Auto dealerships have many tools at their disposal to recruit and retain quality employees, and small tweaks to their hiring processes can pay dividends, according to Tina Amelchenko of Indeed.com, who spoke on the topic during a NADA Live Stage session at the 2020 NADA Show.

In the current “candidate-centric” market, there are more jobs available than job-seekers and the competition for talent is fierce. Potential employees hold the upper hand and are performing a lot of detailed research before deciding where they want to work.

Their number one motivating factor is salary, but they also care about other things, such as the work environment and culture, work-life balance, opportunities for advancement, and more, said Amelchenko in session presented by Indeed.com.

If dealerships cannot offer higher salaries, they need to focus on these other benefits, which Amelchenko defined as their “employer value proposition” (EVP). Potential employees are researching dealerships, looking at their online profiles, reviews by current and past employees, and more, so a dealership’s online reputation is paramount. Amelchenko stressed that dealerships need to be “transparent and authentic” in building their employer brands online.

Another thing dealers can do is streamline their hiring and application processes because most potential employees won’t spend more than 15 minutes applying for a job, she said. These processes should be extremely mobile-friendly as most job-seekers are applying for jobs on their mobile devices.

In the current tight job market, it is imperative that dealers sell themselves to potential employees rather than expecting applicants to sell themselves to dealers, Amelchenko said.

Watch this video to learn more about the current job market and outside-of-the-box approaches to recruiting and retaining employees. Other live coverage is available at the NADA Live Stage stream.