Friendship dealership provides servant leadership, cookouts and Dollywood trips

Roy Mullins believes strongly in servant leadership — the idea of putting employees' needs first by doing everything possible to help them succeed. Semiannual performance and compensation reviews and dedicated training focused on employee-chosen career paths are among the many things that help accomplish this.

"We just try to constantly be aware of what's going on and what their needs are," said Mullins, managing partner at Friendship Nissan/Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram of Forest City in North Carolina — two rooftops west of Charlotte that operate as one dealership and share roughly 40 employees.

That approach has worked well for the operation, which is the top small dealership on this year's Automotive News' Best Dealerships To Work For list and No. 13 overall.

The store ranked No. 40 overall on the 2022 list and made the ranking five times before that as well. And it is one of six Friendship Family of Dealerships outlets to make this year's list.

The dealership maintains a number of benefits and practices designed to attract good workers and keep them happy, management says. Those include wellness programs, gym membership reimbursements, automotive- specific training and more.

Human resources staff also visit frequently to ensure employees are being treated well and give them opportunities to discuss any issues. Mullins describes it as "keeping an eye on the pulse of the dealership."

Potential hires go through a rigorous process, including a detailed application, background checks, drug tests and Caliper profiles to ensure as best as possible that they are a good match for the job opening. Caliper assesses a number of traits and a person's cognitive ability to predict competence and likely workplace behaviors.

Applicants also can try out a position for a few hours and shadow an employee to see whether the job is a good fit. Mullins said the company also pays competitively.

Friendship also supports various community organizations, in part through the Friendship Foundation. In addition, the Friendship Family Fund privately helps employees who face unexpected crises and needs. Employees and managers can donate voluntarily to it and have a set amount taken out of each paycheck.

"We had a person who was out on a run and died of a heart attack, and the family didn't have the means to handle the funeral," Mullins said. "We handled the funeral."

Tim Rollins, a Nissan sales manager, had worked for the store about six months before Friendship purchased it roughly nine years ago. He opted to remain at the dealership after he assessed Friendship's leadership and management style.

"The reason I decided to stay here is because the core values of the company really aligned with what my core values are," Rollins said.

Rollins explained that his work environment lets him be a free thinker, but he also has clear expectations from management. What's more, he said, Friendship provides plenty of growth opportunities, and leadership has valued his ideas along the way.

Rollins started as a sales professional in 2014 and became sales manager in 2017. He's now transitioning into the role of general sales manager, he said.
"As I've matured in the company and gone from one role to another, there have been times where ... I saw an opportunity to do something maybe a little different that would work better, and they've allowed me the ability to effect change," Rollins said.

One example was the vehicle detail process. Rollins, working with his general manager, operating partner and others, came up with an alternate system to get vehicles through the process quicker in a way that boosted their speed to market.

"We all came together and came up with a better system," Rollins said. Specifically, Friendship initiated a tracking log that follows a vehicle from time of arrival through service and into detail. It is viewed daily to maintain maximum speed to market.

"They didn't just say, 'No, this is the way we've done it, and this is the way we're going to continue to do it,' " Rollins said. "They allowed me as an employee to offer my take on how I thought it could be better, and we all came together and came up with a better system."

Rollins added: "It validates what I do."

Mullins said the company and dealership work hard to help employees succeed, even if a new hire doesn't appear to be working out.

"When I hire somebody, [there is] a responsibility to you to do everything I can to make you successful so that every year you make more than you did the year before," Mullins said. "We try to practice that as servant leadership."

If that doesn't happen initially, Friendships' managers keep trying.

"If we find that it's not working, we will go with [the employee] and have a deep dive into what's going on ... that's keeping them from being able to operate in an acceptable manner and see if there's another role that we can put them into," Mullins said. "We try to exhaust every avenue before we give up."

Friendship employees also benefit from team outings and appreciation days. That has included movie nights and big family cookouts. There are also road trips for employees and their families every other year to Dollywood, a theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., co-owned by legendary country singer and songwriter Dolly Parton. Last year, roughly 800 people made the trip, a number that encompassed 650 Friendship employees from multiple locations plus their families.

"We take over the park and everybody has T-shirts on that say, 'Friendship team member,' and the next thing you know, you see swarms of [employees] everywhere," Mullins said.

Beyond the T-shirts, Friendship gives employees and families a welcome pack and spending cash for the day, said Rollins, who has been to Dollywood several times over the years with his family. One time he even saw Parton herself.

"There was a parade type of thing," Rollins said. "She was in a carriage and riding through the park."