Automotive News Canada - December 2023 - S18

18
BEST PRACTICES 2023
Winnipeg-based Birchwood Automotive Group offers a nine-month leadership-development
program to midlevel managers who want to move up the ranks. Zanchin Automotive Group,
with 38 dealerships in Ontario, offers similar upgrading through
Georgian College in Barrie.
SUPPLIED ILLUSTRATION
cer at the 24-dealership
group, said that aside
from technical roles that
require apprenticeships
or college, most career
paths at the dealership
group are accessible
right out of high school.
" We say we hire for
character and develop
competence, " she said.
Retail's degree of difference:
Character before schooling
Dealerships offer lucrative
careers by molding the right
candidates in their image
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
FROM THE
JANUARY
EDITION
FROM THE
IN MANY INDUSTRIES, A JOB APPLICANT
without a university degree or college diploma
won't clear the initial resume screening,
let alone come away with a job
offer.
FEBRUARY
EDITION
FROM THE
MARCH
EDITION
FROM THE
But automobile retailing
has long been an exception to
educational hurdles. In fact,
a retail employee with a high
school diploma is likely to earn a six-figure-plus
income, according to recent Automotive News
Canada
findings.
And dealers say the reason - that auto retail
is a business about people - won't change as the
APRIL
EDITION
EDITION
FROM THE
Salary by education
MAY
University
EDITION
FROM THE
EDITION
FROM THE
College
JULY
Trade/tech school
$156,300
High school or less $134,700
JUNE
$130,200
$89,600
Source: 2023 Automotive News Canada Retail Salary Survey
Zanchin: Her
dealership
group values
college
education,
but " common
sense and a
good head on
someone's
shoulders is
even more
important. "
FILE PHOTO
industry steers into the electric
era.
" It's not like we're closing
the door on anyone with an
education. If you have an education,
that's welcomed, but
it's not something that we look
for, " said Laura Zanchin, principal
and executive vice-president
of Zanchin Automotive
Group, which owns 38 new-vehicle
dealerships in Ontario.
In the car business, she
said, being good with people
trumps post-secondary schooling.
" Common
sense and a good
head on someone's shoulders
is even more important, "
Zanchin said.
The same applies at
Winnipeg-based Birchwood
Automotive Group.
MaryAnn Kempe, chief human resources offiIncluding
commissions and bonuses,
before taxes and deductions
Average
salary
versus
2021
Average
per cent
commission
2022
+$7,000 35.0
+$7,000 45.7
+$8,700 33.8
+$4,800 12.9
Weekly
hours
2022
50
50
50
45
FROM DETAILER TO BOSS
Both Kempe and
Zanchin said large portions
of their companies'
ranks are filled
with people who began
as detailers, lot attendants
or
in other
entry-level
positions,
only
to climb
the ladder.
" All
of
a sudden
from
detailing,
they go
to service
writer, "
Zanchin
said. " And
then they
get service
adviser.
Then ...
Kempe: At
Birchwood
Automotive
Group,
" We say
we hire for
character
and
develop
competence. "
FILE
PHOTO
they're assistant service
manager. You know, it
just builds from there. "
Not accounting for
technicians, Zanchin
estimates that between
25 per cent and 35 per
cent of the dealership
group's 1,700 employees
have a post-secondary
degree or diploma.
Kempe puts Birchwood's
rate in the same ballpark,
estimating that
about 30 per cent of the
company's 1,200 employees
have attended university
or a nontechnical
college.
This percentage at
both dealership groups
is climbing as younger
employees, who tend to
have more education, filter
into the automotive
work force.
Automotive News Canada - December 2023

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