Automotive News Canada - October 2021 - 28

28
* OCTOBER 2021
Best Dealerships To Work For
Birchwood Lexus
Winnipeg
General manager: Darryl Tuck
Dealership group: Birchwood Automotive Group
Number of employees: 42
General Manager Darryl Tuck on lessons learned
about being a better employer from managing
the dealership through the pandemic: This time
has ... given us a better understanding of how to
best look after our team members regarding anxiety,
burnout, work-life balance, etc. ... We have
evolved our digital retailing tools to allow our
guests the ability to 'buy from home.'
Chief Human Resources Officer MaryAnn Kempe
on participation in community/charity fundraising
events: Over the 25-plus years that Birchwood
Automotive Group has acted as a dedicated supporter
of the United Way, our team members
have contributed over $7 million to the annual
United Way of Winnipeg campaign. We also have
been participating in the Learning Partnership's
Take Our Kids to Work Day annually since
2018. Our team members' kids spend the morning
learning about Birchwood in fun ways like
Family Feud Game and a treasure-hunt game.
They spend the afternoon with their parents
in their workspace, finding more about the job
responsibilities.
Kempe on how the pandemic has changed recruiting
and training staff: Our centralized recruitment
team now conducts all new-hire initial
interviews through virtual platforms like Zoom.
We trained our service technicians and essential-service
team members on how to provide
no-contact service and still provide quality customer
service. We've also updated their job
descriptions to reflect this change. We moved our
learning and development programs to an online
platform to ensure ... professional development.
We have expanded the physical safety modules
of our team-member training to include modified
processes that are necessary to keep our team
members and customers safe. This includes more
in-depth cleaning and sanitizing for our store and
vehicles.
The Birchwood Lexus team members and their colleagues
at Birchwood Automotive Group have contributed more
than $7 million to the United Way. They also support
Manitoba Underdogs Rescue. SUPPLIED PHOTO
Jaguar-Land-Rover Winnipeg
General manager: Kayla Ledohowski-Becker
Dealership group: Birchwood Automotive Group
Number of employees: 31
The Range Rover Evoque launch event at
Jaguar-Land-Rover Winnipeg where customers and
staff took part in outdoor activities such as wood-fired
pizza station. SUPPLIED PHOTO
General Manager Kayla Ledohowski-Becker on how
the pandemic affected productivity of sales staff:
The many changes to our retail practices fostered
an environment of teamwork and collaboration in
coming up with solutions to the challenges we have
faced along the way. This helped to empower our
team members to be a part of our evolution and
they all really came together to focus their efforts
on delivering exceptional service to our customers.
By doing this, they were able to achieve sales excellence
and increase customer satisfaction.
Ledohowski-Becker on lessons learned from managing
the dealership through the pandemic:
We were able to come together and develop customized
purchase-experience options tailored to accommodate
our customer's personal preferences while
adhering to the evolving global pandemic. During
the period where we had to close our showrooms
for in-person vehicle sales, Birchwood developed a
fully integrated 'buy from home' program in which
customers can purchase a vehicle without ever setting
foot into one of our facilities.
Chief Human Resources Officer MaryAnn Kempe
on steps taken to recruit and retain female employees:
In 2019, we launched a Maternity/Parental/
Adoption Leave Top-up Program. The program
top ups team members' wages by 45 per cent for 15
weeks. Our internal group Women In Automotive
Leadership's purpose is to shift women's perspectives
so that they consider the automotive industry
as a rewarding career choice, and to help develop,
inspire and support the present and future women
of Birchwood.
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HGrégoire Nissan Vimont staff rose to the challenges of the
COVID-19 pandemic, said General Manager Guy Filiatrault.
" They understood the situation and what we needed to
achieve to get out of it with success. "
PHOTO: HGRÉGOIRE.COM
HGrégoire Nissan Vimont
Laval, Que.
General manager: Guy Filiatrault
Dealership group: HGrégoire
Number of employees: 34
General Manager Guy Filiatrault on lessons learned managing
the dealership through the pandemic: As a group, we have
learned to promote better work-life balance and allow more
employees to work from home.
" I've installed an Aquarama Car Wash
in every one of my Dealerships. My customers
and employees love the results "
-NAV BHATIA, President, Nav Bhatia Automotive Group
info@auto-tecgroup.com * Toll Free: 1-855-332-0260
Filiatrault on steps taken to ensure a long-term career path for
new hires and employees: Our group always promotes internally
and will offer career advancements and free tools and
training to those who want to advance.
Filiatrault on how the pandemic affected the productivity of
sales staff: No change. All of our employees have been a great
help. They understood the situation and what we needed to
achieve to get out of it with success.
Automotive News Canada - October 2021

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