During tough times, it can be difficult for employees to stay positive and motivated. But if your dealership has a team-oriented culture, employees will have the attitude, “We’re in it together.” As Steve Jobs once said, "Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people." 

Team-building is a leadership philosophy that views and treats employees as members of interdependent teams, rather than as individual workers. For leaders, a team-oriented culture makes it a whole lot easier to motivate employees to achieve organizational objectives.

Being part of a team also increases employee engagement, which has numerous positive effects on your bottom line. But how do you build a team?

Many auto dealers face inherent challenges when they try to build teams because of the way their dealerships are managed. Traditionally dealerships are set up to reward individual performance, rather than rewarding the efforts of a team.

A change in management practices may be necessary. Follow these steps to create an organizational structure that supports team building.

Define Organizational Goals

Everyone desires purpose, and every great organization has a mission statement that inspires purpose. Where do you want your dealership to be in five years? Do you want to be No. 1 in sales volume in your region? Do you want to be recognized as one of the best places to work in your community?

Create a mission statement and share your vision with employees. Sharing a purpose creates a team mentality. You need the team's help to get you where you want to be. Without the buy in and combined efforts of your employees, you will go nowhere.

Define Team Goals

In auto dealerships, it makes the most sense to define teams by department. Then define goals for each team. Some dealers may find it difficult to break away from thinking of revenue as their only goal. But revenue goals do not inspire teams.

Instead, create goals that encourage team efforts. Revenue can still be the end goal, but break that down into micro goals. In sales, this could be assigning the entire sales team to achieve certain KPIs. In service, this could be implementing a new technology such as auto dispatch or mobile tablets.

For cues on how a department should operate as a team, look to accounting. The accounting department already operates as a cohesive team. If one person is out sick, another person steps in to fill their role. Everyone in accounting knows the deadlines and does their part to ensure the deadlines are met. Office employees are often cross-trained so they can do one another's jobs.

Rethink your Reward System

Many large auto groups are blazing new trails with pay plans that reward team performance. Commissions and bonuses are based on achieving group goals, such as improving CSI or Net Promoter Scores, increasing adherence to processes and achieving Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Recognize and reward employees based on how well they contribute to the team, rather than their individual performance.

Promote Friendly Competition

In business, friendly competition solidifies team relationships, motivates members to work together and encourages them to root for each other. Competitions can be friendly and don't have to be based on business goals.

For example, you could set up team competitions to raise funds for an outside charity.

If your culture includes a health and wellness component, have teams compete in local bike races and walk-a-thons.

Organize Social Activities Outside of Work

A study conducted by MIT's Human Dynamics Laboratory analyzed communication behavior among dozens of teams in different industries. It found that the best predictors of productivity were a team's energy and engagement outside of formal meetings.

In fact, the degree to which team members socialized away from their workstations contributed to as much as a 35 percent variance in team performance.

Encourage team members to take coffee breaks or eat lunch together. Organize lunchtime power walks, happy hours and volunteer projects. Host onsite professional development workshops for team members.

Train Managers

Last but not least, a critical step in the team-building process is to provide your managers with the necessary training to foster a team-oriented culture.

Team building is a top down activity. It isn't enough for a dealership principal or GM to promote a team building philosophy. Department managers must buy in and offer structure and support; in short, they must be willing team members.

Is there a department in your dealership that suffers from low morale, low productivity, infighting, failure to follow processes and/or rule breaking? If so, that department manager may need to be trained on how to build and manage a team.

Consider sending department managers to a team-building program or workshop. Form a cross-functional team that includes all department managers to foster a team building environment that shares ideas and activities.

Building a team takes dedication, but the benefits are worth the effort. Members of a team communicate more effectively, motivate each other and hold each other accountable. Companies with a strong team culture also report higher levels of employee satisfaction, morale and happiness.

The term “servant leadership” was first coined in an essay written by Robert Greenleaf in 1970. Later he expanded the essay into a book, which became one of the most influential leadership texts ever written. Greenleaf spent his entire 40-year working career at AT&T, researching management, development and education. His research led him to believe that the traditional, power-centered, authoritarian leadership style so prominent in U.S. institutions wasn’t working.

Greenleaf’s philosophy:

"The servant-leader is servant first... Becoming a servant-leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first... The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?"

It’s important to understand that “servant leadership” doesn’t literally mean “servant.” Servant leaders don’t fetch coffee and wait on their employees. Rather, the desire to serve is a genuine desire to help others. It’s a leadership style that serves the group interests first, and the leaders’ interest second.

This is a different paradigm than a traditional hierarchy based on coercive power and control. The leader of the group becomes a mentor, administrator and facilitator for the group, instead of a policy maker or disciplinarian.

If you’re interested in seeing if servant leadership can make a difference in your organization, there are steps you can try today. These steps were developed by the Servant Leadership Institute. They may seem elementary, but doing these things daily will begin to change your culture and make your team sit up and take notice.

As a leader, follow these steps and see if you notice changes for the better. If you’re not yet a manager or a leader, you can still follow these guidelines and see if it changes others’ perceptions of you. Most notably, if you act like a leader, you will be perceived as a leader.

1) Every day, get out of your office. Intentionally spend time each day connecting with your employees or team.

2) Every day, make eye contact and greet people in your workplace, even if you don’t know them.

3) Every day, find a way to say “thank you” to someone for the way they are serving either you, your company or team.

4) If you have a team, set up one-on-one meetings with every person on that team. This time should be used to get to know one another, and not be focused on specific work tasks. One idea is to take your team out to lunch once a week, and specifically avoid talking about work.

5) Every day, avoid gossip and stop it when you can.

6)  Approach every day asking how you can add value. Avoid asking yourself how you can ‘win’ the situation.

7) Use every opportunity you have to explain the larger meaning of what you are asking people to do. It’s important that they understand the mission.

8) If you lead a team or assign work to others, look for opportunities to delegate. It’s a great way to show people that you trust them and you want to help them grow.

9) Be on time to meetings. This shows people that you value their time.

10) Do what you say you’re going to do

Servant leadership has been proven to transform workplace cultures for the better, but it doesn’t happen overnight. While you develop and nurture the necessary qualities and traits to become a servant leader, take these small steps to affect immediate change.

Traditionally when we think about leadership in organizations, we think about a top-down, authoritarian hierarchy. When many dealers started working years ago, this was the typical structure and there was a general belief that a high-pressure sales environment drove financial success.

But a large and growing body of research suggests otherwise. It turns out that high-pressure environments create workplace stress and disengaged employees, which is bad for business.

Business experts agree that a servant leadership model is far more effective when it comes to keeping employees engaged, which in turn leads to higher productivity and satisfied customers.

Examples of companies that practice servant leadership include Southwest Airlines, Costco, Zappos, REI, Quiktrip, Aflac, Marriott, Nordstrom and Starbucks. Not coincidentally, many of these organizations have also made the Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.

Southwest Airlines is probably the most well-known example of a company where servant leadership has paid dividends. Herb Kelleher's philosophy of putting employees first has resulted in a highly engaged, low-turnover workforce and 35-plus consecutive years of profitability, which is an unheard-of record in the turbulent airline industry 

Practicing servant leadership can deliver the following big benefits to your dealership.

Makes Recruiting Easier

Employee turnover rates in dealerships are still high, and that turnover is expensive. The Center for American Progress estimates that replacing a single employee costs approximately 20% of that employee’s salary.

The labor market is tight right now. To attract the best talent, you need to differentiate your organization. It's not just about offering the best pay or benefits; you need to offer a complete package. People want to work at a company that offers them a sense of purpose and belonging, a career path, a strong culture and they want to be recognized and genuinely appreciated for their efforts.

Increases Employee Retention

With traditional management styles, the needs of the company are often put ahead of the needs of the employees. With servant leadership, the needs of your employees are your first priority, always. No decision is made without figuring how it impacts the employees. This helps to nurture a strong sense of loyalty from the employees to the company.

Many leaders in dealerships have cultivated a high-pressure work environment, especially in the sales department. Although this type of environment may generate short-term excitement and gains, studies show that long-term, high-pressure environments cause employees to become disengaged.

To start making changes to your culture, take a long-term view of profitability. Instead of focusing on sales and numbers, find a way to make your employees love their jobs. If they love what they do, you won’t have to worry about making the numbers.

Increased Productivity

According to Gallup, 67% of employees say they are sometimes, very often or always burned out at work. Also, per Gallup, employees who are often burned out are 63% more likely to take a sick day and 23% more likely to visit the emergency room. This negatively affects productivity and can drive up healthcare costs in your dealership.

In studies by the Queens School of Business and the Gallup Organization, disengaged workers had 37% higher absenteeism, 49% more accidents, and 60% more errors and defects.

Servant leadership encourages employees to find a work-life balance, and supports them in their efforts to do so.

Healthy Bottom Line

There are many hidden costs involved with disengaged employees and a high-pressure work environment. Health care costs induced by stress reduce companies’ profits by 10%. Organizations with low employee engagement scores experience 18% lower productivity, 16% lower profitability, 37% lower job growth and 65% lower share price over time.

To help alleviate workplace stress, a lot of companies offer perks like gym memberships, flex time and other benefits. However, a Gallup poll shows that employees prefer workplace wellbeing to material benefits.

Employee wellbeing comes from one place, and one place only: a positive workplace culture.

Transforming a workplace culture is a big job. It takes dedication, time and most of all, leadership. But the leadership tactics of yesteryear weren’t designed to create the ideal workplace culture of today. Which is why servant leadership is the better business model for today.

To quote Jim Sinegal, co-founder and ex-CEO of Costco: “Culture isn’t the most important thing. It’s the only thing. Culture drives every decision you make. Culture is everything.”

Do you have what it takes to be a leader? Being a manager doesn’t automatically make you a leader, and you can also be a leader without being a manager. But how do you know if you’re a leader or a manager?

A true leader is someone who doesn’t conform to common perceptions about leadership. Here I’ll discuss these perceptions, that I also like to call the 7 Myths of Leadership.

1. A position/title will make me a leader

Just because you have the title, doesn't mean you're a leader. We’ve all seen departments that have both a manager and a leader. The leader is the one who people follow. You may have earned the title with hard work and longevity, but the only way to earn a role as leader is to inspire others to follow you.

1. If I’m not hearing complaints, everyone must be happy

If your employees don’t trust or respect you as a leader, they’re not going to complain to you because they’re probably blaming you for their unhappiness. People won’t confide in you unless they truly believe that you care about them and that you have their best interests at heart.

3) I can lead everyone the same way

Many leaders like to adopt a certain style or method of leadership. Maybe it’s something they read about in a book or learned from a mentor that they think is effective. But every person is different.

For example, the way you lead men might be different than the way you lead women. What motivates 60-year-olds is different than what motivates 23-year-olds. Some people are more sensitive than others. One style doesn’t work for everyone.

1. Leadership and management are the same thing.

You’ve probably heard the old saying “inspect what you expect.” This implies a top-down leadership style where the dealer tells the manager what to do, then inspects to make sure it gets done.

But if you study leadership and management principles, you’ll discover that leaders don’t need to inspect what they expect. A good leader defines a vision and mission, inspires management to get on board with that mission, and empowers the managers to do their jobs. If you have to inspect things all the time to make sure they’re done right, chances are you’re a manager.

A good litmus test to determine if you’re a leader or a manager is whether you can take time off from work. Can you go on vacation for a week without being pulled into phone calls and checking emails for hours a day? If you’re a manager, probably not. If you’re a leader, you can go on vacation and not worry about things because you know that everything that’s supposed to get done, will get done.

1. Being a leader makes me popular

Sometimes leaders have to make tough decisions, and sometimes these decisions can be very unpopular. But if a leader feels strongly that they’re doing what’s right for the company long-term, then the employees will still respect that decision. They make not like it but they’ll respect it.

For example, if you’re running a dealership and you want to make a change like implementing a new technology, such as mobile tablets in the service lane, or changing your DMS, or if you want to change the pay structure, your employees might really push back. Present your case, tell them why, and stick firmly to your decision.

If you want to make a change but cave in to the desires of your employees, then you’re a manager, not a leader. A leader is willing to make an unpopular decision if it’s best for the company.

1. Leaders must have charisma and be extroverts

Many of the best leaders are humble and soft spoken. Look at Warren Buffett, or Jim Senegal, the founder and ex-CEO of Costco, or Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines. These guys are personable but in no way charismatic. Many leaders in the tech world are real nerds – look at Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerberg. You could argue these guys have a presence about them but they aren’t charismatic in the traditional sense of the word.

Leadership qualities transcend appearance and stereotypes, so when you’re looking to hire or promote someone, don’t overlook someone because you think they’re not charismatic enough.

1. Leaders accomplish things by controlling others

You can’t force someone to follow you. People choose to follow based on instinct. If you want to be a leader you have to genuinely care about your people. This is not something that can be faked, because your employees will sense it. And in order to care about people, you have to get to know them. Go out and talk to them every day—not just about work, but ask them about their families, hobbies and goals.

Additionally, you have to lead by example. You can’t tell someone how to do something or behave a certain way, and then go and do the opposite. To be respected, leaders have to walk the talk. 

Simon Sinek wrote a great book called “Leaders Eat Last.”  In the military there’s a saying “Officers eat last.” When military troops are fed, the lowest-ranking privates eat first. Then the corporals, sergeants, then finally the officers. Real leaders put their people first.

For employees, this one behavior, whether you put yourself first or your employees first, determines whether you’ll be worthy of their love and loyalty. If you genuinely care about your employees and put their best interests first, they will follow you to the ends of the earth. That’s when you know you’re a leader.

In my position I visit many dealership accounting offices, and recently I’ve noticed a common problem. Accounting employees aren’t being properly trained. This is a big problem because if your office isn’t being managed efficiently, your money isn’t being managed efficiently.

Typically, new hires are trained by the person they’re replacing, or by another employee or Office Manager, who are already stretched. As a result, new employees learn the bare minimum of how to do their jobs.

Another problem is that accounting staff in dealerships tend to be overworked and paid less than accounting positions in other industries, so sometimes people are hired without an adequate accounting background. In one dealership I know of, the dealer gave his daughter a position in accounting, even though she didn’t know what a debit or a credit was.

Without adequate training and oversight, mistakes can happen that can lead to gross profits being misrepresented. If mistakes continue unchecked, the results can end in a huge mess. Recently a dealership hired an outside accounting firm to do an audit, and it took many months and a lot of money to get everything cleaned up.

The biggest reason accounting support people are not trained is lack of time. Dealers often run their accounting departments with as few employees as possible due to the perception that this is a cost center, not a profit center. This is a mistake.

Instead of asking how much another employee is going to cost, ask what is the cost of having inadequately trained employees and the resulting problems associated with that?

Dealership principals and senior management must recognize the value of training and mandate training—or it won't happen. The top resources for training office employees include:

1) Dealership Management System (DMS) vendor

Ideally your DMS vendor can help with setting up accounting best practices and problem-solving. Unfortunately, depending on your DMS vendor, they can also be part of the problem. Some DMS vendors hire software support people that know how the software works but they’ve never actually worked in a dealership or in an accounting position.

Recently I heard a complaint about how one DMS provider's quarterly reports were wrong (not ours), but nobody at the DMS could help the accounting staff and they didn't know how to fix the report. That dealership’s accounting staff is now burdened with having to create manual reports, which is an enormous waste of time, energy and money.

Make sure your staff are being trained by individuals with auto dealership accounting knowledge and experience. If your DMS provider can't provide that, consider switching to another DMS.

Alternately, most DMS solutions have internal training tools.  Learning management systems are a good first step and all new employees should be mandated to use them.

Also check to see if your DMS provider has a User Summit or other educational events.  Send at least one of your accounting staff to these events to learn about the newest features and releases. This is a great opportunity to learn new processes and shortcuts that can save your entire department a lot of time.

Once a year, arrange for on-site training from your DMS vendor to teach your staff the same info: new features, new processes and how to do their jobs more efficiently.

2) Outsource training to a CPA firm experienced working with dealerships

Some outside CPA firms that do audits also provide employee training.

3) Join (or start) an accounting group on Facebook specific to car dealership accounting employees.

Facebook groups are a great place to bounce ideas off others. It's a great help to be able to say, “Hey, I want to try something this way,” or “I tried something this way and it doesn't work.” You can get feedback on how to solve problems. If you can't find the right Facebook group for you, start one yourself!

4) Train senior management how to manage accounting

Before promoting or hiring a new general manager, ensure they’re familiar with accounting office functions and how to manage them. If they're not, arrange for one-on-one training with your DMS provider, outside accounting firm, or make sure they've completed a program like the NADA Academy. Going forward, look for candidates with a college degree in auto dealership management; or encourage promising employees to obtain a degree and provide a program to help them get one.

5) Cross-train employees

Cross-training is critical. When one of your accounting employees calls in sick or suddenly quits, are there other employees who know how to do that person's job? Make sure there are at least two other employees who know how to perform the functions of every role in your office.

6) Train the "why"

In addition to training “how” to do something, make sure your staff know the “why” behind what they’re doing. This is a critical part of training that's often overlooked. Many times, inefficient ways of doing something are passed from one employee to another because that's the way it's always been done.

Without knowing the “why,” it's hard to take initiative to try and improve a process. For example, instead of training just how to post a deal, make sure your staff knows where that data goes, why it’s important to do quickly, what decisions are made with that data, and the consequences that can happen when the data is wrong.

Your accounting office may not generate revenue like your sales or fixed ops departments, but what happens there on a daily basis has a big impact on your profits. Make sure your accounting staff have adequate training, support and resources so they can do their jobs efficiently.