Auto/Mate Dealership Systems
How to Build a Team-Oriented Culture
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.
Auto/Mate Dealership Systems
10 Steps to Become a Servant Leader
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.
1 Comment
Allen Turner Hyundai
Melissa,
Great article! These 10 points could serve as a checklist for our day if we are serious about growing our teams! Thanks for sharing!
Auto/Mate Dealership Systems
4 Big Benefits of Servant Leadership
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.”
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Auto/Mate Dealership Systems
7 Myths of Leadership
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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2 Comments
Derrick Woolfson
Beltway Companies
Great article, Melissa! You hit the nail on the head with the fact that managers have to be trained. If the managers are not leading their teams - to your point - it can cause for low morale, performance, etc. All of which can detract from the dealers bottom line. I also agree with the outside work events. One of the biggest challenges with that, however, is the fact that so many dealers have their sales consultants work 12hr+ days! Not to mention, given how most pay plans are structured - the top sales consultants wind up working several "bell" to bell" days with little or no vacations. Lastly, the time that many of them can actually take a vacation their "vacation" pay tends to be an "average" of their commissions YTD. Whereas, if a dealer simply used their best month-to-date commission wise as a means of paying their vacation time it could go a long way!
Melissa Maldonado
Auto/Mate Dealership Systems
Thank you Derrick for the great feedback! I have seen some dealers take very innovative approaches to change the traditional styles of pay plans that have increased employee morale and retention. A happy employee = a happy customer!