Share success stories to fill talent pipeline

LAS VEGAS — Promoting internal success stories, offering a wide range of benefits and supporting a diverse and inclusive culture are all tactics that will help dealers get a leg up on the competition in hiring new employees and retaining current ones.

Those are among several strategies retailers and hiring experts shared last week in a panel discussion here at the Automotive News Retail Forum: NADA.

Being intentional about solutions is key given that one of the biggest challenges dealers face is a talent pool that has shrunk into a talent puddle, said Fleming Ford, chief strategy officer at Quantum5, which provides skills training to dealerships.

"They're getting less candidates that are skilled," Ford said. "And how do we really attract the ones that can do the new modern way of selling and servicing?"

Beth Beans Gilbert, vice president of Fred Beans Automotive Group in Doylestown, Pa., said her group promotes the career path that is possible at the retailer. A career page on its website tells the stories of employees — how they started in the business and how they've grown.

"That's made a really big difference," Gilbert said. "I really think it's important to kind of shout that from the rooftops."

Gilbert also talks up the benefit of automotive retail careers more broadly.

"Everywhere I go, I tell people what I do. I'm so proud of it," she said. "And I'm so proud of the fact that we have so many people in our organization that started as salespeople that are running dealerships."

With an eye toward finding new employees, Gilbert noted that she borrowed an idea from restaurant chain Chick-fil-A and hands out informational cards to people when she has a good customer experience.

"If someone takes really great care of me, I leave them that card, and I say, 'Call me. Come see us in the car business,' " Gilbert said.

For dealer Jonathan Fowler, expanding the range of benefits for employees has helped hiring and retention. Fowler Holding Co., of Norman, Okla., which operates 10 Fowler Automotive Group dealerships in Oklahoma and Colorado, has rolled out eight weeks of paid parental leave to employees.

"I've gotten more feedback on the parental leave decision than anything I've ever done, anything that I can think of from an HR standpoint or a policy standpoint in our company," said Fowler, president of Fowler Holding.

The cost of the program is far outweighed by the benefit it will deliver, he said.

""We truly believe that the goodwill that it's gotten and the trust it's gotten with us and our team members, as well as what we think it's going to do from a recruiting and retention standpoint, will far outweigh the costs associated with it," Fowler said.

Ford said today's workers consider emotional salary to be as or more important as how much money a job will pay. It's up to dealers to find ways to reward them in other ways.

"They know they can get that dollar anywhere," Ford said.

Building a diverse work force is increasingly important for dealerships and will remain so going forward, panelists stressed.

"Diversity is coming," Ford said. "Like right now in K-12, over 50 percent are minorities. ... What you really have to get intentional about is the inclusivity. Are you bringing them to the table? Are you asking their opinion? Are we helping them grow and develop and be the leaders we need in order to make an inclusive culture?"

Reggie Willis, chief diversity officer at Ally Financial Inc., said companies make better decisions when they have a broader representation of people in a room.

"You're probably going to make optimal or better decisions when you've got diverse people coming to the table with fresh ideas," Willis said.