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How do you measure the effectiveness of a training program? This question is similar to one people ask about the effectiveness of advertising. The story goes that all advertising is only 50% effective. The problem is finding out which 50% that is. Dana Corporation identified a problem that affected engine part sales. Lack of quality machinist training was critical to the growth and expansion of machine shops. Fewer machine shops mean fewer parts sold. After a needs analysis was completed, the Dana solution was to offer their customers machine shop training. Measuring the effectiveness of this training was accomplished in several ways. Paper and pencil evaluations (smile sheets), follow-up telephone surveys and skill mastery exercises were a few of the methods used to measure the training program. The difficulty in obtaining evidence was partially attributed to the fact that customers were trained and not Dana employees.

The challenge for the future of automotive repair lies in the industry's ability to improve its productivity. The auto repair industry has not made the quality improvements that the automotive manufacturing industry has made in the past years. The first step to improve productivity is to identify the areas that have the most impact on productivity. This is the value of a performance audit. A performance audit identifies the processes that improve productivity. You cannot perform better than the process allows. If the process has problems, it will impair performance despite training efforts or motivation to improve. In the automotive repair business there are seven key areas that will benefit from a performance audit. They are: technical competence/training, administrative, sales and marketing, customer satisfaction, housekeeping, financial, and environmental and safety. To be more productive requires a knowledge of those items and a follow-up plan for improvement.