Introducing Insights: The data you need to hire smarter.

Creative Onboarding Tips to Promote Employee Engagement at Your Dealership

Retaining great employees is important for all businesses. But in sectors that rely on skilled labor, like dealerships, it’s even more critical as your bottom line depends entirely on your business being fully staffed with the very best. So when you hire someone you’re excited about, retention should be top of mind.

One of the easiest things you can do to keep your new employees happy at your dealership long-term is to provide an exceptional onboarding program. Recent Hireology research found that 85% of automotive industry workers who reported a positive onboarding experience say they’re loyal to their current employers, compared to just 39% of those who reported a negative onboarding experience. Simply put, if you show your new employees that you value them from day one, they’ll want to keep working for you.

The key to an effective onboarding program is engagement. Onboarding should never be a one-way conversation where someone from HR gives a tour, asks the new employee to fill out some paperwork, and then leaves them to figure out the ropes alone. It should be a memorable and interactive experience that sets the tone for what it’s like to work at your dealership long-term. It should get your new employees excited and ready to start contributing.

Now, we know you’re busy and it takes time to get something like this right — time you could be spent doing other things like recruiting your next hire or making a sale. But the efforts you invest in planning for this now will pay off big time, especially as we quickly approach pre-pandemic levels of unemployment. Here are five creative onboarding tips to promote employee engagement at your dealership:

Eliminate the paperwork

Your employee’s first week should never be spent doing paperwork. This is the time you set aside for them to get comfortable and feel confident about their new role. They should learn about the organization’s values, form relationships with the team, and complete the training necessary for them to do their jobs well. Tasks like filling out tax forms and enrolling in benefits can be completed digitally before the employee even shows up for their first day. 

Define a consistent and structured program

First impressions matter. And if you’ve put little to no thought into the content and structure of your onboarding program, your employee will likely have a sour first impression of your dealership. Take time to clearly define the structure of the program so that it’s smooth and makes your new hire feel like you really care about their experience. Your program should also be the same for all roles — from sales associates to technicians — leaving no room for inconsistency from new hire to new hire. 

Offer more than just orientation

Great onboarding is much more than just an introduction to the dealership’s history. While it’s certainly important for new team members to understand the basics of your organization, they also need to be set up to succeed in the role you hired them for. For example, if their role requires them to use software they’re unfamiliar with, make sure they get that training during onboarding. That way, when they’re done with onboarding they feel supported and prepared to meaningfully contribute right away.

Make it a celebration

Starting a new job is a big life milestone. Your onboarding program should reflect that. Give your new hires gifts like branded t-shirts and water bottles to welcome them to the team and show that you’re excited about their first day. Also, schedule a lunch or casual meeting strictly to celebrate your new hire and get to know their hobbies, family life, and other interests. Little things like this go a long way in making new hires feel like your company is the place for them long-term.

Provide mentorship opportunities

Even the best onboarding programs end. And no matter how well you set your new hires up for success, you risk losing that connection you formed with them at the company level as they dig into their role. A mentorship program — where you pair the employee with someone outside of their immediate team — gives new hires a reason to stay connected to the broader organization. Plus it gives them someone to go to for support and guidance who isn’t their direct supervisor.

Of course no onboarding program is perfect from day one. Give your new hires a chance to provide feedback a few weeks or a month after their start date. Take their feedback seriously and continuously optimize and improve on your program over time. 

Ready to improve your onboarding program? Take a virtual tour of Hireology’s digital onboarding functionality today.

Author:

Share:

Get our hiring insights delivered right to your inbox

We think it’s uncool to send spam, so we promise we won't.

By subscribing you agree with the Terms and Privacy Policy

Attract & Source
A diversified strategy helps find and attract the right people faster, while building a pipeline of qualified candidates for every role.
Features:
Job Boards
New
Career Sites
AI
Referrals
QR Codes
Campaigns
Engage & Evaluate
Leading-edge tools enhance candidate experience, and help teams to connect, dig deeper, and assess with consistency.
Features:
SMS
New
Email
AI
AI / Automation
Prescreen Survey
Interview Scheduling
Decision & Hiring
Hireology helps to get hiring to the top of the to-do list with real-time prompts and reminders that can be accessed and acted upon from a mobile device.
Features:
Background Check
New
Offer Letter
AI
References
Testing
Interview Guides
Manage & Optimize
Transformative tools drive next-level hiring solutions which align teams, sharpen focus on priorities, and drive growth.
Features:
Action Center
New
Collaboration Tools
AI
Reqs & Approvals
Mobile App
Onboarding
Selection Manager
Measure & Improve
Tools for measuring improvement and evaluating impact provide visibility into what’s working and what needs improvement among every role, team, and location.
Features:
Hiring Velocity
Hiring Funnel
Hiring Steps
Sourcing Performance
User Activity
New
Feature Placeholder
AI
“I need consistency across locations without more red tape.”
Easy-to-adopt tools that fit with existing flows drive the transition from scattered to standardized.
"I need to surface the best candidates quickly — before we lose them."
Hireology helps you identify top candidates early in the process, and gives your team the tools to evaluate and act fast, without cutting corners.
"I need more right-fits, not just more resumes."
By building a hiring portfolio from multiple sources, and optimizing it in real time, Hireology helps to ensure optimal alignment between candidate skills and job requirements.
"I need control over how we manage resources, timelines, and outcomes."
Hireology gives you the tools to create structure, enforce consistency, and stay informed – all without needing to personally manage every step.
"I need candidates who actually show up, stick around, and succeed."
Hireology helps to raise the bar at every stage, attracting stronger candidates, evaluating for long-term fit, and supporting a better start.
"I need accountability so hiring doesn't fall through the cracks."
By easily assigning roles and tracking activity, Hireology makes it easy to enforce timelines, and keep everyone on track.
"I need visibility into what's working, what's not, and where things stall."
Hireology helps you see across every role, team, and location, so you can take action with confidence, knowing what’s working, what’s not, and what’s getting in the way of hiring momentum.
"I need fewer unfilled positions — those are revenue-killers."
Fast access to the right fits and accountability built into process flows helps to keep your teams fully staffed and productive.
"I need to make it simple for managers who are
on the go.
"
Recruitment tools that easily integrate into day-to-day realities of the job, help managers to hire well, without dropping what matters most.
“I need to make applying fast and easy.”
A fast, mobile-friendly, low-friction application experience helps to keep job seekers engaged from the first click to the final step.
Automotive
Dealership department heads are on-the-go, not at a desk. Hireology offers purpose-built retail automotive solutions that provide speed and structure for smarter staffing.
Healthcare
With an expert focus on the realities of healthcare staffing, Hireology helps teams to move efficiently to build a pipeline of qualified, committed care providers across all facilities.
Hospitality
Hireology’s hiring service-centric hiring solutions for hospitality helps managers to move fast, stay consistent, and staff smarter.