Automotive News celebrated the Best Dealerships to Work For 2019 at a gala dinner and awards show in Chicago on Thursday, September 19. The annual awards program recognizes dealerships across the country that have come up with the right formula to attract and retain workers in today’s competitive hiring market.
What makes the Best Dealerships to Work For 2019 stand out from other dealerships? We’ve outlined some similarities between the winners below.
1. Top Dealerships Sell Their Open Roles Like Their Products
Given historically-low unemployment and limited interest in dealership careers, the Best Dealerships to Work For understand the importance of having an effective recruitment and hiring strategy in place. People are a dealership’s main source of competitive advantage, so it’s critical to build a team of qualified employees who drive productivity and profitability.
As reported in Automotive News, executives included on the Best Dealerships to Work For list indicated job listings (job descriptions) as a key factor in successful hiring.
To stand out in today’s top job market, the most successful dealers have compelling job descriptions that answer the “What’s in it for me?” question for job seekers. Rather than only outlining the open role’s requirements and responsibilities, these job descriptions include an engaging company overview section and a comprehensive list of benefits to get top job seekers excited about joining their team.
Hireology Co-Founder and CEO, Adam Robinson, spoke with Automotive News on this topic and said, “Your dealership’s employment brand and your dealership’s employment brand are not separate… Just as a vehicle description is designed with a certain customer in mind, a job description should be similarly targeted.”
2. They Think Outside the Box with Recruitment Efforts
Executives featured on the Best Dealerships to Work for were asked about their recruitment techniques. Dealers today are more proactive than ever before when it comes to hiring – and continuously think of unique ways to attract top talent.
Beyond traditional means to share open roles, such as posting on job boards and working with recruiters, dealers have come up with new ideas to stand out in today’s competitive hiring market. Dealers are increasingly investing in creating compelling careers pages on their website, to help job seekers envision what it would be like to work on their team. Others on the list have tapped into social media to reach younger job seekers.
Many dealers also rely on word-of-mouth – or referrals – to attract qualified candidates for their open roles. For example, many dealers are involved in their local communities and know word of their open roles will spread to the community quickly. They also attend local job fairs – or host job fairs directly at their dealerships – to gain exposure in the local community.
Other dealers even recruit their own customers. In a survey to the 100 Best Dealerships to Work For, more than half of respondents said they hire customers for jobs at their stores. This offers many benefits, including hiring someone who is already familiar with and likes the brand, and decreasing the overall time to hire.
3. Effective Training Programs are a Top Priority
Once qualified job seekers are hired, it’s important to keep them engaged – or they won’t hesitate to seek other job opportunities elsewhere. Today’s top talent is looking for much more than an exchange of time for money and instead want to grow in their careers with their employers. To meet this demand, many of the Best Dealerships to Work For are placing an emphasis on improving their training programs.
Top dealers have a variety of training opportunities available to employees today. Some training programs are intended to help employees grow directly in their career paths, while others help employees switch to different departments or stores.
Many of the dealers on the Best Dealerships to Work for List ensure their employees have plenty of one-on-one time with either their managers or an expert who has been in a similar role for a long time. This enables these employees to have hands-on training and ask any questions they may have along the way. By meeting directly with their manager or supervisor, this also helps employees better understand what’s expected of them and what they’ll need to do to move up the career ladder.
Other dealers focus on classroom or online course-related training, and bring in outside vendors or experts ro run training sessions. By investing in training, the most successful dealers ultimately make their employees feel valued and motivated to continue growing with the organization.
By focusing on hiring and engaging qualified talent, your dealership can earn such accolades as the Automotive News Best Dealerships to Work For. For additional tips on how to attract top talent in today’s tight labor market, read our resource, “The Top 50 Automotive Dealership Job Descriptions.”
