Flexible schedules, pay guarantees and more help employees during pandemic

North Carolina dealership Coastal Kia in March divided staff into two shifts — on one day and off the next — to keep employees safe and operations humming during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic.

When the Wilmington, N.C., dealership had to close its showroom for about two weeks from late March into mid-April to comply with a county mandate, owner Pat Koballa paid his entire staff "as if they were here."

"I hoped it would pass maybe quicker than it has," Koballa said. "But I knew when it was all over, I still was going to need all those folks to come back. And unfortunately, a lot of them need that weekly paycheck. I just didn't want any of them suffering any more than what we were all mentally going through."

That mindset was strong among dealers operating the 100 stores honored on Automotive News' Best Dealerships To Work For list for 2020. Like Coastal Kia, many of the winning dealerships had to quickly pivot this spring to change or implement new workplace guidelines and protocols amid the pandemic to ensure employee and customer safety.

Nine out of every 10 dealerships on the 2020 list surveyed by Automotive News altered workplace policies and procedures or introduced new ones because of the pandemic. Some changes were necessary in part because of the numerous temporary shutdowns, capacity restrictions and other mandates by state and local governments that affected dealerships across the country. But some dealers put other adjustments — compensation guarantees, for instance — in place as they tried their best to take care of employees.

Changes ran the gamut from more stringent safety and cleaning guidelines to new protocols around remote work. A majority of dealerships responding to the Automotive News survey said that they had enhanced virtual training, offered more telecommuting and flexible schedules and trimmed store hours or adjusted shifts. Nearly half of survey respondents added more sick time or paid time off.

A majority of respondents also reduced headcount or furloughed employees during the pandemic, but many brought those people back after the early weeks of the crisis passed and when business rebounded. Nearly all survey respondents said they are looking to hire now. Some dealers also boosted employees' compensation.

Dealership recruitment technology firm Hireology estimates that 15 percent of jobs in U.S. auto retail either were eliminated or temporarily furloughed from April through June, CEO Adam Robinson said, adding that many of those jobs have now returned. He estimates U.S. franchised dealerships added nearly 20,000 jobs in October in positions such as sales or in business development centers.
There are now more active job postings than before COVID-19 hit, Robinson said. Hireology estimates the industry had just more than 21,500 open jobs in February compared with nearly 25,000 in October.

Coastal Kia's Koballa didn't lay off anyone during the pandemic and has since added one employee to help with increasing demand for vehicle pickup and drop-off for service customers. He's also allowed staffers who aren't taking vacations to cash in their time.

He has asked his 50 staffers to be "very cautious about their personal lives and refrain from traveling" to help protect co-workers and customers from the virus. But some have had to travel, or have opted to. In either case, Coastal Kia requires the employee to quarantine for two weeks or get a negative COVID-19 test before returning to work, Koballa said.

On the other side of the country, Niello Mini in Sacramento, Calif., first adjusted its hours when the pandemic hit this spring so employees had the time they needed at home, Matt Ryan, the store's general manager, said in the Automotive News survey. The dealership — part of Niello Co. — had to reduce its headcount, Brian Thatcher, the group's human resources director, said in the survey, but it also provided additional paid time off, more flexible schedules and virtual training.

Many of the dealerships surveyed said they have implemented health screenings, temperature checks and mask requirements for employees — policies that have continued this fall as COVID-19 cases surge across the country.

"Almost everything has changed," John Hogerty, general counsel for Bergstrom Automotive in Neenah, Wis., wrote in the survey, citing changes such as daily employee health/temperature checks, spaced workstations and no in-person meetings or travel. "One thing that has not changed is our commitment to our people and our guests."

Jobs listing and employer review website Glassdoor ranked Bergstrom as No. 7 on its list of the 20 highest-rated companies for work-life balance during the pandemic based on employee reviews from March through September. The dealership group, with 30 stores, was the only retailer on the Glassdoor list.

Hireology's Robinson noted that many dealerships have boosted flexible work arrangements during the pandemic, including letting some employees work from home. Many dealerships responding to the Automotive News survey detailed examples of doing just that. And several said they would continue some of those arrangements even after the pandemic is over.

Friendship Automotive of Bristol, Tenn., a 10-store group in Tennessee and North Carolina, early in the crisis altered employee schedules and hours of operation and instituted split shifts for some employees to keep functions going, said Alana Wilson, Friendship's human resources manager.

Friendship also had some workers opt to take voluntary layoffs, and it did have to lay some people off temporarily, Wilson said. But the dealership group also made some new hires as business rebounded, and Friendship now has a few more employees than it did pre-COVID-19, she said.

The group's Hyundai store in Johnson City, Tenn., also has a new children's space. Friendship is allowing some employees stuck for child care options to bring their children to work with them, Wilson said.

The pandemic also has at least temporarily changed hiring and training practices, dealership hiring experts say.

David Adragna, president of recruiting firm Autopeople in El Dorado Hills, Calif., helps place people in leadership positions such as general manager, controller and service department manager in dealerships across the country.

While videoconferencing was seldom used for hiring interviews before the pandemic, even for out-of-state candidates, the tool is "almost standard procedure now," Adragna said.

"We do this all over the U.S., so it's not limited to any geographical area," he said, adding that it's helping his clients save time and money. "I see it all the time. And it makes sense."

Dan Milewski, human resources manager at Fred Beans Automotive Group of Doylestown, Pa., said in the Automotive News survey that the retailer is protecting its recruiting and management staff by limiting their in-person contact with job candidates. "By moving more of our hiring processes to a virtual format, we added a layer of protection against the spread of illness by limiting the number of people on-site during the pandemic," Milewski said.

Hireology's Robinson said some dealership groups he works with have shifted all of their employee training online to help maximize employee safety.

"Until a vaccine is widely distributed, you're going to see a continued shift toward virtual training for dealerships," he said. "After the pandemic is under control and after vaccines have been widespread, it is my hypothesis that dealers will reinstitute in-person training."