Staff retention in the motor industry – top tips

The good news for the UK economy is more than two million fewer people are now predicted to be unemployed as a result of the pandemic than originally forecast. Unfortunately, we are instead experiencing ‘The Great Resignation’, which has spread from the US, across continental Europe and hit the UK.

We can see this first hand in the motor trade and elsewhere: worsening skills shortages (already a
major issue for motor dealers with the industry’s transition to EV technology), wage inflation
and jobseekers spoilt for choice – all part of the ‘jobs revolution’ and a huge shift in power
from the business to the worker. So, following the old adage that “prevention is better than cure”,
here are Birketts’ HR and Employment Teams’ top tips for employee retention:

• Progression and development – clear, defined routes and supportive and skilled Learning and Development team and team leaders.
• Regular mentoring/feedback and positive reinforcement.
• Culture – including working collaboratively.
• Flexible benefits package, buy/sell holiday, healthcare benefits, enhanced maternity packages and shared parental leave policies.
• Forums to ‘listen’ to employees – data gathering/feedback/intranet pages.
• Flexibility – how do employees want to work? Can it work for your business?
• Playing to strengths – the make-up of a team can be vastly different in terms of character and specialist skill set – even amongst those with the same job title. Don’t recruit carbon copies.
• Enhancing the skills of those that are happy in their ‘job’ but do not want progression – what could this look like?
• Reward for length of service.
• Ensuring competitive base salary and reward-based systems if required.
• Profit share.
• Diversity – having a “safe and free place” for LGBTQ+ and minority groups with a spokesperson to lead activities to promote understanding and friendships will boost client morale and increase client base.
• Job sharing – can be successful in teams that struggle to recruit full-time candidates and offer an opportunity to tap into a large market.
• Social events and fun activities.

We hope that there are at least one or two useful items from the above that can help your business win the ‘battle for talent’ – and if you need any help putting them into practice then please do get in touch!