Dealership matchmaker: Demystifying pay plans! Top trends in automotive hiring today

Welcome to another episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast.

In this special edition, Steve Adragna, former President of Global Auto Staffing, shares his insights into the biggest trends in automotive hiring and becoming the head of CDG Recruiting, a brand new venture from Car Dealership Guy.

You can stream the full episode now on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple.

1. The biggest challenge.

Steve has been in the car business since his late teens, working in parts stocking, detailing, and eventually sales, which quickly became his passion. It didn’t take him long to progress through the ranks of F&I (finance and insurance) and fixed operations. However, it wasn’t until he became a manager that he realized one of the biggest challenges facing the industry is finding and retaining high-quality talent.

2. Recruiting for dealers.

Despite his attachment to the retail auto industry, Steve felt that he could make a bigger impact if he were to help others overcome this challenge. His family already ran a recruiting business, which he had spent some time working at, allowing him to transition easily into this new professional chapter. One strength Steve knew he would bring to the table was his knowledge of what dealers want and think. Because he understood the types of personalities that mesh well with dealership owners and managers, he could pinpoint the right candidates for the right roles more easily than someone outside the industry.

3. Impacts of COVID-19.

During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, dealership turnover was at an all-time low. Sales staff especially were making excellent money thanks to skyrocketing car prices, and the job was relatively low pressure due to the limited options available to consumers. But times have changed. More inventory means more consumer choice. As a result, profits are down and so are sales commissions. However, Steve notes that most people are willing to be flexible despite the rapid decline in income across the industry. An added benefit of this shift is that the all-too-common 80-hour work week is slowly disappearing. This means today’s candidates can have a better work-life balance, even if they make less money than during the pandemic.

4. Everyone’s favorite topic.

Compensation is a key factor in finding and retaining top talent, but unfortunately, there’s a lot more nuance to this subject than meets the eye. First, Steve reveals a surprising fact: staff working in California, one of the nation’s biggest car markets, are likely to make less than those working in the South. He attributes this to a lack of understanding about the average compensation plan across the U.S. Due to his background, Steve can fill in the knowledge gap for employers, ensuring they pay an appropriate amount for their local job market.

CDG Recruiting - Building on the success of my industry job board, I’m launching CDG Recruiting — a more hands-on, white-glove automotive recruiting service. Our team has decades of experience and has successfully placed over 1,000 roles in the automotive industry. So, if you’re ready to find your next rockstar employee, try CDG Recruiting today by visiting cdgrecruiting.com.

5. Shifting trends.

The car business is going through a few major changes with recruitment. First, Steve believes that compensation in the industry is starting to shift away from the traditional system, where income could vary heavily from month to month. Instead, he foresees most retailers adopting payment plans similar to those of bigger dealership groups, which offer their staff stable or even fixed incomes. Second, Steve also believes that upward mobility has drastically increased due to positions opening up in the upper echelons of dealership management. For those looking to become manager or partner, now is the perfect time to go job hunting. “This is the best time to be in the industry because there is tons of opportunity…There's so much movement and tons of opportunity,” he remarks.

6. Fixed ops and accounting.

Dealership roles in non-management categories are starting to open up as well. Fixed operations and accounting are two key areas where many retailers search for talent. Since vehicle demand and profit are normalizing, auto industry companies need to boost their other revenue streams and improve efficiency to keep costs down. To do this, they need candidates with experience in either service or finance.

7. Corporate controllers.

Recent events in the auto sector, such as COVID-19 and the CDK Global cyberattack, have revealed vulnerabilities across the dealership ecosystem, leaving retailers scrambling to fill roles they used to think were unnecessary. Steve notes that corporate controllers (similar to finance directors) have quickly become one of the most sought-after candidates in the industry. Many dealership groups are now adding their first corporate controller in the history of the company. However, Steve clarifies that each business has specific requirements when it comes to filling these positions. For example, many dealers are looking for someone with experience in mergers and acquisitions since they’re looking to expand their operations. This means that candidates have to be intimately familiar with the inner workings of the industry.

8. Hottest auto jobs in the market.

For recruiters, the toughest role to fill in the car industry is, and may always be, that of the technician due to an ongoing shortage of qualified candidates and declining interest in certain trades. Steve ranks service managers as the second most difficult, noting that it’s rare for these employees to leave their jobs. In general, he adds, roles on the fixed side of the business will usually be more difficult to fill than those on the variable side, due to the latter having a better reputation for “excitement” than the former.

9. CDG Recruiting. 

To help dealers overcome the challenges of finding and retaining top talent, Car Dealership Guy and Steven Adragna are partnering to bring you CDG Recruiting. Many familiar with the CDG platform know it recently released the CDG Job Board. While this is helping connect retailers with talent, many employers in the industry have specific needs that aren’t likely to be met without a more effective way to search for candidates. CDG Recruiting overcomes this challenge by doing the heavy lifting and matching the perfect candidates with the perfect roles.

10. Closing thoughts.

Steve explains that his main goal as a recruiter is to make a positive impact on both candidates and employers. While he receives many calls from workers asking whether they should try to find a better role, he notes that he often tells people to stay put since “the grass isn’t always greener.” But when the grass is greener, when greater opportunities await, Steve jumps at the chance to change people’s lives for the better. At the end of the day, personality can make all the difference between success and failure in the car business. Identifying and matching characteristics between employer and employee is the primary function of recruiters, making them a valuable resource for the industry.

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