Best Dealerships To Work For in Canada 2019

Location: Kitchener, Ont. 

Dealer principal: Michael Crosby

Dealership group: Crosby Auto Group l Number of employees: 47

2018 new-vehicle sales: 498 up 6.4%

2018 used-vehicle sales: 185 up 6.3% 

Dealer Principal Michael Crosby on helping employees develop a career path: Do they have an area in the dealership they want to try out or see themselves in? Maybe their manager sees something in them for a different role that they haven’t considered. Now that we all know that’s a goal, how do we support them and train them in that direction?  

Crosby on making work schedules more balanced and flexible: We try to set a fair schedule for our team members and staff the dealership appropriately. When you’re not here, you’re not here. We try to limit the amount of calling or texting when people are not in the store. Usually with a little thought, we can solve the problem ourselves, and certainly when someone is away on vacation, that time is sacrosanct. I don’t expect anyone to be contacted on their vacation time unless it truly is an emergency, and, let’s be honest, that’s hardly ever the case. Let your other people develop; this is time for them to step up and grow, not contacting the person on ‘vacation’ multiple times a day. 

Crosby on the unusual methods developed to reward employees and show them that they are valued: We’ve made an effort to have a number of team-building outings each year. These are done by functional area, as well as the whole dealership. Each team is given a budget and it’s up to them to plan the excursion. We’ve had teams simply go out to a restaurant to have a meal together, while others have gone cart racing, played paintball, and even been trapped in a puzzle room together and attempted to break out! It’s a great way for the teams to get together away from the dealership, have fun and feel rewarded, and also hopefully build strong connections with their teammates.