Not everyone who decides to be in the auto industry ends up wanting to stay in it and it is no secret that there is a high turnover rate in the car business.

Employee turnover costs dealerships money in several ways: Dealerships will experience a loss of training expenses; inexperienced sales staff making basic mistakes; the lack of continuity with customers; and, ultimately, they will see a drop in possible leads and vehicle sales due to employees constantly revolving in and out of the dealership.

Not to mention any negative reviews, complaints, or reputation dings which can occur when an employee lacks loyalty and gives up on doing their job well. Ultimately, they will end up walking out of the dealerships doors with no plan of returning, leaving you to clean up the mess.

New employees come and go for a multitude of reasons. Some say it is due to certain hiring processes, practices, as well as the lack of skills or automotive knowledge and the list goes on.

What is often not considered is loyalty to the dealership they work for, or lack thereof, as being one of the reasons they leave.

Bad hires cost dealerships thousands, if not, millions of dollars a year, but that is not the worst of it.

We often focus our attention on employees who quit but what is worse than a disloyal employee who leaves your dealership?

The answer is, a disloyal employee who stays.

It would be interesting if our attention was placed on this important factor. How much do this type of employee actually cost dealerships.

Employees who are not loyal and have not quit are ones who are still working with your customers and providing them with service. What they do or do not do represents your dealership. How well do you think they care about the job they are doing?

If you were to look around your dealership right now, could you honestly say every employee who works for you are loyal to your dealership and brand?

Yes, disloyal employees who leave impact the dealership negatively but at least what was possibly poisoning the morale, customer service, etc., has left the building.

You should be really concerned about the disloyal employees who have decided to stay at your dealership and who are continuing to negatively impact those who work at your dealership and buy from it.

Do you have a plan on how to prevent hiring and keeping disloyal employees? If not, it is best you create one.

Here are some helpful tips to not hire or keep disloyal employees:

• Properly vetting candidates is an absolute must.. Prevent you and your team from rushing the process, for this can ultimately hurt you in the long run.
• Ensure that candidates are interviewed by more than one manager. Converse with each manager about their interview and their initial impression of them.
• New hires should not solely be chosen based on skills alone (after all, most can be taught). Rather, place importance on whether or not they believe in the message of your dealership, the company philosophy, mission, and the culture.
• Ask interviewees to provide a list of reasons why they want to work at your dealership. Be concerned if they fail to provide anything of value.
• Always conduct a background check and do not just ask fro references but be sure to check those as well. Be vigilant in who you allow on your team.
• Trust is quickly broken when the interviewer oversells the position. If one states that it will be very easy to make $100,000 a year and in actuality it is not, this will ultimately turn the once loyal employee into a disloyal one.
• Ensure employees are not only trained on the job they need to do at the dealership, but also are aware and understand what other employees jobs are too. Get them acquainted with one another with the efforts of building a sense of togetherness.
• Regularly conduct trust-building exercises to nurture the loyalty each employee has for one another and the dealership.
• Inform new employees on what is expected of them and the services they provide. Ask for them to give you examples of how they can implement these service expectations.

Never assume employees know any or all of these things listed above. It is also important to not become complacent. Always be attentive to your employees actions and job quality.

Being in a manager position provides you the opportunity to help employees grow and better themselves which, in turn, will make your dealership, better.