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Let’s be honest, your dealership can have the best stock on the market, the most attractive logo in the state, and the highest-ranking social media pages in the industry but in reality, what really puts your business in the fast lane is the talent you employ. Ultimately, it’s your staff that defines your business, right? After all, the people you employ are your most valuable assets. So why do automotive dealerships have one of the highest staff turnover rates in the country? Why do those in the vehicle industry find it so hard to employ and retain top talent?
We get it, seeking that next star employee is challenging in today’s industry – with the latest Dealership Staffing Study carried out by Cox Automotive revealing that 72 percent of franchise dealers admitting that finding and hiring the right employees is a challenge. The truth is, long gone are the days when we can simply stick a job advert in the local paper in hope of finding our next ‘employee of the month’.
These days, finding the best talent takes work but trust us, it’s worth it. In recent research carried out by The Center for American Progress, results showed that staff turnover can cost an organization up to 213 percent of that employee’s salary. There’s no denying that if you work to successfully hire the best talent for your dealership, to begin with, the chances are you’ll save yourself a whole lot of money and time going forward.
So, what’s the trick to hiring the best talent for your dealership?
Is your dealership an attractive place to work?
Before you even begin to look at staff retention, you need to make sure your dealership is actually attracting the right employee in the first place.
So often, dealerships invest so much time and money focussing on customer loyalty, they forget about their employment brand? Like it or not, the digital revolution has completely transformed the way a person looks for a job. And one of the first things – if not the first thing – job seekers will do in the search for their next role is Google, or search for, your dealership. So, how does your dealership look to the digital jobseeker?
What’s your Glassdoor reputation?
One of the first places you need to be looking is Glassdoor. With both current and former employees able to anonymously review companies on Glassdoor, this can have a huge impact on your dealership’s reputation.
Ultimately, if you’re actively recruiting, you need to be managing your Glassdoor page, so you can oversee any reviews – which in the worst case, includes those scathing comments from former disgruntled employees. So, if you haven’t already, then be sure to claim your business’s page so that you can manage the information on it. You should fill out your dealership’s details, and if possible, make it look as professional as possible by including things like a high-quality logo.
Have a look at any reviews your dealership might have received. How is your dealership rated? What about any negative reviews? Take charge of your page by responding to your reviews, including the ones that aren’t so nice about your dealership. Remember, how you respond will say a lot about you as an employer, so be careful to always remain professional, empathetic and try to take the conversation offline – just like you should if it was a customer review.
It would also be worth asking some of your current employees to review your dealership – and be careful not to demand this of them, but instead, ask for honest and anonymous feedback.
Take your website up a gear
If you’re wanting to hire the best talent, then your website needs to look its best. With 65 percent of dealerships interviewed by Cox Automotive revealing that they were looking at growing their workforce last year, your dealership needs to make sure it’s the most attractive to any prospective employee. Here are a few website additions you might consider:
Include video
Did you know that the SnapCell app can be used to help dealerships improve user experience on their website? Designed specifically with the automotive industry in mind, SnapCell allows users to easily create videos at just the click of a button. Whether it’s videos of in-stock vehicles, face-to-camera clips of current staff, or short snippets of the showroom, SnapCell customers can use the app to give jobseekers a taste of what the dealership has to offer. Including professional-looking videos of your fleet, current staff and showroom across your website is sure to give your business a digital personality and is sure to keep you one step ahead of your competitors when it comes to employing the best talent.
A specific careers page
Include a specific careers page on your website, which is clear and easily accessible by visitors. It’s worth noting that if you have a well-structured careers page on your website, with the relevant information, then this is more likely to be picked up organically than through paid advertising, so a total cost-saver if you get it right.
When it comes to your careers page, a top tip from us is to make sure your job descriptions are all bursting with search engine optimization (SEO) friendly content. After all, you want your dealership to be amongst the highest rankers on Google when jobseekers are searching for roles in the industry.
And remember to include employee benefits, as well as what you are looking for in a candidate, along with information on what it’s like to work for your dealership. While it’s important to attract job seekers to your business, it’s equally as necessary for that person to fit in with your dealership’s ethos. With that in mind, the more information on the role you can give, the better, so make sure you include the following:
- Job title
- Job purpose
- Job duties and responsibilities
- Any required qualifications
- Any preferred qualifications
- Location of the role
- Working conditions
- Benefits of the role
- Information on the dealership
Make sure your website clearly reflects your mission and vision
Ask yourself, does your website highlight your dealership’s goals, mission, vision, and values? Does your website showcase your dealership’s identity? If not, then it’s time to change this. You want your website to clearly reflect what your business represents, to make it easier for jobseekers to decide for themselves if they match your dealership’s ethos.
Utilize social media
Your online reputation doesn’t just stop at Google and your website, you need to consider all the touchpoints available to a jobseeker, one of which is, of course, social media.
Even if the primary purpose of your social media pages is to promote your fleet, it’s important to remember that your channels can provide the perfect platform for recruiting. In fact, because of its ability to reach both passive and active potential candidates, social media is fast becoming one of the best sources when it comes to attracting high-quality candidates.
When looking at your recruitment strategy, remember your social media pages are a great way to humanize your dealership, along with showcasing company culture, while promoting a new job opening.
Some of the benefits to using social media to recruit include:
- You reach a wider pool of potential candidates
- You can encourage two-way conversation with jobseekers
- It allows you to get to know potential candidates
- It gives your dealership to build its online brand and connect with potential jobseekers
As we’ve mentioned, your social media channels can provide you with the perfect opportunity to showcase company culture and really give your dealership a face, or personality. One of the most effective ways to do this is by uploading video content and with SnapCell integrating seamlessly with your social networks, it couldn’t be easier for users of the app to engage with and attract potential applicants via these digital platforms.
A top tip from the SnapCell team is to include face-to-camera content for your social media channels. Whether it’s a manager talking about a job opening in their team or a staff member discussing why they love the job, including a video of a real-life human adds that extra layer of personality.
Targeted social media
Social media also allows dealerships to target candidates through paid job ads. A huge benefit to targeted social media recruitment means they can engage and connect with specific audiences, with the relevant knowledge, skills, qualifications, interests, and experience for that role. This immediately allows those recruiting to eliminate any irrelevant candidates and instead boost quality applications.
It’s worth noting that if you are considering social media as a recruitment tool, then you might want to take a look at which platforms you are using – and furthermore, which you should use to recruit. Are you using LinkedIn? More than 176 million people across America now have a LinkedIn account, so it comes as no surprise that around 90 percent of businesses say that they regularly use the platform to recruit.
Use the best tools to hire the best talent
If you want to hire and attract the best talent, then your dealership needs to be looking its best and to do this, you need to be using the best tools. For those in the automotive industry, it doesn’t get better than SnapCell. In this digital era, integrating video creation into your recruitment strategy is essential to attracting the best talent for your dealership. After all, the best candidate for your dealership might not be the best candidate for your main competitor – make sure you’re attracting the right type of employee.
The SnapCell app gives you the chance to seamlessly showcase your dealership, promote company culture and best of all, ensure you are attracting the candidates who match your vision, mission, and values. Schedule your SnapCell demo today.
