Category: Recruiting

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Recruiting

Setting Realistic Job Expectations

Contributing Author:
Amber Hash
Recruiting Manager
EFG Companies

Struggling with Employee Retention?

It could be due to the nature of the industry. It could be due to a labor shortage. It could be due to your recruitment practices. Or, it could be a combination of all three.

The U.S. unemployment rate continues to sink, hitting a 17-year low in November of last year at 4.1 percent. Job seekers are finding work more easily than any time since the mid-90s. Openings have now topped roughly 6 million for five months in a row, a record streak, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the second quarter GDP notched an impressive 4.1 percent, labor market analysts cautioned that an increasing labor shortage could impact growth going forward.

In addition, according to the 2017 NADA Dealership Workforce Study, the median workforce tenure in retail automotive is 2.5 years. However, it takes employees in key production positions, like F&I managers, an average of three years to reach full productivity.

Going in to 2018, dealers were already struggling with employee retention. Compound that with a labor shortage, and the typical high-turnover nature of the industry could turn from a nuisance to a serious problem.

In my previous blog, I discussed how hiring practices can impact employee retention – specifically the importance of vetting your candidates. While vetting is extremely important in making sure you’re filling open positions with the right people, it’s equally important to set realistic job expectations early on in the recruiting process. This helps your team make sure they are searching for the right talent, and it helps to set up new recruits for success.

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Categories
Recruiting

Is Generation Y Worth Hiring?

Contributing Author:
Amber Hash
Recruiting Manager
EFG Companies

Disloyal, arrogant, selfish, overindulgent, high-maintenance, frivolous, image-driven, impatient, over-confident and spoiled – Generation Y has heard it all.  And, now the generation that everyone thought would never grow up is starting to make up the bulk of the workforce. But, will they be successful in retail automotive? Are they worth hiring?

Honestly, retail automotive can’t afford NOT to hire this challenging generation. The consumer purchase model is rapidly changing – driven in large part by the digital proclivity of Generation Y. Who better to engage with these new customers than people who speak their language – online and via text?

Raised in the era of digital technology, members of Generation Y can quickly prove their worth in the retail automotive workplace.  But, some adjustments must be made to reach an equitable compromise with this generation. Here are some recommendations for dealerships seeking to successfully employ Generation Y.

They work to live

The members of Generation Y are committed to achieving work–life balance. While their career is highly important to them, they believe that working hard does not equate to working long hours. This can be a hard pill to swallow for automotive managers who live by the “sun-up to sun-down” model.

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Recruiting

Are Your Recruiting Practices Causing Turnover?

Contributing Author: Amber Hash Recruiting Manager EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Amber Hash
Recruiting Manager
EFG Companies

Auto dealers have always had a difficult time with employee retention. It takes a certain kind of individual who can handle the long hours, commission-based pay, and constant pressure to make a sale and increase gross. It’s easy to think that turnover is just the nature of the industry. But, we all have those dealer principals in our 20 groups who brag about the tenure of their staff. What do they have going for them that most dealers don’t?

According to the 2017 NADA Dealership Workforce Study, the median workforce tenure in retail automotive is 2.5 years. But, it takes employees in key production positions, like F&I managers, an average of three years to reach full productivity.

So, why are dealers losing key employees right before they reach their potential? A lot of it has to do with the dealer’s recruiting practices.

A common trend in the retail automotive industry is to hire the first person interviewed, often on the spot. This is especially prevalent in high volume dealerships that need to fill positions quickly to keep production levels up. The problem here is there is no vetting to make sure the person being hired is the right fit for the dealership.

One interview does not provide the entire picture of a person’s strengths, weaknesses, energy level, and ability. It’s always better to build time into your recruiting model to conduct multiple interviews, background checks, and references checks to ensure you have the right person for the job.

Continue reading “Are Your Recruiting Practices Causing Turnover?”