Incentive - January 2008 - (Page 29)

“ The dealers feel that the incentive plan the last few years was more of a strongarm tactic than anything else.”– Jim Schroer, Carlson Marketing only once, the remaining employees likely would have moved on and focused on the new direction, and the early grumblings wouldn’t have been able to snowball,” adds Silverstein. “When an executive acts fast, people see the effects of change sooner, and they more quickly come to trust that he made the right moves.” interaction; this started even before October’s dealers meeting. For instance, “the dealers know the system is overfranchised, but corporate has to facilitate dealer decisions to buy out underperformers,” says Schroer. “Press will have control in how easy or hard the experience will be for everyone.” Lastly, Nardelli acquiesced when Press pushed to scrap the existing incentive program, called the Volume Performance Allowance, to which dealers had long been hostile because quotas were deemed THE CHRYSLER CHRONICLES Nardelli appears determined not to make the same mistakes at Chrysler. His actions so far have been quick and substantial: the favorable conclusion of the UAW talks, which included tens of thousands of immediate job cuts and no guarantees on specific factories remaining open beyond five years. Then there were the decisions to eliminate several car models and slash the number of dealers. But perhaps as important is that on the evidence of his first few months at Chrysler, it seems that Nardelli recognizes the things he does not master. “That is a rare trait for an auto company’s CEO,” says Carlson’s Schroer, who was executive vice president of global sales, marketing and service for DaimlerChrysler, then Chrylser’s owner, from 2000 to 2003, and whose responsibilities included helping to coordinate the annual dealers meeting. So one of Nardelli’s earliest moves to strengthen corporate’s credibility and communications with its dealers was to lure industry luminary Jim Press away from Toyota, where dealer relations are renowned. The former president of Toyota’s North American operations is now Chrysler’s vice chairman and president (a title shared with Chrysler veteran Tom LaSorda). But Press’ task, frankly, is this: Shore up relations with dealers by being in the field as often as possible, listen to their ideas and concerns, develop his own ideas from what he hears, and use all of that to make changes quickly that will help the dealers sell more cars. “Nardelli probably thought, ‘Okay, I’ve never managed a cardealer network before,’ and he wasn’t famous for motivating the rank and file at the store level,” says Schroer. “But he saw that the top-ranked showroom experience in the auto industry was that of Lexus, and that Jim Press was the one in charge of that experience. Nardelli managed to land a world-class talent in a hurry, and that boosted his credibility with dealers.” And as Nardelli attempts to shrink the bloated dealer network to keep more dealers focused on selling Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, he’s willing to let Press handle the lion’s share of the Poor communications with employees and stockholders destroyed Nardelli at The Home Depot; he’s determined not to make the same mistake at Chrysler Photos: AP Photo/Jerry S. Mendoza incentivemag.com | January 2008 | Incentive | 29 http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - January 2008

Incentive - January 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Out of SITE In The News Cover Story: Include a Meeting, Improve Morale Case Study: DHL Delivers Recognition Incentive Primer: How To Use Promo Products How Bob Nardelli Rallied Chrysler’s Dealers Incentive Interview: Ken Blanchard Says Be Nice TV’s Extreme Makeover Motivates Giving Pre-Employment Motivation The Daycare Dilemma Happy Employees Shouldn’t Mix with Sick Employees Incentive Research: Consumer Promotions Report In Her Shoes: Winning Approval Of Flextime Travel News Field Report: Barcelona Field Report: Bermuda Golf: Follow The Pros potentials Here and Now Watches As Jewelry Awards: Online Gift Cards Tech Gadgets for 2008 Last Word: Stanley Bing Bashes Bully Bosses

Incentive - January 2008

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