Automotive News Canada - October 2023 - 38

38
* OCTOBER 2023
Best Dealerships To Work For
Volvo Cars
Edmonton
Edmonton, Alta.
lDealer principal: Michael Norris
lNumber of employees: 58
Dealer Principal Michael Norris
on unique benefits and/or perks
for employees: We offer very
generous compensation and
benefit packages. This combined
with our ongoing employee recognition
programs, bonuses,
prizes, gifts, unlimited access
to performance psychologists,
chaplaincy program all create a
culture in which we can attract
and retain the best employees.
Norris on how training
is used to advance
employees' skills and
careers: An informed
individual can make the
best decisions for themselves
and for our dealership.
Training and
constant and never-ending
improvement is at
the core of our organization.
We ensure all staff
are given adequate time
and support to complete
any training deemed
necessary for their success.
For example, with
the arrival of hybrid
and electric vehicles, all
training is mandatory,
and all staff have access
to drive and explore the
new models.
Above: Technician Wade Sommerfeld
and others at Volvo Cars Edmonton
receive mandatory training for
hybrids and EVs.
Left: The end-of-the-year party for
dealership staff. SUPPLIED PHOTOS
Norris on recruiting service technicians
amid the electric vehicle transition:
Our greatest source of new service technicians
is referrals from our existing
technicians. Our current technicians
are happy with our culture and greatly
believe in the product, making them
confident to refer their highly motivated
industry colleagues. We trust the
judgment of our talented group of technicians.
Our last three technician hires
have been candidates recommended by
a current technician.
HGrégoire
Mitsubishi Laval
Laval, Que.
lCEO: John Hairabedian
lDealership group: HGrégoire
lNumber of employees: 37
Sales Coordinator Meghan
Muloin on recruiting and
retaining female employees:
This is incredibly important
to us. We want all our
employees to feel safe, comfortable
and supported.
Having strong women in
[leadership] positions help
provides some comfort
already. What I noticed most
when I began working here,
is our general manager asking
if we had any concerns
and making sure everything
was going well for each
employee.
Delivery Coordinator Jana
Sleiman on the departments
or positions facing the biggest
hiring-and-retention
challenges: : The reception
and sales departments
are where we hire the most
often, mostly because [staff]
have been promoted. Our
sales employees often receive
opportunities from other
dealerships in our group after
having worked with us. They
are often offered [management]
positions.
Being a flexible employer is a key part
of meshing well with employees to make
a dealership tick, whether it's better hours
or recognizing that there are times when
family absolutely comes first
By ROSEANN DANESE
WINDSOR CORRESPONDENT
CANADA'S BEST DEALERSHIPS TO
Work For have made policy tweaks that
have gone over big with employees looking
to balance their working lives with
their personal lives.
From increasing the number of paid
days off to simply making their work environment
family-friendly, dealerships are
recognizing what studies have shown for
more than a decade: Work-life balance
results in happier employees, and happier
employees are more productive, less likely
to quit and have fewer sick days.
A 2023 global report by the International
Labour Organization in Geneva, entitled
Working Time and Work-Life Balance
Around the World, concluded that lessons
learned from the COVID-19 crisis - work
from home and flexible hours - " are a winwin
for employees and employers. "
The Best Dealerships To Work For survey,
conducted by Workforce Research
Group, supports the significance: an average
of 91 per cent of employees at winning
dealerships said they were satisfied with
their work-life balance, compared with 75
per cent at stores that didn't make the list.
At HGrégoire Mitsubishi Laval, about
30 kilometres northwest of Montreal, most
employees work " fixed schedules, but we
like to stay flexible, " said Service Director
Kim Guerard.
" Recently, some schools started opening
at 7 a.m. instead of 6:30 a.m., which affected
several of our employees' arrival times.
So we adjusted their schedules to allow
them time to drop off their kids without
the added stress of
being late to work. "
Lucinda Helm,
HGrégoire Mitsubishi
Laval marketing team
member Marise Filice
participates in the
dealership's plant-a-tree
event. SUPPLIED PHOTO
Sales Representative
Nicolas Sgambellone
on unique benefits and/
or perks for employees:
During the summer, we
like to have barbecues
on Fridays to celebrate
the end of the week. We
have mini games and parties
on special occasions
such as Easter, Halloween,
St. Patrick's Day and
Valentine's Day.
Clockwork
director of people and culture at MercedesBenz
Winnipeg, said the goal is to " make
sure we're doing everything we can to stay
competitive as a great place to work and to
make sure our team knows we're here for
them. "
THINK WELL TIME INSTEAD OF SICK TIME
" Wellness, " she added, is a key word at
the store.
When Helm took her position in 2021,
the dealership had been offering its staff of
97 two paid sick days a year. Helm and the
management team decided to change the
term " paid sick days " to " paid wellness
days. " Then the company added an additional
day in 2022 and another in 2023, doubling
the number of paid-time-off days.
Employees were told they didn't have
to be physically ill to use their paid days
off. " It could be that your child is sick,
and you need to stay home with them or
you need to take an elderly parent to some
appointments, " Helm said. " You could use
that day for this purpose. It was to take
care of you. "
The policy has been so popular that
Helm and the management team plan to
reexamine it annually to determine whether
the days are being used up and whether
four days is enough to cover employees'
personal needs.
Mercedes-Benz Winnipeg also modified
its vacation policy so that new employees
can take days as they earn them, instead
of having to work a full year before becoming
eligible. The company is also trying
to change the thinking among some of its
hardest-working employees about taking
time off.
" Vacation isn't a bad thing, " Helm said.
" We want you to take it; go and enjoy your
time off and come back refreshed. "
WORKER-FRIENDLY HOURS
Chris Green, general manager of
McLaren Toronto, said the dealership
decided to modify the store's hours to help
its 37 employees balance work and their
personal life.
The dealership used
to be open until 8 p.m. on
weekdays and 5 p.m. on
Saturdays.
" We changed our sales
hours to 9 to 5, " Green
said. " There's no more
service on the weekends.
Green:
McLaren
Toronto
changed its
hours to help
employees
accommodate
better
work-life
balance.
SUPPLIED
PHOTO
Service [employees] get
the full weekend, and
sales has limited hours
on weekends, 10 to 4. "
McLaren Toronto
also provides employees
closing the showroom
extended long weekends,
a Monday holiday, " so
on the Saturday before
work, and my staff can
no one has to come into
In the Best Dealerships
survey, an average of 91 per
cent of employees at winning
dealerships said they were
satisfied with their work-life
balance, compared with 75
per cent at stores that didn't
make the list. GETTY IMAGES
enjoy a proper three-day weekend, which
is infrequent in the retail world. "
Adam Lally, president of Lally Auto
Group, with eight dealerships in southwestern
Ontario, said the company's philosophy
of " families first " is ingrained in
its culture.
" The most important thing is being flexible, "
Lally said. " When you need to be
there for your family, it is not always convenient
for your work. But in the car business,
when you need to be there for your
customers, it's not always convenient for
our families. "
There's always a " give and take " in
the partnership between employees and
employer, he said.
" When we need them there for us, it
goes both ways, " Lally said. " That partnership
makes for a better thing all around
because there's no set schedule in the car
business, and there's no set schedule for
these family things. " - ANC
Automotive News Canada - October 2023

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