We have discussed several times this year, as we seem to annually, the difficulties dealers are facing with recruitment.
Just a few weeks ago for instance, we heard that Bigwoods had closed their doors for good, citing being unable to find suitable technician candidates as one of the principal reasons behind their closure.
It's a worrying problem being faced by dealerships around the country - and as we've said before, not one with any simple, quick fixes. Speaking to some dealers recently though, we have been hearing how some are taking steps in an attempt to mitigate their recruitment woes.
One dealer told us, that with all that has happened over these past 18 months, it has really brought into focus for them the recruitment difficulties that the industry is facing.
We heard that within their dealership, they have been well aware for a long time that as a business they have been increasingly dependent on particular members of staff for doing specific things. Dangerously dependent in fact. The reality being if that member of staff is lost to the business, the dealership could be critically exposed.
As an example, in highly specialised areas such as robotic mowers, if the dealership's expert in that field leaves, that could be all the service and backup gone.
In order to get ahead of any unwanted and unexpected departures such as this, the course of action this particular dealer is desperately trying to undertake now, is to train more people within the company to do more of the work.
It was described to us that it felt like their dealership had simply been on one long recruitment drive for as long as they could remember - which is of course, a very difficult and stressful situation to find oneself in for a prolonged period. What this dealer was most keen on now, was trying to make sure that all the staff they have got, are in possession of multiple skills. If they were to lose somebody in one department, they could quickly move somebody across to plug the shortage temporarily being the theory.
Is this a scenario that sounds familiar to your dealership? Are you looking to invest more in training your current staff in order to broaden their skill sets - and as a consequence protect against the company's vulnerabilities?
We here at Service Dealer have certainly heard these sentiments echoed by various dealers who we've spoken with recently.
Broadening the skill sets
Another told us that they very much recognise that taking steps to broaden the skill sets of the people that they've already got in place, so they can cover for colleagues, is going to be increasingly important as we move forward.
They saw this as a means of an overall improvement to their company. Looking to improve at the margins, attempting to do everything that little bit better, is how they put it. Training up staff wherever they could and getting everyone to buy into the company’s philosophy, was very much part of this plan. As they saw it, having staff take ownership of more skills and therefore responsibilities, would lead to improved customer service.
Training for staff can come internally or via external sources. The dealer we were talking to told us they have various pieces of external training running at the moment on specific areas including skills such as I.T and customer service. The staff are pleased, they’re enjoying the training and they appreciate that the management is keen for them to improve their skills.
Less vulverable, more confident?
There seems little doubt that a broadened staff skill set makes a company less vulnerable. It's an important area for a business and probably one that isn't discussed as often as it should be.
If this nervousness was removed of what might happen if a key member of the team was to disappear, might that then afford a greater confidence when planning ahead? One presumes it certainly wouldn't hurt?
Talking of confidence, you may have noticed that we're running our annual Business Confidence survey today that we always ask for your input on around this time of the year. Last year, they key phrase we heard back from our dealer readers who responded was a 'cautious optimism'.
Is that same feeling still widely held this year? Or are readers more bullish now? Or maybe you are increasingly concerned if you foresee the stock shortages and delays continuing for some time.
It would be great to hear from as many of our dealer readers as possible today please, to help us get a sense how the network is feeling about the rest of 2021 and beyond.
So please do take just a few moments to take our quick survey. As ever we'll feature the results and a selection of your comments in the upcoming edition of Service Dealer magazine. Thanks in advance for your help - it's always appreciated.
TAKE THE SURVEY
