Automotive recruitment has changed and is changing at a speed that’s difficult to keep pace with, similar to everything else in the auto industry today. You can be a little bit late to the party with some technologies, some strategies, but having the right amount of top talent throughout your dealerships is paramount to your success now and into the future.
Recruiting has moved from ‘Just use the same ad we used last time” to a true science, from the decision to hire, I believe the Law of Diminishing returns should guide when and how many people you hire, to the ultimate job offer to a person and getting them through HR in a “timely manner.”
The words we use must be exact, our help wanted ads need to get seen by the right people at the right time. The title, description, key and tag words must be thought about just like customers finding you to buy or service their vehicles.
The opportunities are almost limitless on where we can now search for talent and post ads, from your career tab on your website, which can be a great source if used properly, to searching data that’s available with certain job boards and of course social media.
I can’t overstate the importance of hiring the right person for the right reasons, not unlike any relationship, if that decision is made at the wrong time for the wrong reasons, no amount of counseling will ever lead to a long term relationship, or in our case the retention of an employee.
There are exact steps to professionally recruit and onboard top talent that will help lead to less turnover and higher retention rates.
- The decision when to hire and how many (has nothing to do with how many desks you have available).
- Writing an ad that will get seen (seen by a quantity of quality people).
- Where to place that ad so the right people see it (this has changed big time over the last couple of years).
- What to do once someone answers the ad (think Internet lead).
- The interview, must be the exact same for each person to differentiate between the applicants (scripted interview only).
- Getting them through HR…fast (people will not wait 7-10 because of an internal process that you may have).
- The initial on boarding and training of that new hire (That first day/week/month are crazy important)
- The culture, (the reason YOU love to work at your store must be able to be transferred over to that new hire.)
Just like anything else in our industry, recruiting must have a process that is followed, the full use of available technology, and a passion to surround our selves with top talent. I will be speaking about all of this in more at my session, Recruit and Retain Top Talent – Attract the Hard to Find Applicants to Your Dealerships, at DD21, can’t wait to see you all.