BEST DEALERSHIPS TO WORK FOR IN CANADA

Location: Yarmouth, N.S.

Dealer principal: Justin Barker

Dealership group: Bruce Automotive Group

Number of employees: 28

2017 new-vehicle sales: 415, up 18%

2017 used-vehicle sales: 427, up 25.5%

Manager of People and Culture JP Martel on the unusual methods developed to reward employees and show them they are valued: We recently implemented a peer-to-peer recognition app. The platform allows for executives, managers and staff to send recognition posts to anyone in the group. Each recognition comes with a badge representing one of our company core values and is made public so that other employees can see it and leave comments. We call it our own HR Facebook and it really reinforced the way we appreciate each other and reward great performance.

Martel on how staff requirements have changed over the last five years: Our store has experienced tremendous growth in recent years and went from 15 staff in 2013 to currently 28, primarily in the sales department as our sales volume continues to go up. This is particularly true since we started focusing on used vehicles. As sales go up so does our service clients base so we had to extend our business hours which resulted in hiring additional service advisers, mechanics, parts staff and detailers to accommodate the schedule.

Martel on learning from a hiring/employment-related mistake: Hiring too quickly. When an employee leaves the store, it results in immediate productivity and profitability loss, so replacing this person is a top priority. It's easy to fall into the trap of hiring the first person that comes through the door. Teaming up with our Human Resources team has helped us implement a better hiring process including interviewing, profiling, testing and selecting candidates for the best possible fit.

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