COMMENTARY: No. 1 reason great employees leave

One of the biggest misconceptions is that good people leave organizations for monetary reasons.  While this may seem logical, I have come to find that this is simply not the case.

One of the aspects of my business is to identify & provide talent to the automotive dealerships of Ontario. 

In doing so, I have come to know a great number of amazing dealerships and ownership groups.  I have also come to know an even greater number of incredibly talented people with excellent track records.  I am frequently contacted by talented sales people and managers who are performing in their respective dealerships to confidentially discuss their desire to change stores.

Why?

I used to think, “you’re doing great and making an income that is in line with the top 5% of our industry.”  It didn’t make sense to me at first, due to my misconception that money was the be-all, end-all when it came to happiness.  I soon discovered a consistency in the reason these professionals desired change, do you know what it was?

Environment!

The successful dealerships and ownership groups in our industry have talent that will not leave them, because they have created phenomenal working environments for their teams.  Why are these environments so great?  Here are a few reasons:

– Team members are made to feel important & appreciated!
Our business is like a Rubik’s Cube cube sometimes and requires a lot of split decision making, problem solving and management, all while being responsible for millions of dollars on a daily basis.  

This is quite the load to bear, however manageable when the dealership respects and appreciates a “job well done.”  

Nobody is perfect, and in these environments, there is much more focus on the 85% of the job done right and less focus on the 15% of mistakes we will learn from.

-Successful environments understand that a “pat on the back” goes much further than a dollar!
When a member of your team closes that deal that nobody thought was going to close, and it took three hours to do so, the comment is, “Way to go!  Nobody would have dug their heels that deep on that customer; great work — the coffee is on me!”

Not, “You gave the car away”

Giving a your team the acknowledgment they deserve is sometimes far more important to them than a dollar.
 
– Great organizations get involved with their teams and their personal goals to motivate one another!
Look, we all know what the dealership’s goal is to make money and be profitable. No employee will ever perform at their peak if their sole motivation is to make money for their dealership.  

The successful organizations I work with are involved in the lives and the goal setting of their teams!  Think about it, you have a salesperson named “Bob. Is Bob going to perform better with you telling him each day, “we need to hit 200 cars this month” … or,  “Hey Bob, when are you taking me fishing on that new boat you’re going to buy with your bonus when we hit 200 cars this month?”

You see, encouraging Bob each day to reach his goal of buying the boat with his bonus will directly achieve the dealers goal of being profitable and everybody wins!

Successful organizations treat their environments like a garden that is well taken care of and constantly maintained; while organizations with high turnover of staff tend to operate more like a brothel, and nobody wants to work at a brothel.
 

Editor’s Note: Following the success of “Dealer Training Day” at our Used Car Week and Auto Remarketing Canada conferences, Cherokee Media Group is launching an online “Dealer Training Series” beginning in May. The once-a-month series will kick off with a training session from Dickie on May 11.

For more information, visit dealertraining.autoremarketing.com.