Employee motivation is key to the effectiveness and performance of any dealership team. Dealership teams are often presented with challenges that can easily demotivate them. It could be problematic clients or disasters affecting their ability to perform. They are thus in need of constant motivation; and motivating them often falls on the managers or owners.
As a dealer principal, general manager, or finance manager, below are some strategies you can use to keep your dealership team motivated. Motivation will go a long way in making them self-driven, helping them enjoy their work and giving them better results.
Tips to Encourage and Motivate Dealership Teams
- Prioritize their Safety
Ensuring that your dealership teams are doing everything to keep them safe while working at the dealership makes them feel cared for. You can do this by providing the appropriate wear and safety equipment like belts in the required fields. Prioritizing their safety will increase their motivation to work and perform better.
- Set Goals
Setting smart goals is an instrumental process in every dealership. Teams need to know what they are working towards and what to aspire to. This sense of direction is what motivates them and keeps them working hard. The goals set should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. As a dealer manager, you can offer incentives other than money that your employees can qualify for after achieving a set goal.
- Build trust
Trust is the foundation of motivation. Employees with trust in their company and managers are often inspired and driven to give better results. Your employees must have confidence that you have their best interests at heart and that you have their back. The best way of building trust in your employees is by creating a good working environment for them. You should avoid scolding or pushing them and use the best strategies in problem-solving. You can also take time to check in on them individually to see how they are doing and address any challenge or complaint that they may have.
- Recognize their efforts
Employees love to get recognized for work well done. It gives them a sense of achievement that significantly pushes their level of motivation. You can create a culture of recognition at the workplace by publicly acknowledging individual or team efforts or giving them commission or rewards to continue with the excellent work.
- Make them feel valued.
Making your employees feel valued and needed is another excellent way of increasing their motivation. You can do this by involving them in decision making, offering growth and advancement opportunities, compensating them fairly and creating flexible work arrangements. You can also give them the time, freedom and space to try their ideas with just enough oversight to ensure they are not wasting time or resources.
By recognizing their needs, you raise their level of motivation significantly.
- Lead by Example
An effective leader always practices what they preach. Leaders who lead by example and visibly feed the organization's energy often infect the attitude of the rest of the team. As a manager, you should be intrinsically motivated and willing to work the extra hour and go the extra mile. This will give your employees an example to emulate and a sense that you are working together, which will increase their motivation.
We are Here to Help
Having an effective dealership team begins with having a partner to guide you on encouraging, motivating, and managing your team effectively. At Vanguard Dealer Services, we can advise you on the right path. Feel free to contact us today to enjoy our diverse range of services.
