Your technicians are your product. Everything the customer experiences runs through their hands. Hire well and the rest is easier. Hire badly and no system will save you.

Here is what actually works in Kenya.

Where to find technicians

Three sources produce the best hires:

Referrals from your existing team. They know who is good in the trade.
Technical colleges: Kabete National Polytechnic, Nyeri, and other TVET institutions.
Poaching from a competitor is not recommended. It rarely works and it damages your reputation in the trade.

What to look for beyond skill

Skill is table stakes. The four things that predict success are:

Punctuality. Show up on time for the interview and be on time for the first month.
Honesty about what they do not know. Overconfident technicians cause rework.
Willingness to be corrected. A technician who argues with a QC inspection is a problem.
Cleanliness. A technician who leaves their tools scattered will leave parts scattered too.

The trial task

Do not hire from an interview alone. Give every candidate a paid half-day trial with a real job card. Watch how they:

Inspect a vehicle
Log their findings
Ask for parts
Handle a customer interaction

A skilled technician who cannot log properly will cost you more than an average technician who follows the process.

Onboarding

The first two weeks determine whether the hire works. Structure them:

Week 1: shadow an experienced technician on every job. Do not touch a job card alone.
Week 2: handle simple jobs solo, with QC on everything.
Week 3 onwards: full jobs with spot QC on one in five.

Pay structure

Base salary plus a productivity bonus works better than flat pay. But the bonus must reward the right things:

Billable hours
Customer satisfaction scores
Rework rate below target

A bonus based only on volume encourages rushed work. A bonus on volume plus quality keeps both aligned.

Retention

Technicians leave for three reasons: pay, boredom, or a bad boss.

Pay you can address. Boredom you address by giving them harder jobs as they grow. Bad boss is on you.

Training is continuous

Every month, run a 90-minute training session on either a new vehicle system, a new diagnostic tool, or a customer interaction skill. Rotate the lead so different technicians teach.

How Gariclaim helps

Gariclaim tracks each technician’s jobs, billed hours, and rework rate. You can see who is productive, who is idle, and who is generating returns.

The job card history for each technician becomes an informal performance record, which makes promotions and bonuses easier to justify.

Start a free trial and build a team you can rely on.

How to Hire and Train Garage Technicians in Kenya