A STAFF turnover rate that is double the average for most sectors of industry is crippling dealer profitability.
Job Co-op Automotive says that its research shows that employee turnover in franchise dealerships is typically slightly less than 30 per cent – compared to 15 per cent for most UK businesses.
This level of turnover – with almost one in three staff effectively a new employee within any 12 month period – has a wide variety of consequences, explained Ken Trinder, director.
He said: ‘The fact is that the vast majority of dealers expect to lose a large proportion of their staff so they don’t feel that it is worth investing properly in them in key areas such as training.
‘Then you must consider the weary treadmill of having to spend a disproportionate amount of time getting new staff up to speed and then leaking knowledge and expertise as others leave.
‘These factors play a large part in stunting dealership performance. It means that dealer staff are often poorly equipped to meet management and – more importantly – customer expectations.’
Putting in place a programme designed to identify the correct person for a job and then to retain them in the long term was one of the most important tasks facing most dealers, Trinder added.
He said: ‘Understandably, because of high staff turnover, many dealer managers have a fairly negative attitude to the whole subject of recruitment. They don’t spend time or effort on the process because they believe that staff generally don’t stick around.
‘Really, what is needed is a complete shift in attitude where a more structured approach to recruitment is adopted by dealers so that they find people who are a better fit for their job specification and then invest in them in the expectation they will stay.
‘If dealers do more to get the people element of their business right, then other pieces of the business jigsaw will start to fall into place.’
Job Co-op Automotive, set for a June launch, is designed to help employers find the highest quality staff at a fraction of the cost of traditional recruitment methods. Full details will be unveiled later.
