General manager: Mark Perryman

Dealership group: Patriot Auto Group

Full-time employees: 58

Perryman on changes to employment practices because of recent industry disruptions like the inventory crisis: “We made sure that our associates did not go backwards on their earnings. Work hours were reduced, schedule flexibility increased, but there was no reduction in take-home pay or job benefits. Our changes were responsive, not knee-jerk reactions. We are always going to take care of our associates; they make us who we are. We value the consistency of our staff. Turnover is inefficient.”

Perryman on improving employee retention: “We’re training and compensating more than hiring. This has been our focus the past four years. … As a result of these efforts, we have minimal turnover. We did not lose a single person due to COVID — 98 percent retention in the past two years.”

Perryman on offering a long-term career path: “Educate, compensate, listen to needs and personal goals and find creative solutions. We have sales associates who want to move into [finance and insurance], so we are sending them for training. We hired lot attendants to take care of the cleanliness of the grounds and the inventory who are now sales associates. Technicians have become service advisers and warranty managers.”

Perryman on diversity, equity and inclusion: “What we have, naturally, is a very diverse team; 34 percent of our team is women. We have Asian, Latino, African Americans, LGBTQ teammates across all departments. We hire based on skills, enthusiasm. Experience, too — but we’re not focused just on an automotive background; we look for related fields with transferable skills.”

Perryman on parental leave: “Standard is six weeks, but we moved to 12 weeks. Male or female, we allow for parental leave. We take their annual projected income, divide by 52 and then multiply by 12. For the most part, we are on performance-based incomes, so the individual is compensated fairly based on their performance. We do not charge back against sick pay or vacation time.”