There is an age-old saying that “if you treat your employees well, they will be happy and then they will deliver great service”, which drives business success.  This is common knowledge right?  Why then, is it so hard to make it a reality? In today’s busy world, where there are plenty of jobs to go around (for those who want them), achieving this ideal state is becoming almost impossible.  We have a workforce where employees have big expectations, and to make matters even more complex, our customers are smart and service savvy with even bigger expectations.

Yup, this new workplace is playing havoc on the auto industry too!  We have not gone unscathed.  Dealers don’t know what to do with their new reality and many are not equipped to get a handle on it.  Turnover rates in dealerships are rapidly increasing across North America.  This problem is taking centre stage and in the most recent NADA report, they opened the conversation highlighting the fact that turnover for sales consultants is 67% and about 40% overall. Factor in just the tangible costs associated with hiring and onboarding and you are looking at $16,000 per employee; then scale that across all dealerships in North America and you have a multibillion-dollar problem that needs to be addressed.

Time is of the essence and dealers must take a proactive stance in setting up their operation to recruit better.  But even more important than recruiting, is creating a business operations model that is able to foster a happy workplace.

“You can’t just have a pizza party once a quarter and expect to have happy employees. It is deeper than that” says our President of The Minery, Heather Macpherson who has worked in automotive for over 15 years helping her clients do just that.  It takes hard work to be a great dealership and creating happy employees must be something that the leaders commit to achieving at all times.

Three Things To Do to get you started:

1. Build a plan and then stick to it! Make sure the plan is comprehensive and touches on all the areas that impact happiness.
2. Work at the plan and don’t ever stop pursuing it. Creating a happy workplace is a lifestyle choice.  It’s like if you choose to be a healthy person you have to exercise and eat right, not just for a month but forever.  Workplace success is just like that!
3. Get your new employees ramped up as quickly as possible. Always try to WOW them as soon as they walk through the front door!

Written by Brianna Newman, Director of Partnerships at The Minery.  

During her time at The Minery, Brianna has been submerged in the dealership world.  Learning how it operates and what makes the dealership workplace and culture tick.  She is a people expert and is inspired to find new ways to help dealers be the best and deliver better client experiences.  Her motto is, “there is no finish line”.