Dealer: Ryan LaFontaine

Dealership group: LaFontaine Automotive Group

Full-time employees: 54 

General Sales Manager Jon Bauer on learning how to be a better employer from managing through the pandemic: “The importance of work-life balance was paramount during the pandemic. Our employees had to balance home life, especially those with children and day care and school issues, while still being productive and an important asset to our team. Our culture prioritizes work-life balance, and it was upon us as managers to understand our employees at a personal level and what issues they were navigating, and how we could support them.”

General Manager Josh Sloan on long-term changes in hiring or employment practices because of the pandemic: “We made a big push to attract employees at competitor dealerships that started to put staff on temporary leave and reduced working hours due to inventory shortage. In addition, we had great success in attracting new hires from the hospitality and restaurant business that was also severely impacted during this time.”

Sloan on diversity, equity and inclusion as it relates to hiring and employment: “We’ve always made a point at LaFontaine to have a diverse employee base. We have had great success with employees who speak a different language, too, as they can connect with a group of customers that feel much more comfortable communicating with someone in their native language. This helps build trust and connections.”

Bauer on improving employee retention: “As a group, our retention is significantly higher than the industry benchmark, and we attribute that directly to our hands-on ownership with Ryan and Kelley LaFontaine, and our ‘Family Deal’ culture. We take great effort to treat our employees like members of our family — understanding them on a personal level, what their goals are and how we can reward them for their passion and commitment. We have internal awards programs, including the Maureen LaFontaine Spirit Award. We recognize the qualities of employees who exemplify Maureen’s spirit, passion and heart within our LaFontaine family.”