For any business operation, hiring is a costly process. Putting effort and time to attract, hire, and retain the right team members will prove to be the best return on investment dealerships to make in today's tech-savvy world. 

The Cost of the Hiring Process

While COVID-19 has been a disruption, we all are having to work around the unplanned crisis, dealership turnover is a costly problem. If we look at the most recent "Cox Automotive Dealership Staffing Study," the results are eye-opening with "the average turnover rate at a dealership is 40 percent for dealership employees and 67 percent for salespeople."

That equates to an even more alarming figure, and that is the cost of hiring new employees. "With every new hire costing a dealership $10,000 on average, the high price of hiring new employees will continue to be a burden for dealerships." As the Auto Success article recommends, dealerships should put effort and time into understanding the problems and "focus on employee retention."

Retain Your Valuable Employees with Ongoing Training

Before we move into attracting and hiring new employees, let's not forget you want to "focus on employee retention."  At Vanguard Dealer Services, we not only offer vital information to help you manage your dealership, but we can also help you put a process in place to keep your team connected and motivated with ongoing training. 

Have a Solid Onboarding Process in Place

Before you attract and hire the staffing that have the skills and qualities your dealership needs, you must have a thorough onboarding foundation for your new hires to feel comfortable and realize that your organization supports its employees and cares about individual success. CBT Automotive Network outlines "five things dealership owners should do with new hires during week one."

1. Orient your new hires with a welcome to share the company's history, values, principles, meet new colleagues, and answer questions.
2. "One-on-one training with their direct manager" is crucial for new hires to get more detailed information necessary to perform their roles.
3. "Assign a mentor" to help a new hire get the immediate answers and assistance they may need to understand the dealership's processes.
4. Reinforce a new hire's role and review the expectations. 
5. Continue one-on-one check-ups to acknowledge success, assist with problems, and motivate for higher goals.

Utilize Technology to Attract and Hire the Right Team Members 

From dealing with COVID-19, most likely potential new hires today are now using technology for everyday life. From attracting your employee candidates to interviewing them, you will save time and money integrating the technological advantages you have at your fingertips for hiring, as precisely explained on Recruiterbox.

At Vanguard Dealer Services, we can help you with your entire process of attracting, hiring, and retaining your employees. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. We're here to partner with your dealership to hire and build your team for retention and success.