By Matt Aukofer, NADA Director of Online Communications

 

Auto dealerships have many tools at their disposal to recruit and retain quality employees, and small tweaks to their hiring processes can pay dividends, according to Tina Amelchenko of Indeed.com, who spoke this month on the topic at the 2020 NADA Show.
 
In the current "candidate-centric" market, there are more jobs available than job-seekers, and the competition for talent is fierce. Potential employees hold the upper hand and are performing a lot of detailed research before deciding where they want to work.
 
Their No. 1 motivating factor is salary, but they also care about other things, such as the work environment and culture, work-life balance, opportunities for advancement, and more, Amelchenko said in the session presented by Indeed.com.
 
If dealerships can’t offer higher salaries, they need to focus on other benefits, which Amelchenko defined as their "employer value proposition." Potential employees are researching dealerships, looking at their online profiles, reviews by current and past employees, and more, so a dealership’s online reputation is paramount. Amelchenko stressed that dealerships need to be "transparent and authentic" in building their employer brands online.
 
Dealers also can streamline their hiring and application processes because most potential employees won’t spend more than 15 minutes applying for a job, she said. These processes should be extremely mobile-friendly, as most job-seekers these days are applying for jobs on their mobile devices.
 
In the current tight job market, Amelchenko said it is imperative that dealers sell themselves to candidates rather than expect applicants to sell themselves to dealers.