How quality of work life affects job satisfaction and employee retention – David Lewis

Quality of work life is one of the driving factors keeping people in their jobs today, but without it, you might start to see higher turnover rates. Today on Inside Automotive, we’re pleased to welcome back David Lewis, President and CEO of David Lewis and Associates and the host of the long-running CBT show, Straight Talk, to take a deeper dive into staff retention strategies.

We’re in an environment now where money is not always the driving factor to attract employees or retain them, Lewis says. Compensation is very important, and there will be some employees who are driven by money only. However, younger people joining the workforce are driven by the quality of work life. Car dealers have to accept that, Lewis adds. But he adds that 98% of dealership employees need to be on-site to perform their jobs effectively. So, dealers have to create environments where their employees want to be.

David Lewis and Associates prioritizes the health and well-being of its employees first and foremost. If an employee is under the weather, they are encouraged to go home and recover without the fear of losing compensation. The company also brings in lunch for its employees and lets them go home early on certain days. Lewis also arranges quarterly outings as a way to say thank you. 

It might not seem like these benefits could work within a dealership structure, but Lewis says they can. Can the dealership empty completely for extended periods of time? No. But quarterly outings can be rotated and events for friends and family can be held on the weekends. Lewis says that if you have a good idea to create environments where their employees want to be, then do it.

If you want your employees to truly have a good quality of work life, then you have to flip the dealership hierarchy on its head. Typically, the dealership is stacked like a triangle with ownership and upper management at the top and positions like service advisors, technicians, or salespeople at the bottom. Lewis recommends that dealers put themselves at the bottom of the triangle.

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