Working environment can also affect retaining and recruiting techs. Is your facility clean, well-lit and inviting? Many dealers have told me how much employees embrace remodeling and improvements to working conditions.
Another thing dealers can do is to hold employee appreciation events, like employee/retreats, cook outs, etc.
I believe that improved communications with employees can also prove instrumental in retaining employees. Dealers must find out what “trips the trigger” for each employee. Plus, these discussions should take place periodically, not just during an annual review. Dealers need to be flexible. One “plan or employee contract” might not fit all. For some employees the trigger might be wages, while others may want time off or benefits. While having a different policy for each employee will come with its own issues, increased communication with employees may head-off some of them.
Recruitment
Now that you have addressed retention issues (wages, “flex-time,” benefits, working conditions, etc.) and are competitive with other businesses, it is time to start recruiting employees.
You’ve all heard the saying “location, location, location…” The same is true when it comes to hiring employ- ees. Often, the main reason given by techs for leaving were to be closer to family or a girlfriend/boyfriend. Most dealers tell me if they hire a tech just out of tech school and the student isn’t from their local vicinity, they will only be at a dealership three years before moving home. I guess the key to finding a long-lasting employee is to recruit locally.
If you are looking for young workers, look at your current customers first. Do they have children who might be interested in working for you? Send a letter to customers sharing the different opportunities available in your dealership. Parents want to see their children stay close to home.
Visit your local high school and meet with the guidance counselor, ag education instructor or industrial educa- tion instructor. Tell them about the scholarships you offer.
Offer half-day job shadowing opportunities so students can learn about the positions available at your dealership (target freshmen and sophomores in high school). While students are at your dealership let them know about the scholarship and tool reimbursement programs you offer. If you don’t have a tool reimbursement program, develop one. Tools are expensive and could be a major hurdle for new hires.
Support your local community colleges offering a general diesel or ag technician program. Some of these programs need students to stay in existence. Encourage your manufacturer to establish a sponsored training program with a community college. Often, these programs are more successful with larger enrollments. The top prospective technicians attend these programs.
Look outside the box. Don’t only consider men. More and more females are working in parts, sales, and precision equipment sales & support. Many have equipment backgrounds and are fully capable of working at a dealership.
Ag and industrial equipment dealers are competing for the same people who go to a community college to become an auto or truck technician, electrician, plumber or work in another trade. The winner will be the one who puts forth the most effort and has instilled a hiring and retention environment in their dealership.
Q: A:
iowa SALES TAX spotlight Is a purchase of a rotary cutter used for CRP exempt from sales tax?
Land which is placed in the CRP program cannot be used for agricultural production, because equipment used primarily on CRP ground is not directly and primarily used in the producation of agricultural products, thus it is not exempt from sales tax.
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