General manager: Alfred Khouri

Dealership group: Lithia Motors

Full-time employees: 52

Client Relations Manager Dawn McAdam on learning how to be a better employer from managing through the pandemic: “Management has and will pay close attention to employees’ mental health and their well-being. We check in with them to see how they are feeling, and we encourage employees to do stress-relieving activities such as using the stress balls, stretching at their desk, deep breathing and listening to calming music.”

Service Manager Alan Palma on long-term changes in hiring or employment practices because of the pandemic: “Our company has adopted virtual recruiting; our hiring practices include Zoom and GoToMeeting, which help the human resources team engage and evaluate candidates. Training is now all web-based.”

General Sales Manager Leo Yam on improving employee retention: “We encourage all our employees to give us feedback on how we are doing as a dealership. We connect with all employees daily. We do mentorships; a new employee is matched with an experienced employee so that the new employee gets training and support from day one. We promote from within to give our employees an opportunity to grow.”