People & Profits: Keep Employees Engaged

Does your dealership prioritize employee engagement as a key driver to achieve financial and operational success?

Farm-Equipment.com’s George Russell and Erik Thompson, referencing the Tower Watson’s 2012 Global Workforce Study, illustrate just how large the financial impact an engaged workforce can have on a dealership.  The results are as follows:

  • “Comparing operating margins for companies with a traditional engagement environment, high traditional engagement companies have 50% better results compared to companies with low engagement.”
  • “Companies that have a high sustainable engagement show 300% better results compared to low traditional engagement companies.”

They recommend two ways you can have an immediate impact on employee engagement:

  1. Help your employees with internal support, resources and tools so they can engage.
  2. Create an environment that is energizing to work in by helping employees feel well physically, emotionally and socially.

Here are some best practices the SATISFYD dealer community has shared around improving engagement:

Have an ongoing two-way, open and honest dialog

For communication to be successful, there needs to be an ongoing two-way, open and honest dialog.  This specific dealer develops employee trust through quarterly employee focus groups and approaches employee development via coaching. Employees are asked what they are hearing and to share their perspective on customer’s needs.  Leadership continually shares company news, customer experience scores and performance measurements each month, letting everyone see the impact of their customer and employee interactions.

Make employees a hero to the customer

Employees are coached that it is “their customer” with a customer for life philosophy.  Employees are given parameters to use when making decisions during customer interactions, and then are “coached-up” if there was a better option. They leverage best practices between locations, and ask employees for solutions as they are closest to the customer.

Set convictions that describe culture, core values and operating practices

Establish a list of convictions that align with the dealership’s culture, core values and operating practices. This specific dealer Includes a conviction to “create a team environment where employees are empowered to succeed”. They conduct an employee engagement surveys and leadership assessments to gain honest, anonymous feedback. By communicating the results and sharing employee suggestions, leaders gain and increase trust of employees.

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