In today’s business climate we are all trying to cut cost. I am not only an IICRC-approved instructor, I too own and operate a restoration business. We have all been there, we get busy and lose sight of the little things that made our business successful. Couple that with the younger generation of technicians entering the work force that learn and retain knowledge completely different than past generations and the need for ongoing hands-on training is critical to keep your business running efficiently and profitably. Insurance carriers have recognized this and are sending more adjusters to flood houses for hands-on training than ever before.
Yesterday’s technician only needed to be able to perform physical labor such as extraction, demolition, equipment setup and monitoring. The readings taken during monitoring were not even required to be turned in for billing! Today’s technician is a whole different animal. There is an ever-growing trend for real-time information. Just in the past 5 years, we have progressed from turning in a spreadsheet at the end of a claim to now having an app that captures in real-time atmospheric and moisture contents readings, crew arrival time, job start time, job completion time and more. The office staff and the carrier can analyze this data the minute the technician enters it. I don’t know about you, but that is a little scary to think about. We are in the midst of a dynamic shift in information gathering. Today, more than ever, information can be obtained by the click of a mouse.