Training System Overview

A brief look at GM Training through the years and where it is going.

In April, 1953, General Motors made provision for the establishment of 30 permanent Training Centers strategically located throughout the United States. The first inhabitants were, of course, each division (which then got it's own classroom), Fisher Body, United Motor Service and even Frigidaire repair

Now that we are into the STC Training System, let's take a look at how the whole thing works.

As a line technician, under the former way of training, the bulk of your education came from attending classes at a G.M. Training Center. There you learned from the ground up on the theory and operation, diagnostic techniques, special tools required and latest technologies. This was a very good system and worked for many years. But, with the advent of new ways of communicating service/training information like the internet, CD ROM, DVD and of course Personal Computers, we can leverage that technology to bring much of the training to you at the shop. Because of  the fast paced changes coming on these vehicles, the amount of time to train a technician under the old system would be an overwhelming burden on the dealers service department. It would also mean that a vehicle or system would be out there for a while before a technician had a chance to learn about it. A technician's time spent away from the shop would be felt in lost revenue, fewer vehicles being serviced, customers dissatisfied as they will have to wait longer for their vehicles to be looked at by trained technicians and management frustration as they try to keep the flow of work in the shop moving. 

General Motors looked at this increasing problem and joined forces with Raytheon Professional Services to utilize today's technologies to make sure dealership personnel get the training they need. Dealership management has been empowered with more control on training and can also train more deeply into their organization at a fraction of the lost technician time they otherwise would have had under the old system. In the past, a service department may have only been able to send one or two of their technicians to school on a consistent basis hoping that when they returned whatever they learned would "rub-off" on techs who usually would not attend . Now, with the advent of computer and satellite training, more technicians can be exposed to courses they may never have been able to take in the past!

A "Blended" Learning Approach

Let's break down the step by step training plan that applies to service, as well as body, technicians today. To start with we need to go over each training media type available and what objectives they are supposed accomplish. Below is a breif description of some of the Training Blend. Click the links at the bottom of the page to learn more.

	CD ROM or Web Based courses
	Interactive Distance Learning or IDL
	Hands-On Facilitation
	Video Product and Service Know How DVDs
	TechAssist Snippets
	Certification Assessment

CD ROM-Web Based Courses

The object of the CD ROM or Web Based portion of the Common Training System is to provide the technician with the theory and operation behind a system or to teach basic fundamentals (electrical theory, Tech 2 familiarity, etc.). The technician can take the course in the shop or at home, anywhere there is a computer running Windows 2000 or XP Professional and Windows Media Player version 6.3 or newer. The Web Based course is usually the first step or prerequisite a technician must take on the road to Certification. This media for  training has the advantage of giving the dealership entire control on when the training can take place as there is no set schedule they must adhere to. Many courses have been added to the Common Training Website and can be taken as long as the computer the student is using has a high speed connection and speakers. Not all of the classes are on the web (check the "Catalog" tab at the www.gmtraining.com to make sure). Correctly answering the reference questions and module tests while progressing through the course will assure you credit which will show up on your Training Records. If the course you are taking is not on the website, you will have to take it on CD ROM. On a computer that is running Windows, the student will have to load the course CD ROM and a floppy disc at the same time. After entering your name and other information, the tech can then begin the course. As the tech advances through the course, progress is tracked on the floppy disc. At the conclusion of the course, the information on the floppy is then uploaded to the GM Training Website. You will need to have the CBT Viewer and Uploader software loaded to your PC for the CD ROM courses. After you complete a course on line, the links through it will become "active" so you can return and review them at any time. If the course was on CD ROM, keep the floppy disc as it will act as a "key" to unlock the CD and allow you access to any part of it without having to start at the beginning again.

Interactive Distance Learning (IDL)

Another form of training media are satellite broadcasts that allow the trainee to watch a live program about a particular system. The broadcasts can be either a part of a class necessary to add to your Training Path  or it may be a monthly broadcast such as a Service Know How Seminar. Known as Interactive Distance Learning, the idea was to make the presenter available for questions or comments during the class through the use of "call in" touch pads. This has proven quite successful because a large number of students can be reached with class capacity at 500 students. IDL classes are also used to keep techs in the know on late breaking product news or hot topic service issues. New ones come out once a month as "Service Know How". IDL training is also a prerequisite for many hands on classes as well as certifications. Broadcast content is based on diagnostic approach for vehicle repair.

          Hands On Classes

After a student has successfully completed prerequisites for certain classes they become eligible to attend class at a local training facility. Class size is kept to a maximum of 8 to10 students to allow sufficient time for everyone to participate. Techs are split into groups and they tackle automotive problems. Here technicians get the instruction they need to diagnose today's sophisticated vehicles and exposure to proper tools and techniques. Technicians will actually have the opportunity to get some practice on "bugged" cars to see how these systems work and what can happen when they don't. They get to practice their diagnostic technique and the use of state of the art equipment as well as the essential tools necessary to get the job done. However, attendance does NOT equal credit. A student must be an active participant and show that they have the skills necessary to fix it right the first time. Don't think of it though as "another form of testing"- it isn't. There is an instructor to help coach, teach as well as critique and correct. As most of you are on the flat rate clock when in the shop, at the Training Center you can take the liberty of getting deeper into these systems and finding out how to make a diagnosis or repair from the ground up. 

Certification

When a tech has completed all the prerequisites in a specific area they may take a Certification Assessment. The assessment is run the same way as the Hands On class with a few important exceptions.
Class size is limited to 7 technicians and the techs work alone. There is an assessor in the room whose only job is to distribute the certification exercises and monitor the technicians performance. The technicians are scored on their diagnostic technique and the way in which they follow published diagnostics and apply them to a vehicle. The technicians will only be given situations where published GM service literature will result in a proper diagnosis. There will NOT be a situation where Technical Assistance needs to be involved or engineering has to be contacted. A tech has 40 minutes to diagnose a vehicle or and document their work. The time limit is strictly adhered to and repair order documentation is scored very highly as these elements help to make for a better technician in the long run. For more on this see the article on Assessments.

Mik Stubing Lead Instructor GMTCNY