Automotive News - June 10, 2019 - Bank of America - S7

Enable time off

Make the investment in training

Study after study shows that one of the things that
matter most to employees - millennials in particular -
is work-life balance. "When you ask people about
benefits they want, time off is often the biggest
issue," says Ford, who notes that many dealerships offer
employees only one week of paid time off a year. "In a
world where we can't find service techs, we can't compete
with other industries that offer regular vacation schedules
as part of the job," she says. "Not only do we instantly
diminish our talent pool with that kind of schedule, we
work these people so hard, they get burned out or lose
productivity." But if you enact a flexible scheduling plan
or offer weekends off or additional paid vacation, you
also must make sure people feel OK taking that time off.
"Not only do we need as an industry to offer more time
off, but even more, we need to adjust our attitude toward
taking that time off so that employees don't feel guilty or
stressed out when they're not on the job," Ford says.

Ford says one of the biggest things a dealership can do
is invest in development and training, both to help new
employees succeed and help veteran employees keep
growing. "You can't just put new hires through three
days of training - or none at all - and put them on the
floor," she says. "The best dealerships are committed to
making sure their new employees know every aspect of
the job with a 30- or 60-day program, because they don't
want to lose a sale based on a bad hire."

Offer competitive benefits
"When we survey employers and employees, we find that
benefits play a big role in employment choices, and one
that's increasing every year," says Kevin Crain, head of
Enterprise Financial Solutions for Bank of America. For
many job seekers, taking a job is not just about their salary
but also a competitive benefits package - including not
just traditional benefits like health care insurance and
paid time off but maternity/paternity leave or educational
opportunities.

Create a pipeline for diverse talent
To build and support a diverse workforce, let women, young
people and ethnic minorities know what opportunities exist
at your dealership. "Advertise your job openings with content
that says, 'This is a place where everyone can succeed,' "
Robinson says. "And particularly highlight success stories of
women or minority techs, salespeople and managers in a
way that is robust and public-facing." For Lester of NAMAD,
attracting a diverse group of employees "starts with the
owner or a leader taking the initiative, going into high
schools, community colleges or university campuses
and finding pockets of people of color - and then do a
better job of making the industry attractive and sexy to
young people. We have not done a good job of promoting
all the opportunities available at dealerships, from HR and
marketing to engineering and accounting jobs," Lester says.

Present plenty of opportunity for
career advancement
Employees, particularly millennials, want regular promotions.
To create a feeling of achievement and regular advancement,
Ford suggests breaking up jobs into a variety of experience
levels. On the sales side, for instance, an employee could
progress through positions including trainee, junior
demonstration specialist, sales assistant, product specialist
and then various salesperson levels.

Set a path for promotion

Keeping some of these entry-level positions filled can
help a dealership develop a "bench" for future openings.
And although much of the auto industry's emphasis is
rightly on new employees, Ford says dealership staffers
typically reach their most productive point at about the
three-year mark. It's important not only to get them to
that mark but also to keep them engaged with recognition
and continue to challenge them with new opportunities
to grow. NAMAD's Lester says he has seen dealerships
succeed by presenting career opportunities both verbally
and in chart form to new employees. "On the day someone
is hired, present them with a flow chart so they can see a
salary track, future job options and be told: You can do this
in six months or a year," he says. "That is powerful."

BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH

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Automotive News - June 10, 2019 - Bank of America

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