February 2020

FEBRUARY 2020 AFTERMARKET 11 Below: Hayley Pells www.aftermarketonline.net he is talking about. It is quite awkward when that technician has to say 'I am sorry, I can't help you, you need to speak to the lady who was dealing with you'. I don't think people do it deliberately, it is just the way people think. 'You are a man, you must know what you are talking about'. The customers are totally oblivious to the fact that they are doing it." It's not just customers though: "I also organise some of the training. I have people ring up and say 'I need to speak to somebody about the training', and I say that would be me. You can almost hear them go 'oh really?' And I tell them that I organise it alongside my colleague, who at that moment is probably under a bonnet. For us it can be a bit of a struggle, as we do get these slight knock-backs because we are female. On the positive side, we do have that different outlook." Multi-tasking The theory is that women are Better at multi-tasking. Tina observed: "Yes - we do multi-task. We can do more than one thing. I also find on my HR role, that women are generally more approachable. If a member of staff, male or female, has an issue, they will find it much easier to approach a female rather than a male. Especially if it is a bit of a sensitive subject. "I recently did a mental health first aid course through St John's Ambulance. It is a big thing, especially in our industry, which is so male dominated. There is so much in the news about men and mental health, and the stigma that is attached to it. It came out on the course, and lots of people said it, male and female, that they find women much more approachable if they have an issue, especially regarding mental health." When asked if women could be doing more for the industry, Tina said: "We could have more women than we do. I know there are some female technicians out there, and female MOT testers, which I think is absolutely fabulous. There are lots of opportunities. One of the things I did recently was implement a company vision, and company values. If you are a male, and if you are a technician, you are just focused on 'let's get that car fixed'. You don't look at the whole picture. Whether that is just a business mind, or whether you are male or female doesn't come into it. I think a lot of people would benefit, more than just the fact of having more women in the workforce. I think we bring something totally unique. It is just in our genetic makeup." Tina added: "Sometimes, even in that front of house role, a woman brings a completely different atmosphere. I also think, rightly or wrongly, if a woman comes in they will feel happier speaking to a female member of staff. You can't change a person's mindset or how they think, but if more garages had female members of staff, especially independent garages, it becomes the norm. Then people won't look at it as being unusual.” Statistics On the issue of females in the workshop, Hayley Pells owner of Avia Autos, based in Bridgend, had this to say at the IAAF Conference in December: "The world is not awash with people wanting to hire female mechanics. I know, it's shocking." She then provided a stark statistic that highlights the situation rather well: "Out of 60,000 MOT testers, only around 300 are women." She added, "This kind of makes me a Spartan, and that's why I am wearing scarlet," referring to the work gear she was wearing in contrast to the hall full of suits sitting starting back at her, as well as the red capes of the eponymous 300 as seen in the 2006 film. Hayley does not just talk the talk, she also walks the walk, and tries to address the imbalance: "I am an industry consultant for the Welsh government and I specialise in the automotive sector. Also, as a business actively involved in our local community, I work with Big Ideas Wales, which is part of Business Wales. This is encouraging young people to enter our sector. I serve on the Welsh government consultation panel, encouraging entrepreneurship in Wales. This means actively going out to schools and further education environments, and talking to people to see if we can turn their ideas into a business that is sustainable and that will help to grow our economy. We are also very active offering work experience in local schools." She added wryly: "I don't know if I mentioned this, but there are not many women in our industry. Actually, I might have said it once or twice. I do have a lot of young women coming into the workshop to learn the ropes. This is something they are not barred from. This is something they can do." Statements On solutions, Hayley observed: "I am not interested in equality of outcome. We are where we are. What we need to do is to come in when children are forming ideas about what gender is, and move it forward from there. The youngest age group I deal with in my work with the Welsh government are between six and eight years old. We make statements about gender without verbalising them. I will go into the classroom, and we will have a little project with a toy car. Just being a female in that environment, dressed the way I am dressed, it makes a statement without hammering it home. I work with other women - female firefighters, female surgeons etc. They all go into the classroom in their work clothes. We just need to work from where we are." What do you think about the status of women in our industry? Is progress really being made? Have you say by emailing the Editor on: alex@ aftermarket .co.uk