It's an exciting day at Service Dealer today, because as you may have seen we are announcing the theme for November's conference.

Called Sustaining Dealerships, the event will be addressing a topic that we know is of premium concern to many of our dealer readers - and that's staffing.

We are not simply talking about recruitment here - although that will of course play a major part of the day.The conference will also be looking at crucial areas such as the retention of staff, the continuing motivation of teams, as well as ideas surrounding succession in the dealership.

But not only this. As the conference title suggests, the day will consider just what dealerships need to make sure they can sustain and are still around - and thriving - in 10, 15, 20 years time. The programme will allow for scope for wider discussion on key topics.

I genuinely believe that the talented team at TAP who are putting the event together, couldn't have hit upon a more timely subject to address this year. Other than having a day where everyone swaps tales of hardship regarding how difficult it is getting stock into their stores at the moment, I'm not sure there is an area that so many dealerships currently have genuine concerns over.

Evidence for how much of an issue cultivating the workforce is at the moment can perhaps be seen with just how many companies have already taken up the offer of using Service Dealer's newly launched Jobs service. We only started publicising the facility last week and already there's a considerable number of entries on this Weekly Update and on our website.

You can also see today in the news for example, with the story of the AEA Scholarships being awarded, how everyone with a vested interest in the sector is looking for means to help recruitment into the industry. AEA CEO Ruth Bailey, is quoted in the piece saying “One of the biggest issues the agricultural and outdoor power equipment sectors face today is the accessibility of skills and attracting the next generation."

She goes on to explain how essentially the guiding principal behind the awards - as well as recognising excellence of course - is to help promote and support the industry as it looks to find new talent. The AEA intend for both winners to act as ambassadors for the sector, relaying positive messages through social media and the like regarding how exciting an area this industry can be for anyone to join - a laudable endeavour.

Talking to dealers

We also know first-hand from conversations the magazine is having with dealers, that recruiting and retaining staff is something troubling dealerships of all machinery speciailsms, in all parts of the country. I visited a dealer last week in fact for a feature in an upcoming issue of the mag, who was telling me just how hard it is for them to find quality technicians.

Sentiments such as these were also heard recently in our profile of Hertfordshire Garden Machinery in the magazine. Sales director Edward Wall told me it's never easy to recruit for the dealership "because in this industry there’s very little training and support offered through colleges, universities, or even manufacturers – and I suppose it’s not the sexiest sector to be working in." Edward went on to say, "A lot of trainee mechanics now want to be in the automotive industry, as opposed to coming into lawnmowers and garden tractors. It’s difficult to find the right people and we’re in an aging industry.”

Whilst on the subject of succession, we included a quote last issue from John Rollinson of Cliftons Turf Machinery who spoke about how they had lost dealerships in their locality in recent years because there was no one willing to take them over. "This has meant ," John told us, "that we are much busier, but typically we can't find staff to cope with the extra load."

So anecdotally at least, it does feel like dealerships are struggling in this area. If you have any recent experiences you'd like to share, please feel free to leave any comments below.

The conference organising team is now working hard establishing the right mix of expert speakers and industry members with first-hand experience to impart - making sure the day offers as much practical, actionable help for dealers as possible.

As ever the event will be a blend of keynotes, presentations and smaller breakout seminar sessions that allow dealer delegates to interact with each other and the speakers. I always think these sessions prove especially valuable, with delegates sharing their wisdom and working through concepts together.

If you are able to, do save the date of November 24th 2022 in you diary. If you can spare a day away from the business perhaps this year more than ever, a trip to the conference could offer inspiration that leads to the continued success of your dealership.