I know that this topic was somewhat addressed recently in the Flexi-Bell or Bell or Bell to Bell discussion, but I wanted to bring a slightly different angle to it.

I've been married to the car business for the greater part of a decade. I'm grateful for the rewards that the industry has given us and grateful that my husband even has a job in this economy, but these rewards come with a dear price. You would think that by now I would be used to the hectic and demanding schedules that it places on our families, but I've come to realize that there is no getting used to it. I thought you put in dues as a salesperson and it would get easier in management, how naive was that?! Anyone involved in sales whether directly or indirectly is subject to the same grueling schedule.

The older our children get, the more difficult it becomes. Those 9-9 "bell to bell" shifts with meetings in the morning are a standard in the industry. Back before children, it just meant that I had to occupy myself after work. As our family has grown, those have become days when our children miss their daddy. Several days a week their entire relationship with him is over the phone, in little notes, or through video messages. I don't even want to talk about the last week of the month.

It isn't just the parties that he misses, or the special events we are always late to- it is the little everyday events that are irreplaceable. It is reading a story to the kids before they go to sleep. It is hearing about their day after school. It is attending a parent-teacher conference.

Before people accuse me of whining all the way to the bank, let me be clear that we aren't one of those families on those Christmas specials where daddy works so he can have his yacht and doesn't value his children. We are a regular old family with mortgages and bills due. I don't have my kids sit with a nanny while I get manicures and pedicures (unless you count my four-year-old painting my toenails as a pedicure). I'm grateful to have a little house to live in, I just wish there weren't so many sacrifices to make a normal middle class life for ourselves within the industry that my husband knows and loves.

Employee retention is a major issue in the car business. I've had more friends come and go over the past 8 years than ever before. It seems to me that the larger portion of them don't move outside of the business, but rather from one dealership to another. I suppose it is that old greener grass concept, coupled with doing what you know. Promises of a work environment with more money, less hours, and better resources with less hassle... but it is a rare day when that perfect vision is a reality and perfectly dedicated employees are continually lost to the search for the perfect employer- that magic combination that can support a family while allowing some kind of life at home with them. Unfortunately, the family is usually sacrificed to the money. Without money, your family has no home, no food, no car, nor clothes. Its a sad but real truth.

There was one particular part of my training in business that always stuck out to me and that I still hold close to my personal management philosophy today: Employees are the greatest resource a company has. If you keep employees happy, your business will thrive because they will be committed to your vision.

Let me ask this: How happy will your employee be after working 40 hours in 3 days and knowing they have to get up and work another 8-12 tomorrow and the next two days after day? How happy will your employees be when we they miss New Year's Day dinner because you've decided to be open? How happy will your employees be when they missed their child's holiday concert because it falls on the last week of the month during those required "bell to bell" days?

My dad's favorite saying is, "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've already got." Perhaps its time to visit the topic of industry schedules.

My question to the industry is this: Does it have to be this way? Are there creative ways to re-envision the industry to make it easier on your employees and in turn improving your retention? Who has found that magic combination that keeps sales and management employees happy and all of you successful, and can you clue in the rest of the industry?