Let's face it - car dealers don't have a very good reputation with consumers in today's business world. But, is their bad reputation warranted? The short answer in many cases is probably, yes.
Let's take a look at that premise from a different approach and not the typical 'they ripped me off' or 'they were shady' premise. In fact, let's go outside-the-box and look at it from an educated business standpoint.
When is the last time you visited your local dealer and saw the same set of faces that you saw three months before when you were in for your last vehicle service?
Probably a very rare occurrence. The reason being is simply because automobile dealerships have one of the worst employee turnover records in modern business. And, to top it off, turnover is very expensive in a dealership environment with respect to new hires, training, morale issues, and employee dissatisfaction. Worst of all, while you would think that a car dealer might have some simple grasp of what level of damage that employee turnover can cause, I have been amazed to see that there is seemingly a level of complete ignorance in this regard, and it seems to run rampant.
When a dealership decides to fill a position, it has two basic choices: either fill the position internally or hire from the outside. In either case, it would certainly be normal to have a learning curve for the individual hired into that position. This costs money. Other employees (by choice or not) typically participate in on-the-job training for the new-hire after the hiring manager has provided their 20-minute indoctrination and disappeared into the abyss of managing. Herein often lies the morale issue. Dealership employees are usually hell-bent on making money, not training new hires. The rub occurs, however, when the veteran (someone who has been there over 3 months. LOL) realizes that if they don't help get this 'green pea' up to speed, that their money will surely suffer, they will be forced to work longer hours, and that the supervisor will likely put all or part of the blame right in their lap. A Catch-22.
We also need to recognize another integral aspect of the turnover issue. For example, in my last dealership position, I was hired to work a five-day week beginning at 7:30 a.m. and finishing at 6:15 p.m. This schedule encompasses an almost eleven-hour day. In this case, I was working in fixed operations and assisting customers in servicing their vehicles. Thus, I was on my feet nearly the entire day, on a computer, in front of a technician, speaking with the dispatcher, selling the repairs, dealing with overly-demanding customers, scheduling appointments, delivering a completed vehicle, and acting as a cashier.... Shall I stop? Oh, not to mention that given the work load, I took lunch one or two days a week for an hour.
I am no stranger to long hours in the automobile business, however, I have had incessant disagreements and arguments with supervisors for years over their incompetence when it comes to employee workload.
It is a fact that an employee who has hit the 45 hour mark in their work week is spent for all intents and purposes. Their productivity reduces substantially, mistakes increase markedly, their attitude becomes increasingly negative, and every other negative cyclical events transpires as a result - injuries, health issues, poor CSI, decrease in work quality, workplace violence, insurance costs, etc. TURNOVER! What is disturbing is the fact that not once have a won that argument, even when holding my usual consensus amongst fellow subordinate employees.
Amazingly, dealer principals don't get it. The fact is that my dealer principle in this one isolated case was far too concerned with his tailor-made suits, hobnobbing at a local high-priced steakhouse, his limo driver, and all the other creature comforts he has obtained at the expense of bad practices. Oh, and by the way, I applaud financially successful dealers and businesspeople, in general. However, I don't applaud principals who lack common care and concern for employees like overloading on work hours. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that the five-day week I agreed to in my initial negotiation then quickly became a six-day work week and I was told that I needed to 'step up to the pump...' So, within a couple of weeks, notwithstanding my years of experience, extensive credentials, and the fact that I far outranked my supervisor in qualifications, I was exploited just like a newbie fresh off the street at the behest of an incompetent supervisor. And right on up the line.
So, the merry-go-round that is the car business starts and continues to spin in circles. In fact, the car business can be somewhat equated to being a stripper. Often times, it is recognized that once a female becomes a stripper, they have a difficult time leaving the profession. They become used to the money, maybe the drugs, maybe the work-at-night and sleep-all-day schedule, the inherent attention. Who knows... Automotive employees seem to suffer much the same dilemma. They, too, just can't seem to get off the pole as it were.
I have had it brought to my attention far too many times by consumers (let alone dealership employees) that people in the car business go from place to place to place in hopes of finding that one permanent position and right fit. Yet, with my years of experience in the business, those people are few and far between. And, if they are an employee of tenure, chances are likely that they are related to someone in upper management. LOL. You just don't see the same faces long in a dealership in most cases. And, if you are a dealer and you don't think your customers notice this instability, think again!
Cause: poor, ineffective management. Effect: poor reputation, appearance of instability, failure to capture profit, loss of customers and customer respect.
Perception....
Dealerships lose employees for many, many reasons. For whatever reason, automobile dealerships and the psychology that surrounds them lends itself to demonstrate that, as a business, they are too often filled with undue drama. There exists everything from rumor mongering, back-biting, position jockeying, reputation damaging, and on and on. Of course, most businesses have their share of drama per se, but I can tell you from experience that an automobile dealership can be a unique ball of psychosis worthy of observation and study.
In effect, personnel issues within the auto industry at the dealer level should be of great concern. Most likely, there are many dealer reading this who feel all-empowered as the all-knowing soothsayer of the car biz. Sure, I hear you; I know who you are. But, let me be that one individual and that minute minority who shall redeem you by giving you great advice.
Listen closely: You cannot fire your way to prosperity.
In 1999, accepted a position with a publicly-held automotive holding group called Sonic Automotive and chaired by NASCAR executive, Bruton Smith. During my tenure with the company - which was surprisingly long given the content of this article - I watched a general manager hire and fire his way through some sixty-three positions in a matter of about five years. There was always a sacrificial lamb. It was always someone else's fault. He has failed everywhere he has
Fast-forward fifteen years. My last supervisor has hired and fired his way through fifty-two employees in slightly over two years! Yes, two years. Disturbing? What is and may be most disturbing is that both of these guys had bosses. Can you see the trend?
Trickle-Up Stupidity.
In summation, TURNOVER effects everyone negatively, and I think we have provided ample reasoning to support that premise. All in all, the causal effect is bad management. Nothing more.
It's somewhat like the South Park episode where everyone in South Park, CO. decided it was necessary to live in denial rather than face reality. All town citizens were instructed to dig a hole in the sand, and the person to their left was to take the shovel and cover their neighbor's head and so on. For whatever reason, this seems to be the action taken by so many manager and dealers in the business. In short, it fails every time. Creative scheduling, realistic expectations, proper utilization of human resource, proper training initiatives, and care and concern for employees will reap benefits should you only dare to try.
Copyright 2017. All Rights Reserved.
Let's take a look at that premise from a different approach and not the typical 'they ripped me off' or 'they were shady' premise. In fact, let's go outside-the-box and look at it from an educated business standpoint.
When is the last time you visited your local dealer and saw the same set of faces that you saw three months before when you were in for your last vehicle service?
Probably a very rare occurrence. The reason being is simply because automobile dealerships have one of the worst employee turnover records in modern business. And, to top it off, turnover is very expensive in a dealership environment with respect to new hires, training, morale issues, and employee dissatisfaction. Worst of all, while you would think that a car dealer might have some simple grasp of what level of damage that employee turnover can cause, I have been amazed to see that there is seemingly a level of complete ignorance in this regard, and it seems to run rampant.
When a dealership decides to fill a position, it has two basic choices: either fill the position internally or hire from the outside. In either case, it would certainly be normal to have a learning curve for the individual hired into that position. This costs money. Other employees (by choice or not) typically participate in on-the-job training for the new-hire after the hiring manager has provided their 20-minute indoctrination and disappeared into the abyss of managing. Herein often lies the morale issue. Dealership employees are usually hell-bent on making money, not training new hires. The rub occurs, however, when the veteran (someone who has been there over 3 months. LOL) realizes that if they don't help get this 'green pea' up to speed, that their money will surely suffer, they will be forced to work longer hours, and that the supervisor will likely put all or part of the blame right in their lap. A Catch-22.
We also need to recognize another integral aspect of the turnover issue. For example, in my last dealership position, I was hired to work a five-day week beginning at 7:30 a.m. and finishing at 6:15 p.m. This schedule encompasses an almost eleven-hour day. In this case, I was working in fixed operations and assisting customers in servicing their vehicles. Thus, I was on my feet nearly the entire day, on a computer, in front of a technician, speaking with the dispatcher, selling the repairs, dealing with overly-demanding customers, scheduling appointments, delivering a completed vehicle, and acting as a cashier.... Shall I stop? Oh, not to mention that given the work load, I took lunch one or two days a week for an hour.
I am no stranger to long hours in the automobile business, however, I have had incessant disagreements and arguments with supervisors for years over their incompetence when it comes to employee workload.
It is a fact that an employee who has hit the 45 hour mark in their work week is spent for all intents and purposes. Their productivity reduces substantially, mistakes increase markedly, their attitude becomes increasingly negative, and every other negative cyclical events transpires as a result - injuries, health issues, poor CSI, decrease in work quality, workplace violence, insurance costs, etc. TURNOVER! What is disturbing is the fact that not once have a won that argument, even when holding my usual consensus amongst fellow subordinate employees.
Amazingly, dealer principals don't get it. The fact is that my dealer principle in this one isolated case was far too concerned with his tailor-made suits, hobnobbing at a local high-priced steakhouse, his limo driver, and all the other creature comforts he has obtained at the expense of bad practices. Oh, and by the way, I applaud financially successful dealers and businesspeople, in general. However, I don't applaud principals who lack common care and concern for employees like overloading on work hours. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that the five-day week I agreed to in my initial negotiation then quickly became a six-day work week and I was told that I needed to 'step up to the pump...' So, within a couple of weeks, notwithstanding my years of experience, extensive credentials, and the fact that I far outranked my supervisor in qualifications, I was exploited just like a newbie fresh off the street at the behest of an incompetent supervisor. And right on up the line.
So, the merry-go-round that is the car business starts and continues to spin in circles. In fact, the car business can be somewhat equated to being a stripper. Often times, it is recognized that once a female becomes a stripper, they have a difficult time leaving the profession. They become used to the money, maybe the drugs, maybe the work-at-night and sleep-all-day schedule, the inherent attention. Who knows... Automotive employees seem to suffer much the same dilemma. They, too, just can't seem to get off the pole as it were.
I have had it brought to my attention far too many times by consumers (let alone dealership employees) that people in the car business go from place to place to place in hopes of finding that one permanent position and right fit. Yet, with my years of experience in the business, those people are few and far between. And, if they are an employee of tenure, chances are likely that they are related to someone in upper management. LOL. You just don't see the same faces long in a dealership in most cases. And, if you are a dealer and you don't think your customers notice this instability, think again!
Cause: poor, ineffective management. Effect: poor reputation, appearance of instability, failure to capture profit, loss of customers and customer respect.
Perception....
Dealerships lose employees for many, many reasons. For whatever reason, automobile dealerships and the psychology that surrounds them lends itself to demonstrate that, as a business, they are too often filled with undue drama. There exists everything from rumor mongering, back-biting, position jockeying, reputation damaging, and on and on. Of course, most businesses have their share of drama per se, but I can tell you from experience that an automobile dealership can be a unique ball of psychosis worthy of observation and study.
In effect, personnel issues within the auto industry at the dealer level should be of great concern. Most likely, there are many dealer reading this who feel all-empowered as the all-knowing soothsayer of the car biz. Sure, I hear you; I know who you are. But, let me be that one individual and that minute minority who shall redeem you by giving you great advice.
Listen closely: You cannot fire your way to prosperity.
In 1999, accepted a position with a publicly-held automotive holding group called Sonic Automotive and chaired by NASCAR executive, Bruton Smith. During my tenure with the company - which was surprisingly long given the content of this article - I watched a general manager hire and fire his way through some sixty-three positions in a matter of about five years. There was always a sacrificial lamb. It was always someone else's fault. He has failed everywhere he has
Fast-forward fifteen years. My last supervisor has hired and fired his way through fifty-two employees in slightly over two years! Yes, two years. Disturbing? What is and may be most disturbing is that both of these guys had bosses. Can you see the trend?
Trickle-Up Stupidity.
In summation, TURNOVER effects everyone negatively, and I think we have provided ample reasoning to support that premise. All in all, the causal effect is bad management. Nothing more.
It's somewhat like the South Park episode where everyone in South Park, CO. decided it was necessary to live in denial rather than face reality. All town citizens were instructed to dig a hole in the sand, and the person to their left was to take the shovel and cover their neighbor's head and so on. For whatever reason, this seems to be the action taken by so many manager and dealers in the business. In short, it fails every time. Creative scheduling, realistic expectations, proper utilization of human resource, proper training initiatives, and care and concern for employees will reap benefits should you only dare to try.
Copyright 2017. All Rights Reserved.
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