With the pandemic impacting dealership sales and head-counts, dealers will be focusing their attention on ensuring their business survives the crisis. But to do that, employee training must remain an important part of their ecosystem.
According to Chris Schulthies, National Trainer and Consultant at Wye Management, there are several reasons why training is a key ingredient to a dealership’s success — one of those reasons being that employees want to succeed but need help doing it.
In an interview with Canadian auto dealer, Schulthies said research that was conducted by two of the largest placement firms in Canada, and that deals specifically with the automotive sector, identified the number one reason why employees left the organization as training that was promised but not received.
“(It’s) the simple fact that people want to succeed, but are not given the resources and tools to succeed,” said Schulthies.
Wye Management, which is based in Ontario but caters to the broader Canadian market and the United States, offers training programs and workshops, in-dealership training, and showroom and digital sales processes information and implementation, among other things.
He said his team recently learned, and particularly from dealer organizations that continue to train amid COVID-19, that training — whether online or in-person — creates a sense of routine and normalcy for dealership employees. It also represents a competitive edge in the marketplace, because other dealers have stopped training to manage expenses. Importantly, dealership employees also value the training they receive.
Schulthies also said they advise clients that own large dealer groups to brand their training. For example, there is a dealer group in the Vancouver area that brands all training activities, whether from Wye Management or others, under the umbrella of their dealership brand (dealership initials plus the word “University”).
“You earn points and credits just like you would a regular college or university curriculum,” said Schulthies. “It’s tied to employee bonus structures, as well as employee advancement. And what they’re finding is that attracts people from other dealer groups that provide little or no training.”
Schulthies said all training should be branded under the dealership’s personal brand. He also said that innovation in the auto retail sector does not always come from big cities like Montreal or Toronto, but that forward thinking often comes from the smallest of dealerships and rural areas.
“It’s really surprising to see who actually engages in training,” said Schulthies.
