Tips for recruiting and retaining the right talent in your dealership, and manage labor shortage
Hiring and retention in auto industry
Economic data indicates that over the past month, job openings have been rising considerably. Hirings are also up, but the companies are not coming close to filling the number of vacant positions or dealing with labor shortage in the auto industry. The need for the workforce has been high, especially when the demand for cars and trucks is rising.
The auto industry has been facing hiring challenges before the pandemic, and dealerships will continue to have one after the pandemic is over. As per automotive news, the number of applicants rose only 2%. People have been blaming unemployment benefits as a significant factor to keep the workforce from joining back. However, several states have ended that program a while ago, and nothing changed. The labor shortage is bigger than the pandemic.
What are the contributing factors of labor shortage and workforce challenges in auto industry?
In a pandemic, many people found time to contemplate what work means to them, how they are valued in their job, and where they fit in company culture. In the majority of cases, this initiated the decision to say, yep, I’m out. Some called it soul searching, and others called it retirement or a fresh start. No matter what reasons people had, it all added up to make hiring and retention complex.
Common reasons were:
- Some employees remain hesitant of plant or on-site environment
- Federal unemployment benefits until recently resulted in employees choosing to stay home
- Senior workers decided it was time to announce retirement
- The multi-month break from routine work allowed some employees to rethink their career and current industry
How to fix it?
The big question is how to attract the right talent to ensure that your dealerships stay profitable?
The automotive industry will have to come up with still better and creative solutions to recruit workers. Hiring bonuses, common in tech firms, were a step towards attracting the right talents. Cash bonuses to employees who help employ a friend or family member also are taking hold.
The auto industry is known for opportunities to make more. If the individual possesses skills to close more deals faster, knowledge to satisfy customers’ concerns, grit to manage sales objections, then the sky is the limit for this employee.
Hence, a motivating pay plan is a robust strategy to hire and retain the best employees who will strive to reach higher goals.
One of the pillars of dealership profitability highlights the importance of a motivating pay plan to ensure that you get and keep the right talent in your dealership.
Hiring the right talent in dealerships
To emphasize, the right talent will enable you to make more profits and create value for your dealership to help you stand out from the crowd. Such as providing an exceptional experience to customers on the sales floor or ensuring customers’ needs are met and matched with the right products.
Additionally, data-based hiring will provide you with relevant information to understand the candidate beyond their resume. The assessments offer rich data on candidates’ strengths, limitations, and personality traits. Evaluating how well the individual would fit with your department, team, and work culture before hiring is critical.
More importantly, a professional interpretation of the assessment data is the key to identifying and placing the right talent in the right role. A proper reading of the data would yield the best hiring, retaining, and promoting decisions.
PRO Consulting has been supporting the hiring and retention of the dealerships’ staff. With data-based hiring, the dealers have experienced raised productivity and profitability. Contact us to find out how we can help you identify and place the best candidates aligning with your dealership culture and business.