Digital Dealer - September 2019 - 8

D E A L E R OP S & M ANAGEM ENT: L e a d e r shi p Continued from pg. 7

been recognized as one of
those leaders who make it
happen. But then comes the
hard part. Dan, like the rest,
has to come to terms with
the fact that occasionally an
employee is just not working
out. The interesting thing to
note is the process by which
Dan goes about addressing
this problem.
Dan's Firing Process:
Why is it so (seemingly) hard to do? There are
multiple reasons, but one
of the most telling is what it
says about us; if you hired
the person, firing them
means you made a mistake. No one likes to admit
they made a mistake, so
the act of letting someone
go makes them feel like a
failure.
Some managers, rather
than facing the facts and
cutting ties, make excuses
so they don't have to let the
person go. The manager
doesn't coach the employee
to improve or provide any
training, rather they hope
the person improves and
the situation resolves itself
(note: it never resolves
itself).
As a manager, you have
to check your ego, take a
step back, and look at the
situation from an unbiased
perspective.
1) Does the employee
know what is expected of
him/her in their job functions? Is everything laid out
clearly in the job description? When they were hired,
were the supervisor's expectations outlined and agreed
upon between employee
and employer? Too many
times, an employee will say,
8

SEPTEMBER 2019

"No one ever told me I had
to do (insert performance
metric)." If the answer to the
original question is yes, then
I can proceed to the next
step. If the answer is no, I
have to stop, go back, and
counsel with the employee
and lay these expectations
out. It's like telling a football
player to go score a touchdown, but you don't tell them
where the goal line is!
2) Does the person have
all the tools and training to
accomplish what is expected

cally "get it."
3) Has the person been
counseled with about their
performance? If the first time
they're hearing that they're
not meeting performance
standards is when you're
firing them, you've done a
poor job (tough to hear, I
know). Go back to question one and outline what
is expected of them. Have
regular meetings (whatever
the cadence is) to help them
get and stay on track. You or
their immediate supervisor

GOOD FORTUNES
CAN COME YOUR WAY
BY STRENGTHENING
YOUR TEAM. REMEMBER,
FAITH AND FEAR BOTH
DEMAND YOU BELIEVE IN
SOMETHING YOU CAN'T
SEE. CHOOSE WISELY."
of them? This is another one
that I learned the hard way.
To expect someone to get
hired and just "get it" from
day one is rather foolish.
People want to be led, and
part of leadership is providing training and tools to get
the job done! I can't expect
a technician to perform a
four-wheel alignment if we
don't have an alignment
rack, right? So why do we
(wrongly) assume that other
employees will just figure
out how to sell a car, desk a
deal or sell products in the
finance department? We
need to have our processes
written down, documented,
and trained. If not, failure is
imminent because you're
not likely to attract a bunch
of people who just automati-

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

is responsible for coaching them up and keeping
them as part of the team. If
multiple sessions have been
held and the employee still
isn't able to keep up, then
letting them go may be in
the cards.
Only after going through
all of these steps should
you proceed with the difficult
conversation ahead. Have
another manager present
with you, just to make sure
nothing is misconstrued or
misunderstood. Rather than
just firing them, however, I
learned a technique from
an acquaintance at Procter
& Gamble a few years ago.
During their annual reviews,
when they look to replace
people at the bottom of their
performance ladder, they

tell them that they have a
specific amount of time to
go out and find another job
before they are replaced. It
allows them to "save face"
and put a more positive spin
on it.
Does this work all of the
time? No. Most of the time
the employee is still in shock
but giving them a 'heads up'
to look for something else,
works out better in the long
run (I think).
There you go, some
good heads up from Dan.
By following most of the
aforementioned guidelines
to strengthen your dealership, you will engage your
management team into a
new way of thinking. And,
you just might rouse some
of those latent ideas stuck
deep in the minds of your
team. Communications is
a wonderful thing and can
launch you towards a more
productive and growth-oriented pathway. Good
fortunes can come your way
by strengthening your team.
Remember, both faith and
fear demand that you believe in something you can't
see. Choose wisely.
If you're interested in
taking this business concept
to the next level, email
Chuck@impactgroupcrm.
com, and I'll send you a
document that can help.
Of course, you don't have
to accept these ideas, but
at the least, get some help
from somewhere.
CHUCK BARKER is
president and founder of
Impact Marketing & Consulting
Group in Virginia. EMAIL:
Chuck@impactgroupcrm.com
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Digital Dealer - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - September 2019
