Time and time again I continue to hear that dealers and other companies are having a hard time finding and keeping the right good employees. A couple of things come to mind when they say this:
1) With turnover like the fast food business, we must be doing something wrong.
2) What is your recruiting and hiring process look like? In most cases, it resembles a ready-shoot-aim approach because three employees just left and you have to fill the holes in the boat before it sinks. Then the rash and unstructured knee-jerk interviews commence and the guy or gal who can best “charm” and “car speak” their way into the heart of the interviewing manager usually gets hired. This then leads, in most cases, to an employee who is simply enduring the job not enjoying it and we begin the difficult task of unbundling the baggage and poor practices the new employee is infecting our good people with. Then we see morale decaying and guess what? More people leave and this time it is the good people because you have let someone into the store that is way below the standards your good people felt you represented.
3) Paradigm #1 in the minds of “noncar” candidates emulates from the auto industry itself. Question to 100 people; What are the first thoughts that come to your mind when I say…car salesman? Bet 99 respond with liar, cheat, snake, sell you anything to get the deal etc, etc, etc. That one holdout is married to a car salesperson. Thus, it becomes very difficult to attract the intelligent college graduates; many whom have extraordinary personalities and communications skills and we could develop into something special if only they would give us a look. What they are looking for however is an opportunity to learn, advance, be a part of a good team, contribute to the company and begin with a salary along with the ability to make more through a tiered commission plan.
But their first opinion of you has to do more with if you show signs of possessing the following:
- A well-orchestrated multi-part interview plan that is value added
- A solid business plan in place which you can talk about with confidence
- You can speak to advancement opportunities
- Your store radiates a solid teamwork approach with good chemistry
- Your package includes well planned basic and advanced on-going training
- A mentoring plan to help them get their legs
- Most importantly…you show you truly care about your employees’ personal and professional growth
One of my readers, Dan Kommeth the GM of Performance Lexus, recently sent me the following email which I think speaks volumes into what this article’s intention is all about.
Chuck: Thanks again for the info. After some reflection, I have been coming back to some recurring topics in my head, namely:
1) The acquisition of employees is probably the most important aspect of running our stores, although we don’t treat it as such. I draw the parallel to used cars. We often use the phrase “You make or lose money on a used car when you buy it,” and I think the same is true of our associates. During the interview process, we get blown away by someone who interviews well (the equivalent being a trade-in that’s all gussied up to go over the auction block or appraised at the dealership) and don’t always do our due diligence (multiple interviews with different managers, thorough background checks, personality tests, etc.) before hiring them. Just like overpaying for a car, we “overvalue” these associates and project what we think they’re capable of based on our hunches. Later, when they’re not performing to our expectations (i.e. the used car hasn’t sold yet!), we’re surprised, befuddled, and ready to hire someone else.
2) We spend a lot of time working on all of our internal processes and then try to fit our employees into them without listening to potential improvements from our associates. I’m certainly not advocating that we get rid of processes (I personally love them!), but if our people have ideas and we have a culture that says “Don’t question the process. They (the bosses) figured this stuff out a long time ago so you don’t have to,” we essentially squelch any improvement from the ground level.
3) Employees easily disengage from our culture when they see that they don’t have anyone mentoring them on a mentoring them on a career path and their ideas and suggestions are not welcome and/or at least considered.
4) If the primary reason someone is in their current job is the paycheck, that person will be the first to abandon your store/culture if the paycheck isn’t what they feel it “should” be. If there is another reason (e.g. they love cars, or serving others, or meeting new people, etc.), they will contribute to the betterment of the company if given the opportunity.
As you can see, Dan gets it. The key to all this hiring business is you have to develop and adhere to an agreed upon written interview & hiring process. Words or verbal communications sometimes just aren’t adequate enough to portray the idea or concept of process understanding. Many of us, including myself receive information best when it is delivered as a visual or a good word picture instead of just mere concepts. Sure, we all eventually can get it through the verbal communications transmission of others or even the written word will eventually gel in our mind.
You may have seen Olympic athletes before they embark down the high speed slalom course standing on their skies, eyes closed, moving slightly back and forth, bending knees and turning their heads from side to side. They are as you would “imagine” visually simulating the entire course because they practice visual simulation and the entire course is mapped out on their brain as a motion picture so when they actually perform the run “it becomes just like practice”.
So how can we take this concept and apply it to our recruiting process? Tons of ways: Encourage them to envision themselves becoming successful, contributing in great ways, living in the house they want to live in, having the kind of relationships they want to have and so on. Actually, there is no limit we can place on ourselves when it comes to visualizing one’s future however, we can certainly limit ourselves with stinking thinking. Let the candidates know positive self talk is critically important: I am improving every day, I am going to do something today to help myself become better, today I am going to help my team become better, I feel I am growing in my understanding of this business, etc.
No business can exist without customers. No matter how good a product is or how efficient an organization operates, without customers there is neither growth nor profitability. Customers make the purchase decision. They bid the price up or drive it down depending on the value they perceive in a product or service. The customer decides which way and when he wants to interact with a dealership and how he/she wants to explore and ultimately buy whether it be online, over the phone, in a store or through any other channel.
Key Note:
It’s the customer’s perception of everything a company does and represents that creates an image of its people, brand and dealership and eventually determines its success or failure as a business. Thus, it is ever so critical for every corner of your store to be radiating the new “relationship building” elements or your store looks just like everyone else and consequently your business will ultimately hinge upon ‘best price’ issues. We have to give customers real reasons to do business with us way beyond the money, and that real reason is our people. Make sure they are the right people.
More than ever, Relationship Building training is so critical to organizational success. After more than a decade of harnessing cost-savings potential to remain competitive in an increasingly difficult economy, driving growth has replaced cutting costs as the most important goal for most dealerships. Hence it becomes no surprise that hiring good people is back on the agenda of many top executives. To stimulate new growth, wise dealers are beginning to explore a more disciplined approach to exploit untapped hiring opportunities and make the most of relationship building interview processes with candidates. To ensure sustainable, profitable growth hiring processes must take a leading role in the value chain, enabling organizations to excel across rapidly changing business needs.
More and more organizations are also beginning to realize that overall business success depends heavily upon how they treat their employees. Hiring good people, setting high goals and expectations, providing needed resources, training and developing new skills, and holding people accountable for results seem to be critically important ingredients in organizational success. Employees who work in organizations with these qualities often exert more effort toward organizational goals, report higher levels of job satisfaction, and are more likely to stay with their company over the next three years than employees working for organizations that do not possess these qualities. Refer to my December article entitled “Valuable Treasures in Perishable Containers” for in-depth reasoning supporting this model.
Although the ingredients for organizational success appear straightforward, few companies appear able to implement them on a consistent and comprehensive basis because many managers believe they do not have time to interview properly potential employees, much less set clear expectations and develop skills. Nor are they much better at holding their employees accountable for results, as many managers do not take the time to conduct weekly one-on-one performance much less annual reviews. If research vibrantly shows us that these leadership activities are related to an organization’s ability to attract and retain key talent and in turn provide us with superior results, and if managers are not doing them, then what other things are they spending their time on that could possibly be more important?
I do have a few pieces I could send you on hiring and interviewing processes. Just send me an email provided below and request “Processes” and you will have it in your hands. Additionally, if you should have any comments or questions I would like to hear from you. Take the time now to do it right and you will end up with the right people on your team.
Chuck Barker
Chuck Barker has been CEO of his two companies, Impact Marketing & Consulting Group, LLC and Impact Summit, LLC, for the last 24 years, both located in Virginia. His experience ranges from an executive with Harris Corporation (16,000 employees) one of Fortune Magazine’s largest companies to the automobile industry where he has performed all executive positions. His companies specialize in growing businesses, dealerships and people. He delivers unparalleled sales & service development programs, management leadership workshop programs and dealer/principal business & profit improvement ideas for automobile dealerships. He has recently published the first comprehensive ‘in-house’ sales training solution program for dealers entitled The Dealership Success Guide.