10-time repeat honorees enjoy low turnover

Out of 1,000 possible slots in the past decade on Automotive News' list of the Best Dealerships To Work For, only three dealerships have won a spot each year of the list's 10-year existence. Those 10-year repeat winners are:

• DCH Millburn Audi of Maplewood, N.J., which was also the overall winner in 2020.
• Capitol Chevrolet-Cadillac of Salem in Oregon, which was No. 1 among large dealerships in 2017, 2016 and 2013.
• Capitol Toyota of Salem, No. 2 among large dealerships in 2018 and belonging to the same Oregon family that owns Capitol Chevrolet-Cadillac.

What do they have in common? All three boast low employee turnover, a preference for promoting from within and some pretty great tangible and intangible benefits for employees, top executives of the dealerships told Automotive News. Ultimately, the 10-year honorees all treat employees with respect — flexible work schedules to allow for family commitments, frequent and open communications with management, and employee bonuses for referring friends and relatives who get hired, for instance.

Offering flexibility and establishing policies to promote work-life balance are key characteristics of winning dealerships during the 10 years of the Best Dealerships To Work For program, said Adam Reinebach, CEO of Best Companies Group, which surveys dealership leaders and employees and compiles the list.

Consistent differentiators for stores that have made the list over the years, Reinebach said, include:

• Allowing paid time off to engage in volunteer activities
• Offering telecommuting options
• Offering the option to work a compressed workweek
• Providing fitness and wellness programs or practices within the workplace
• Reimbursing employees for business education workshops and conferences.

While the three 10-time winning dealerships share many of the same workplace values, their ownership structures are quite different.

The Casebeer family, now in its fourth generation of operating dealerships, owns Capitol Chevrolet-Cadillac of Salem and Capitol Toyota of Salem.

DCH Millburn Audi is corporate-owned and has been for years. Lithia Motors Inc., of Medford, Ore., acquired the dealership in 2014 when it bought 27 stores in California, New York and New Jersey from DCH Auto Group of South Amboy, N.J.

For the Capitol stores, the secret to success is the culture, said brothers Matthew Casebeer, 40, and Alex Casebeer, 39. The family's stint in the business dates to 1927, when the Casebeer brothers' great-grandfather founded the Chevrolet store. Father Scott Casebeer is chairman of Capitol Auto Group, but the sons, partners in the group, have been in charge of day-to-day operations for about three years.

The 36-acre campus where the Capitol dealerships are located is a major perk. It boasts its own 8-acre lake, a nearly 2-mile walking trail and an enclosed dog park, all accessible for customers and employees, plus a shower room for employees if they work up a sweat.

"And, yes, we do own the lake," said Matthew Casebeer, dealer principal of the Chevrolet-Cadillac and Toyota stores.

One constant at the Capitol stores over the past decade has been what the Casebeer brothers call "daily lineups." Those are all-hands meetings for every department at the beginning of every shift. Aside from that day's work, topics range from corporate values and standards to recognizing employees who have a birthday or work anniversary.

"Every department, every shift — we never missed one," said Alex Casebeer, dealer principal of nearby Capitol Subaru of Salem, which has also been on the list several times, including this year.

The meetings were maintained even during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic when showrooms were shut down. The dealerships had to switch to virtual meetings instead of in-person. "That was crucial during the crisis," Alex Casebeer said.

DCH Millburn Audi's family-style culture has remained in place through the years, despite the change in ownership, said General Manager Al Khouri, who has worked at the dealership since 2005. That culture has helped keep the store among the 100 Best Dealerships To Work For over the last decade, he said.

"One of the good things, and one of the most consistent things over the past 10 years, is turnover. We do not have high turnover," said Khouri, 50. "We try to nourish and support our employees."

DCH Millburn Audi's turnover rate was 23 percent in 2020, he said, half the industry turnover rate for all dealership positions of 46 percent in 2020 as determined by the National Automobile Dealers Association Dealership Workforce study. The industry's turnover rate for sales staff is even higher.

Khouri noted that some who have departed DCH Millburn Audi have returned.

"Yes, some people leave," he said. "They may move out of state, or their spouse gets a job out of state. And, yes, some guys leave because they think the grass is greener on the other side. But we have also had the satisfaction of having some of those come back because the grass wasn't greener on the other side."

With the pandemic and then the microchip shortage-fueled vehicle production disruptions, these dealerships and their employees have faced few challenges like those of the past two years. But they've persevered.

Khouri used to circulate through the dealership daily to meet with employees from various departments but had to pause that because of the pandemic.

"I used to do daily shop meetings every day. We stopped that when COVID was bad, bad," he said. "I don't want to be a superspreader" by moving directly from department to department.

Khouri is back to meeting with employees in person, but he still limits going straight from one department to another. And he aims to limit other interaction between departments, coming up with new protocols designed to keep employees safe. For example, when technicians order parts from the parts department, they put in the request by phone or electronically. Parts employees pull the supplies, put them outside the door and notify techs to go get their parts.

At Capitol Auto Group, the Casebeers said they created staggered work schedules in response to the coronavirus to minimize the number of people in a given work area at the same time. The new schedules also gave employees flexibility to deal with child care or virtual school situations.

Matthew Casebeer said employee loyalty has been the payoff for all the precautions and the group's generous perks: The stores have had nearly zero turnover in sales positions.

That loyalty, along with mutual trust between managers and staff, also helps as the group navigates inventory shortages.

"We have a great group of managers," Casebeer said. "We tell the employees, 'We've got cars coming. Everybody calm down. It's all going to be OK.' "