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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.