Summary

Concepts:

Audi, Technicians, brand, customer, employees, skills, recruitment, objectives, technology, premium brand, Personnel, customer expectations, progression, career, apprentice.

Summary:

At the heart of any organisation are the human resources -- the people, who through their skills and expertise, create the brand image of an organisation.

This case study focuses on how one of the world's best known motor car brands - Audi, is developing its Technicians, the skilled employees who are at the forefront of providing service excellence.

Audi Technicians are responsible for clearly understanding individual customers' needs, actively diagnosing faults and providing optimum repair and service solutions to exceed customer expectations.

The heritage of a premium brand is important - research has shown that Audi drivers like to be associated with a long and successful premium brand.

Training is the process of enabling employees to develop the skills which enable them to better contribute to meeting the organisation's objectives.

For Audi this includes acquiring the skills that enable employees to deliver its brand values and to keep abreast with technological change.

• The emphasis placed on training and development at Audi means that:

• Audi UK benefits from having highly skilled Technicians who are able to enhance the Audi Brand

• dealerships benefit from having high quality, enterprising and motivated employees who are confident, independent and provide a high quality service

• customers benefit from knowing that they will always come first, and that their expectations are exceeded by highly skilled Technicians and other Audi Centre team members

• employees benefit through the identification of their development needs, and then developing the skills that enable them to become more effective and motivated.

For most people, personal development involves having a career path that enables them to take on more and more responsibility.

An Audi Apprentice plays a key role in the continuous development of the Audi brand.

Audi apprenticeships are available for key business areas including Vehicle Technicians, Parts Personnel, Body Repairers and Body Finishers.

By way of recognition, Apprentices are invited to a graduation day by Audi UK to celebrate the successful completion of their studies.

Their training involves the development of technical excellence and the ability to work with leading edge technology coupled with an understanding of customer expectations through direct customer contact and building relationships.

Learning outcomes:

As a result of carefully reading this case study, students should be able to:

• understand the nature of a premium brand and how reputation develops over time

• identify the important contribution that human resources make to brand image

• know the difference between training and development

• understand the importance of career progression in motivation

• show how a Training Needs Analysis can be applied to identify training and development targets for individuals

• appreciate the technical expertise required by Technicians

• understand why careful recruitment processes are required to identify individuals who best fit the culture of an organisation

• appreciate the Technician's role and potential career paths available for automotive engineers, which is being driven by technological change.