“No one wants to work at our dealerships or live in our area.” When I heard this from the head of human resources and recruiting for a Honda dealership group, I nearly fell out of my chair.
“Joe, our dealership has terrible benefits so I won’t even consider candidates with families. They won’t last.” The person that said this was head of H.R. for a Texas Nissan store.
Now I know what you are thinking, “Nothing like that happens at my stores.” Are you sure?
When a dealer is not successful in their hiring, there are eight common reasons. Use these to quickly protect your valuable recruiting dollars from being wasted.
Make sure your contact person will follow-up.
If after several attempts a candidate has still not made contact with a potential employer, they will move on. Wouldn’t you?
Make sure the phone, fax, and email are correct.
It happens all the time, incorrect phone numbers or email addresses in ads just waste money.
Make sure your contact has a working voicemail.
“This mailbox is full, good bye” will never get you the candidates.
Make sure your IT department is working with the dealership’s recruiting efforts, not blocking it.
Most dealership’s IT people think your Website and email need to be as secure as Fort Knox. Security is important, but too much leads to job seekers seeing their emails sent back as spam.
Give job seekers as many ways as possible to contact or submit a resume.
Statistics show that most job searches and responses to ads are from 10:00pm to 2:00am. Voicemail, fax, and email need to work twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.
Respond to the job seeker ASAP.
Do not let your competitor snatch candidates that you need because you took too long to respond.
Use media that reaches the candidates you want.
Most people find their information online and employers across the country are finding better results with industry specific recruiting Websites. There are even recruiting Websites that specialize in specific brands of dealerships, like BMWdealerjobs.com, FordLMdealerjobs.com, and GMdealerjobs.com.
Write ads from the job seeker’s point-of-view.
Stop writing ads from your prospective and share what’s important to the job seeker such as: length of the work-week, hours, growth opportunity, and training as well as benefits.
Good Hunting, fishing, or whatever analogy you prefer!        
Joe Henry is the son of a former Mercedes and Studebaker dealer and has had many years in various management positions before founding ACT Auto/Truck/Tire/Collision Staffing in 1998. He can be reached at 800-489-0536 or visit www.ACTautostaffing.com.