Last month Volvo Bus celebrated the third successful year of its technician training program, Volvo Bus Utilising Skills (VBUS) with an awards ceremony in Melbourne during the Bus Expo event in late June.
The VBUS training program is designed to ensure Volvo Bus technicians from dealerships all over Australia are among the highest skilled in the industry and continually enhance their skills particularly in the key areas of diagnostics, pre delivery and Volvo Bus Service Agreements.
“Today it is not enough that the skill level of bus technicians simply be maintained; they instead must be continually developed and enhanced to ensure technicians remain up to date with the latest and best Volvo Bus technology and therefore uphold Volvo Buses’ superior level of customer service and support,” said John Beattie, Regional Service Manager and VBUS Co-ordinator.
The second phase of the VBUS program incorporated much more than just technical bus training however, with mentoring, communication and networking skills all also on the program’s agenda to nurture a culture focused on both team work and individual empowerment at every Volvo dealership.
To ensure their business and operational demands are fully understood by the technicians, a number of Volvo’s customers were also involved in the program.
“In order to deliver excellent customer service and support it is crucial for our technicians to have more than just excellent technical skills, they must be well rounded and aware of their customers’ needs.
“Customer involvement in the VBUS program has helped technicians enhance this awareness along with an understanding of the impact their decisions have on our customers’ operations,” explained Beattie.
To raise the stakes and accelerate the technicians’ motivation, the VBUS program is designed as a competition whereby participants earn points based on the various service forums and technical training programs they attend. Points are also awarded based on their performance in practical and theoretical assessments.
Last month the top point scorer, Neal Best from Volvo’s Melbourne dealership, was awarded VBUS Technician of the Year and the ultimate prize - an all expenses paid trip to Volvo Bus headquarters in Goteborg, Sweden where he will further develop his skills and knowledge touring Volvo’s manufacturing facilities and test track. Joshua Sevenson from the same dealership took out second place, pocketing a tools voucher.
“The VBUS program is an excellent way for us to show just how committed and serious we are about investing in our dealer facilities and staff development around Australia. Our bus and coach customers expect local professional support for their vehicles and we aim to lead the industry in this area now and well into the future,” said David Mead, General Manager Volvo Bus.