In 2019, more and more Americans are struggling to find steady, reliable employment with benefits. Nearly half of Americans today work for companies that either do not provide health insurance or have insurance options are too expensive and provide too little coverage. With options for steady employment declining elsewhere, the nation’s car dealerships should be highlighting the quality of jobs they can provide when it comes to recruiting. Many will need to change their regular recruiting practices.
In a recent interview with Ward’s Auto, Hireology CEO Adam Robinson said the vehicle dealership sector should be playing up the advantages of working in the industry. Hireology works with the National Automobile Dealers Association on human-capital management and talent-search programs.
“The industry has a recruiting challenge,” Robinson told Ward’s Auto. “There’s a technician shortage. There are issues about filling open positions. But there’s a marketing problem. We’re not good at telling the story of automotive retail. Dealers struggle in using the same sources for hiring for the last 20 years. We’re helping them change so they can better build their team.”
Robinson noted that the difference between dealerships that thrive and the ones that do not will be rooted in their ability to recruit, hire and retain the right people who fit well into today’s digital landscape. In other words, if you’re still trying to hire like it’s 20 years ago, there’s a reason you’re not coming up with great candidates.
“Dealers’ digital assets for retailing their jobs typically are insufficient,” said Robinson. “We end up paying a ‘brand tax’ because of the perceptions about this industry. We pay it on job boards. We help dealers control and build their employment brand in their digital career site.”
Many dealers focus on branding their businesses for customers, but they need to spend some time branding their businesses as attractive workplaces for high-quality candidates. This is particularly critical when trying to hire technician candidates for service departments, because they’re unlikely to be looking in the same places as sales job candidates such as LinkedIn.
