BEST DEALERSHIPS TO WORK FOR IN CANADA

Location: Middleton, N.S.

Dealer principal: Justin Barker

Dealership group: Bruce Automotive Group

Number of employees: 39

2017 new-vehicle sales: 396, down 1%

2017 used-vehicle sales: 346, down 23%

Manager of People and Culture JP Martel on the challenges of hiring/retention in the face of dramatic changes in technology and competition for skilled staff: Since we operate in a small rural community, our main challenge is access to talent. That's why we invest so much time and resources into building a culture in which people want to be a part of. Word of mouth and referrals are still very important recruitment tools for us. We also use social media and Google targeting campaigns, which allow us to have a constant presence in the labour market and have first pick over our competitors.

Martel on staff diversification and attracting more women to the workplace: Our community faces rapid population aging and slow growth, so we've implemented steps to attract young talent. A strong brand and career marketing campaigns combined with job security, city-like pay, full benefits and plenty of opportunities to learn and grow within the company have been quite successful. We've partnered with the Native Council of Nova Scotia and the Aboriginal Peoples Training and Employment Commission to attract and hire from the First Nation community. Women comprise 23 per cent of our staff and are assured equal opportunities.

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