Fixed Ops Journal - October 2022 - F20

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
FIXED OPS JOURNAL FORUM WEEK 2
ALL ABOUT CULTURE
Hiring and retaining means putting workers fi rst
L
ike many industries, the automotive
sector has had trouble hiring and retaining
staff
since the pandemic
changed things. What obstacles
are service departments facing
when it comes to bringing on new staff ? What
can dealerships do to retain more workers?
A panel of industry staffi ng experts off ered
advice on those questions and others in the
second installment of the 2022 Fixed Ops
Journal Forum.
Panelists were Jay Goninen, co-founder and
president of WrenchWay; Joel Furno, founder
and CEO of Citrin; and Meredith Collins,
managing director at Ducker Carlisle.
Here are edited highlights.
Hiring and retention challenges
Goninen: Th e risk right now is that it's not
just [techs] leaving one dealership to go to another;
they're leaving the industry. It puts us
in a really bad position because they have a
perception that there's no diff erence between
dealership A and dealership B - they're going
to get treated the same way. So I think being
able to paint the picture [of] the dealerships
that do a good job of taking care of their
people, being able to show off that they are a
good place to work is so important right now
because there's a lot of technicians who don't
think there are good places to work.
Furno: Th e challenge is twofold. From a recruiting
standpoint, everyone in every industry
is short on hourly frontline employees. So
dealers are not only competing against other
dealers, but also Chick-fi l-A, Target, Costco.
Every other segment across industries is looking
for the same work force of 17- to 24-yearolds
who are primarily serving the industry as
porters.
Making the jobs more appealing
Goninen: It's really having somebody listen
to your goals, your dreams. I think being able
to lend an ear to these technicians is so important
right now and doing it in an authentic
way. If you know the names of the folks in
their family, you know who they are at a personal
level. Th ere's so much more stickiness
PAGE 20 OCTOBER 2022
to that because they feel like you care about
them. And if you treat them like a number and
are surprised when people are leaving you,
that's on you. You've got to be able to be better
as a manager and as a leader to really have
their best interests in mind.
Furno: It starts with a competitive pay wage.
We've seen hourly wages for the frontline employee
go up at a faster percentage than in almost
any other sector since COVID. From
there, fl exible scheduling around their other
obligations. It's really important they can pursue
their dreams and college potentially while
they're working a part-time or full-time job.
Next up is career advancement. Th is generation
specifi cally wants to know the " why " behind
why they should show up and care about
working on a service drive all day. So showing
them the career progression, the opportunities
that exist. And then fi nally, respect. Folks
on the frontline have to be treated well. Th ey
have to be protected, trained and onboarded
appropriately versus just thrown out to the
service to fend for themselves. Dealers have to
keep in mind that these kids are able to get on
their cellphone and fi nd a job within a day if
they come to work and they're not treated
well. Culture is really everything that drives
our ability to retain great people.
What dealerships can do
Goninen: Oftentimes dealerships say people
are our No. 1 priority. Yeah, it's No. 100 on our todo
list, right? Th at's got to change; we've got to
put more priority to this and actually have our
actions match what we're saying. We see it all the
time - we get busy, we're putting out fi res every
single day. But if people truly are your No. 1 priority,
let's move them up the list. Let's make it an
actual action item each and every day. Th at's going
to help you signifi cantly when it comes to talent
retention and repayment.
Collins: From a recruitment standpoint and
to get people excited, dealers can focus more
on the future of the automotive industry with
EVs and autonomous vehicles and new opportunities
like mobile service. Th e industry is
changing so fast and at the dealership level we
have access to that new technology fi rst. And a
lot of the folks we're hiring in are excited
about working on this new technology. So
playing that up and playing into the strengths
of sort of the cool cutting-edge nature of how
this industry is moving. Making sure your
dealership really refl ects that goes a long way
[to] getting the excitement level up and building
the culture of people being proud to work
in such an exciting industry.
- Dan Shine
Fixed Ops Journal - October 2022

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