Chris doing as far as Service Revenue?
Jason: Doing great as a first-year apprentice. His total numbers for the last year was $177,320. He had a conversion rate in the service department of 67% and a conversion rate in the maintenance department of 84%. The service department conversion rate is a little low, but this is due to him being a very high turnover guy. He is towards the top as far as our turnover guys are concerned. But for a first-year apprentice, his numbers are simply phenomenal! I am very happy with his numbers so far after completing NexTech Academy. Comparing to the rest of the HVAC department, I only had one other technician beat his numbers in revenue and that was from a seasoned senior technician that has been with us since we started, and he also does commercial HVAC for us, so Chris has far exceeded our expectations. Everyone else in the HVAC department has revenue numbers below Chris, so he is also a leader in revenue.
Joe: So he is out running no-heating/no-heating service calls in the field?
Jason: Yes, he is a full-blown service technician. He also completed the service system class last spring, and he is going to be attending the Advanced Sales and service class in St. Paul at the end of this month. And with his abilities, I am confident as his service manager to put him in front of anything at this point.
Joe: Us over here at NexTech are always looking for room to improve our program. Are there any suggestions that you have for us?
Jason: Some of the feedback we have had from technicians in the program have stated that they would like more videos showing the hands-on work. Or interactive videos. That is the only negative feedback I have received.
Joe: Another question I have is for the HVAC program specifically. I have a lot of members that ask what to do when, for example, it is winter, but the student needs air conditioning skills assessments completed. Coming from a member, and a training leader, how do you handle this type of situation with the students?
Jason: Good question. If it is winter, I flag those skills assessments to circle back to when the weather is appropriate, if they need to work on functioning equipment. Or, depending on the skills assessments, we have our students work on old equipment in our boneyard, and that seems to work quite well. So even if it is five below outside, they still have equipment they can practice on. The student can still do a nitrogen test, soap bubble test, practice brazing copper lines, etc. We would eventually like to have a live training facility for helping our technicians and their training.
Joe: What specifically would you like to see added to the program to fit your company’s needs?
Jason: We would like to have steam boilers be optional, because we don’t work on them, and would like to see more #2 fuel oil content added, along with material on geothermal systems, because there is currently no geothermal content in your program, along with mini-split training.
