Dealership Recruiting and Retention in the Age of Social Media

With the U.S. unemployment rate hovering just over 4%, auto dealership recruiting and retention are daunting challenges facing dealers of all sizes.

The need to replace 76,000 qualified Technicians annually to Service bays nationwide is well-known, it's hard to find and retain good Front Office staff, too, especially for the Sales department.

Approximately 73% of Sales professionals leave their jobs in two years or less. And in the 2024 CDK Dealership Workplace Study, nearly a third of all employees say they’re considering leaving their current dealership job. Suffice it to say that dealers have a retention problem, which means recruiting new staff is critical.

This dire need is running right into a new generation of employees who aren’t only engaged with social media. They’ve grown up with it as not only entertainment but also as tools for communication and education.

The Double-Edged Sword of Being Constantly Online

Anyone old enough to remember the days before the Internet knows that new and pre-owned vehicle shopping has dramatically changed over the last 25 years.

In a similar way that online pricing has made transparency the rule rather than the exception, the internet has also made retention and recruiting more transparent. Today, online platforms like Indeed and Glassdoor allow job seekers to shop for new employment opportunities and share workplace experiences — not all of which are positive — much more easily than in decades past.

While dealerships can’t prevent employees from leaving negative comments on platforms (especially anonymously), they should monitor these sites and reviews and respond when appropriate. These days, your youngest hires may find out about career opportunities from these sites as well as guidance counselors and yes, social media.

Ninety-three percent of Generation Z say they use YouTube, 78% use Instagram, 67% use Facebook, 65% use Snapchat, 62% use TikTok, 45% use Pinterest, and 44% use Reddit. LinkedIn comes further down the list at 32%. While not all of their time on these platforms will be dedicated to job searching, they still have a major effect on the process.

Recruiting

It’s a given to post job openings to LinkedIn and online job boards, but in order to stand out online, especially on mobile devices, you need to post shorter messages as well as more video and photo content. And you also need to creatively repost your job openings on other social platforms where qualified candidates are more likely to be spending time online, including community college social pages, professional trade group pages, and even enthusiast- and community-based social sites, like local car and coffee meet pages.

TikTok deserves special attention on the recruiting front. In a March 2024 survey of 1,000 Gen Zers, 70% reported that they encounter career advice on TikTok weekly, and 41% have made a career-related decision based on TikTok advice. Fifteen percent received a job offer for an opportunity they found on TikTok, and four in five have used TikTok to network. TikTok even has short video resumes for young people seeking employers who “get it.”

Savvy Social Media Managers at many dealerships these days can use simple and often free analytics tools to find and fine-tune the unique combination of sites, unique content and the best times to share employment opportunities.

Retention

While social media can cut through online clutter to target potential recruits, it can also aid employee retention. While traditional methods — like bonuses, profit sharing, promotions and sales training beyond OEM offerings — all remain useful retention tools, they aren’t as budget-friendly as social media.

Having a Sales Manager or General Manager recognize exceptional employee performance on social media is a great way to increase employee morale and build a reputation for a culture of caring for dealership employees. In doing so, dealerships can reinforce and amplify their values.

A number of dealership employees are taking to social media to promote themselves as salespeople, breathing authenticity into the lead process. Dealers should encourage any staffers to take to social media if they feel they represent their stores appropriately, even if the tone may be unique to the social audience.

Social Media Is Always On

At the end of the day, social media can accelerate yearlong reputation building and make dealership culture, values, behaviors and attitudes all the more transparent.

There are few, if any, alternatives that allow management as well as staff to reach such a wide audience in an authentic way. If you’re not already engaging with potential employees and your existing staff online, don’t be shy. Experimenting costs little and any positive results will boost your overall recruiting plans.