Last week, we considered some of the factors that come into play for employment in 2020, including the “ghosting” practice that, while not strictly a 21st-century phenomenon, is indicative of the fluid nature of job-hopping.
Onboarding is obviously only a first step, and what happens next in the employee lifespan falls squarely on the shoulders of the employer. Are they providing training? Is there a path toward advancement? Are the job duties fairly static, or is there room for maneuvering even slightly outside day-to-day activities? And are the core values just a vanilla list of honesty/integrity banalities, or is there substance behind what is being preached from an HR perspective?
“We’re just ruthlessly focused on the experience,” notes Josh Britton, vice president of operations for Oak Park, Michigan-based imageOne. “We practice open-book finance and bring more of an owner’s mentality into everyone’s experience here.”
Avoiding Complacency
This dealer relies on a robust mentoring and coaching program through its imageOne University. imageOne regularly sends its employees to a variety of conferences, many of which are not industry-specific. Standing still is stagnating, and the company emphasizes continuous improvement as one of its core values and approaches it “with a humility that keeps us from ever being complacent,” Britton added.
While all companies claim to listen to what their employees have to say, the difference between lip service and reacting in an actionable fashion can spell the difference between high and nonexistent turnover. “We want to know if we’re not fulfilling the promise to our team,” he observed. “We want to know what we aren’t doing well, attacking those items and staying vigilant. It’s all about having a mindset that we can be doing better.”
Helping employees achieve a life/work balance is another critical factor that ensures employees their needs are being met. Each year, imageOne has its employees state their visions and goals for what they hope to accomplish in their personal and professional lives. The dealer then seeks to play a role in their fulfillment.
As an example, leadership noted a trend among several employees across the country who had a “bucket list” item of going skydiving. imageOne brought eight employees in from around the country and took them out for an afternoon skydiving adventure.
“Treating people and the totality of their lives has served us well as a company,” Britton remarked.
No Hunting Allowed
Employee poaching is a very real issue for dealers, according to Matteo Recanatini, director of marketing for Offix of Gainesville, Virginia. While the company has a relatively small workforce of about 50, it takes great strides to ensure its employees resist the siren song of recruiters/headhunters.
“We continue to grow in size and revenue, and we’re adding new positions,” he said. “We’re a nimble organization, so we really provide (prospective employees) with a sense that you can really make what you want of that position. You can grow as much as you want, you can add duties and try new things. We also seek to reward from within when new positions open.”
Being on the smaller side, Offix is cognizant of the need to be family-oriented, and the firm takes its cues from owner Steve Valenta. Recanatini notes that employees are always encouraged to attend family functions, as the family comes first. “We provide challenging objectives, but we also reward people by ensuring there’s a good balance between life and work,” he said.
