BEST DEALERSHIPS TO WORK FOR IN CANADA

Location: St. Thomas, Ont.

Dealer principals: Bruce Dumouchelle, John Stollery

Number of employees: 49

2017 new-vehicle sales: 657, down 3.5%

2017 used-vehicle sales: 239, up 32%

Dealer Principal Bruce Dumouchelle on the challenges of hiring/ retention in the face of dramatic changes in technology and competition for staff: We treat the young workers well and promote and train them. The challenges we face today is finding young people that have good work ethics and communication. Many people today are not prepared to do the physical skill that our employees do each day. People seem to think they can just sit at a desk and play on a computer all day and work flexible hours.

Dumouchelle on staff diversification and attracting more women to the workplace: We do not have much turnover. We seem to have a diverse group of employees but we really don't do anything special to attract different cultures. We are in a rural area and don't have the cultural diversity that larger cities have.

Dumouchelle on the unusual methods developed to reward employees and show them they are valued: Pension, barbecues and birthday celebrations.

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