Attract and Retain Good People

by: Ian K. McEwen
President

This is the 1st in a series of articles that are designed to help you – the automotive retailer, attract and retain good people. We are going to give you some helpful hints on hiring specific managerial positions, implementing the right hiring process, good interviewing techniques, checking references correctly and legally, and providing good performance feedback.

HOW DO YOU SELL YOUR STORE TO A POTENTIAL HIRE?

How does your dealership attract the right employees? If you look at the amount of money you spend on advertising your products and services to attract customers, have you taken a serious look at how you present your dealership to attract top notch people?

In our recruiting and management consulting business, we spend a lot of time interviewing and evaluating an individual’s skills, background and personality to ensure a good fit with the client. The candidate’s resumé becomes a personal advertisement to attract your attention. Don’t forget, recruiting is a two-way street; you’re evaluating the candidate, and they’re evaluating you. Your dealership is also on stage, and how you present the job opportunity and your place of business are just as important as reading a good resumé. And it’s OK to take a bow and give yourself an ‘at-a-boy’ pat on the back. Good companies are adept at promoting themselves. Winning dealerships are filled with winning teams, and should therefore attract winners!

So how do you present your dealership and the job opportunity to a prospective employee? We suggest you build a summary just like a resumé. Here is what should be included:

Provide an historical background of the dealership including franchises held, years in business, and name(s) of dealer principal(s).
Outline your support programs in your community. What are you all about? What is your image?
Define your core products, core market area and customers.
Define your current volumes using percentages – new, used, fleet, lease, retail, cars and trucks. Indicate your dealership volume as a comparison to other specific dealers.
What are your Customer Services Ratings as measured by the OEM?
List how many dealer awards you have won.
Outline why the position is open – internal promotion, business growth, etc.
Define your sales support programs including:

Advertising strategies and frequency
Internal dealership incentives/promotions
Indoctrination training schedule
Company benefits
Company vehicle program
Commission structure

Define your hours of operation/shift schedules.
Prepare an organizational chart showing reporting structure.
Outline your current finance and insurance providers.
Outline your computer operating system.

And above all, make sure you have a clearly defined job description. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. We will talk about this in our next article.

Remember, the job opportunity you are presenting is just that – an opportunity! It should NOT be offered to fix a huge problem!