One of the most under-evaluated aspects of managing a profitable car dealership is its employees.
The truth is many factors play a role in the effectiveness of human capital. Personality, family life, connection with customers, and how well they work with their peers are just a few aspects. Even if a prospective employee has all the correct boxes checked and seem like a perfect hire, automobile dealerships often find the hire isn’t a good fit – and it’s for reasons there are no “boxes” for. A bad hire can end up costing a dealership time, money and reputation.
That’s why effective human capital is so vital to a dealership’s success moving forward. The automobile industry has dramatically advanced in technology and systems over the last 25 years. Dealerships have more information at their fingertips than they can use.
Where we are struggling as an industry is in not tapping into the hardest part…OUR PEOPLE.
Technology and artificial intelligence (AI) have been brought into business to maximize efficiency and it is an incredibly empowering tool. Managing people, however, cannot be automated. There is not a cookie-cutter, one-size fits all approach to connecting with and bringing out the best in your employees.
Computers give you data. It’s how you mine that data and the decisions you make from that information that makes or breaks a car dealership business. The burning question is then, “How can I tell if Human Capital is draining my organization?” Here are a few things to look at:
- Are you experiencing high turnover?
- Is any area of your automobile business stagnant?
- Are your numbers not increasing? You may have a department that is not meeting the market demand or have entire departments that aren’t profitable … and you don’t know where to turn.
In periods of growth we often hire our employees based on experience, qualifications and their personality. Managers do the best they can with what they’ve got. The effective leader looks beyond recruiting and onboarding and seeks to maximize the talent of current employees.
Ready to improve your human capital strategy? Here are a few areas to start:
- Spend time knowing and developing your existing employees. What are their strengths and weaknesses and how can you best capitalize on them?
- Looking within is often a key to success. It’s frequently your management style, how well you know yourself, and your willingness and ability to adapt that allows you to make noticeable and immediate improvements in human capital.
- Do an honest evaluation of your hiring practices. Hiring in a large market is much different than hiring in a small market and requires management to make different considerations when hiring. How skilled are you in the changing needs of your community and where it is going?
Maximizing the human capital needs of a car dealership takes skill, dedication and caring. It may take time and require the insights of a trained professional to recognize the seemingly hidden profits that are right under your nose. Oftentimes the most difficult thing to see is what’s right in front of you!
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