Best Dealerships To Work For in Canada 2019

Location: Brampton, Ont. 

Dealer principal: Bill Johnston Sr.

Dealership group: Bramgate Automotive Inc.

Number of employees: 61

2018 new-vehicles sold: 856, up 7.7%

2018 used-vehicles sold: 499, down 2% 

Vice-President, Finance and Administration Roberto Fazio on helping employees develop a career path: At the time of recruitment, we identify areas of opportunity in the dealership. After hire, we engage in regular evaluations to ensure that the employee is on track both within the department and the dealership group overall. We recently implemented a High Performance Leadership training program to accelerate staff development, modeled after similar training from the National Automobile Dealers Association. Participation in this training is highly coveted by our staff. 

Fazio on steps taken to address the shortage of skilled workers: We have challenges recruiting skilled workers, especially service and collision technicians. The best way to address this is to communicate to the larger community our high standards in customer service and employee engagement. This philosophy is reflected in our vision for successful growth to ensure our customer and employee experience is easy, efficient and enjoyable. We invest in our employees, providing career-path growth opportunities, competitive compensation and well-rounded training. We also provide our employees with the tools that they need to excel at their jobs. 

Fazio on the lessons learned from a hiring/employment-related mistake: Our vision is to consistently provide an easy, efficient and enjoyable experience at every stage of our customer interaction. As such, we ensure that we invest time in our recruitment efforts to find the candidate who is the right fit before we hire. When we have fallen short of this standard, we are left with limited options. Our objective is to stay true to our vision every day and at every stage of the recruitment process.