Lithia store nurtures staff with tuition payments, guided onboarding, rewards

DCH Millburn Audi is part of Lithia Motors' growing empire, but it has the feel of a family-run business.

The Maplewood, N.J., dealership has had barbecues for staff, rewarded workers with Audi swag, held quarterly social gatherings and hired relatives of employees.

It's a well-honed recipe for DCH Millburn Audi, the top medium-sized store — a category of dealerships with 50 to 99 employees — on Automotive News' Best Dealerships To Work For list.

The luxury dealership was the overall winner in 2020, and it has been on the list every year since the Best Dealerships program began in 2012.

Employees seem to appreciate the attention. In 2021, staff turnover was 25 percent, less than the industry average of 34 percent that year.

Last year, the store sold 1,105 new and 855 used vehicles. New-vehicle volume declined slightly from 2020 amid a top-to-bottom renovation and the industry's supply chain woes. This year, DCH Millburn Audi's new-vehicle sales through September were down 34 percent, as Audi struggled to maintain production amid supply chain problems.

General Manager Al Khouri attributes his store's success to two lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The first lesson I learned is communication," he said. "People cannot be kept in the dark; you need to communicate with your people."

The second lesson, Khouri said, "is that you have to take care of the employees the way you take care of yourself." That includes gestures large and small.

For example, the store now offers to pay off the tuition bills of service technicians who have graduated from technical school. Those payments — included in the employee's weekly paycheck — can run up to $40,000 over a five-year period, as long as the employee remains at the dealership.

Also, newly hired technicians receive a $2,500 toolkit.

Another example: The dealership has updated an old retail practice of pairing a new sales associate with a veteran.

Under the old system, the rookies would share part of their commissions with the closer. At Millburn Audi, the rookie receives a full 20 percent commission, while the closer's 5 percent take is covered by the store.

New salespeople get a guaranteed base salary for their first 60 days to give them time to learn the ropes.

The system works pretty well, says Leo Yam, Millburn Audi's general sales manager. The store's team of 11 sales associates "has been very stable," Yam said. Four sales staffers have been there more than 20 years.

For a new sales associate, "this is the easiest place to start," he said. At some other stores, by contrast, "you will hear a lot of yelling by management."

Annabelle Aitken appreciates the dealership's supportive atmosphere. Aitken got a job at the dealership last year as F&I manager. Although she had been in retail sales for 20 years — most recently as a Chanel salesperson — she had no dealership experience.

She wanted to switch careers and spotted Millburn Audi's opening during an online job search. "I had no prior car knowledge," she said. "I was so green that I actually had to look up the F&I job" to find out what it entailed.

Lithia and Audi gave her some training, and another manager let her shadow him as he worked with customers. "The other managers have been so helpful," she said. "I knew so little, and I had to learn everything."

After a year on the job, Aitken is gaining confidence, and she expects to hit her stride over the coming year.

"I had to get used to working in a male-dominated industry," she said, "but everyone has been really supportive."

Like other businesses, auto dealerships are struggling to attract good employees. So Khouri has nurtured the careers of nontraditional employees. Aitken is one example. Another is David Mizera, assistant service manager.

He came to Millburn Audi in 2003 to buy a car, but his credit wasn't strong enough, so his father helped him buy it.

"My dad told me I'd have to make the monthly payments," Mizera recalled. "I had to get a job, so the dealership gave me a job parking cars as a porter. And that's how it started. That's how I got my foot in the door."

Mizera, who had studied criminal justice and business management, wasn't sure what he wanted to do next. But his boss saw that he had a nice touch with customers, so he made Mizera a service adviser.

Last June, Mizera was promoted to assistant service manager, and now he's thinking about the next step up. "Even if you make a mistake, they say, 'Let us know, and we'll correct it,' " Mizera said. "They've got open doors here, so you're free to speak."

Mizera and Aitken appreciate the dealership's camaraderie, and Khouri has made an effort to promote that. Every quarter, he invites the staff to dinner at a local restaurant. And in the summer, the dealership holds barbecues for employees.

Khouri also sponsors a program called Make Others Great to recognize employees who give extra effort. Winners might be given dealership swag such as baseball caps. This summer, two employees in the parts department got tickets to a New York Yankees game, along with dinner and player autographs.

"We want to recognize everybody in the dealership," Khouri said. "It could be a porter, a manager or a salesperson — it could be anybody. If you go above and beyond the call of duty, we will recognize you."

Although Millburn Audi's turnover is fairly low, competition among dealerships for employees can be fierce. That competition has gained urgency while Khouri's standalone store undergoes a major expansion.

The showroom is being expanded to have room to display 10 cars, up from seven today, and the service department is growing to 28 bays, up from 16. "Now we have to make sure we can staff it," Khouri said. "What use is an empty bay?"

Khouri has adopted a couple of strategies to attract good employees.

During the past decade, he has rehired seven people who left for other jobs before changing their minds.

He's also willing to hire relatives of employees. For example, he has hired the niece and cousin of a husband-and-wife team that works at the store.

An employee "will make my day if he comes to me and says that his daughter, or son or niece is looking for a job, and are there any openings?" Khouri said. "It means we did something right."