In today’s high-paced world where employees often change jobs and even careers, hanging on to the talent you have is vitally important to your success as a dealership. Finding new sales talent you can both attract and keep is equally difficult. The answer is investing in employee development and doing it now.
But what is employee development, and what do those programs look like?
What is employee development?
Employee development is essentially a path by which employees can both nurture the talents and skills they have and develop new ones. It’s a form of on-the-job education that can be delivered in several ways, from formal learning and certification to non-formal training in the form of webinars, seminars, and other forms of instruction.
Each employee should have their own, personalized development plan. This plan should be more than just about promotions and career movement. Instead, it should be about helping them achieve both their personal and professional goals as they evolve and change.
For example, an employee development plan doesn’t have to include the incentive of “you get a raise if you complete this course.” Instead, the course itself can teach the employee ways to improve sales conversion rates, which results in more commissions and therefore more income.
There should also be more than one path for advancement. Different levels of sales skill can provide this, from sales level 1 to sales level 2 and so on. What are the benefits of employee development?
The Benefits of Employee Development
We’ve already stated the first benefit of employee development is retention and recruitment. If an employee is going to invest their time and energy in working for an employer, they expect an employer to invest in them. Employee development is one of the easiest ways to do so, and it gives your employees a reason to stay in their current positions.
But there are other advantages as well:
- Better customer experiences: the better your employees are at their jobs, the better the customer’s experience will be. Everyone from sales to finance to service should all be engaged in employee development, and this will permeate your culture with professionalism.
- Greater sales numbers: the better experience a customer has with your dealership, the more likely they are to return for service, parts, and even to purchase another vehicle. Those who walk in your front door are more likely to convert and make a purchase if your employees provide them with a stellar experience. Employee development improves your bottom line.
- An enhanced reputation: Your reputation comes from your customer experiences, but it also comes from your employee’s experiences. You have two brands: your public brand and your employer brand. One faces potential customers, and the other faces potential employees. Both are improved through a robust employee development program.
The benefits of an employee development program can be realized almost immediately after implementation, and only continue to improve your business over time.
But when you are developing an employee development program, where do you turn?
Where to go for Employee Development
For used car dealerships, turn to NIADA for employee development. There are a ton of resources available to members.
- Webinars, boot camps, and other resources: NIADA has assembled experts from all aspects of dealership operations from sales to service, collections, and more. These are proven programs from people who know their stuff and are designed to enhance performance and get results.
- Customized on-site training: If you want to take things to the next level, you can schedule customized training at your location featuring a team of pros who can walk your employees through a variety of learning processes and scenarios. We’ll help you drive revenue, increase sales performance, and improve your overall ROI.
- Join a Dealer Twenty Group: There’s no need to reinvent the wheel (no pun intended). A Dealer Twenty Group includes twenty non-competing dealers who meet and collaborate quarterly to talk about best practices, industry changes, and to exchange ideas. You’ll get results by learning from others and inspiring them with your success too.
The richer the employee development program you develop, the greater the benefits to your organization will be.
The Changing World of Employment
The world of employment is changing, from sales and management to collections, service, and marketing. To attract and keep the best talent in the world, you will need to set yourself apart. Employee development is one of the best tactics to do just that. But it will help you with more than just recruitment and retention of talent.
The bottom line is that happier, well-trained employees will make your customers happier, improve your bottom line, and provide you with a stellar reputation.
Want to learn more and create more effective employees? Join NIADA for all the support you need to unlock your employees’ full potential.
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