General manager: Kevin Grant

Dealership group: Lithia Motors

Full-time employees: 54

Grant on changes to employment practices because of recent industry disruptions like the inventory crisis: “Our biggest change was to start hiring for personality. We can train everything else, but having that great attitude that’s ready to take on the world and not take ‘no’ for an answer isn’t taught.”

Grant on improving employee retention: “We have a three-interview minimum for all new hires. When we bring someone onto our team, it’s like accepting another family member. We don’t take it lightly. We found that when you hire slow and make sure it’s a right fit for not only the dealership but the applicant, then the retention takes care of itself.”

Fixed Ops Director Efrain Lopez on offering a long-term career path: “Our dealership is very good about giving our employees a clear-cut career path. We have sales managers and service advisers in the same meetings. We teach everyone all aspects of the business, and we found we can reach extremely high performance when everyone is on the same page.”

Grant on best practices to improve operations: “One thing about our store that sets us apart is we have daily manager meetings where sales managers, pre-owned managers, service managers and parts managers sit in the same room and learn what the other departments are doing and why they’re doing it. It’s a great atmosphere when your sales manager knows how many hours the service department is tracking. It brings the store together and gets everyone on the same page. We’re each other’s biggest fans.”