Is on-the-job training effective for employee development? – David Kain

In the last year, dealers have made many changes to their operations, but are training and employee development overlooked now? On today’s show we are pleased to welcome David Kain, President and Owner of Kain Automotive, industry expert, and host of Kain and Co. right here on CBT News.

Kain begins the conversation by discussing issues dealers have been facing within the past year that may have caused employee development, such as the pandemic, production, and the many effects of the chip shortage.

Kain says, everybody believes on-the-job training is simply just that…training, but it’s not. The best way to effect change is a good internal training mechanism. Every dealership employee can benefit from 5-10 minutes of structured training, every day. Not only having everyday training but also the right curriculum. He says you want to catch your team members doing the right things because everyone deserves a pat on the back.

If training is done correctly, it can shave months if not years off the success path. Kain says then they’re able to do corrective training and some may not need guidance at all. Sometimes it’s just having those much-needed conversations.

Kain has since launched an online Clients Metrics Platform program where they study clients’ behavior that gives insights on what is needed to guide the growth, behavior change, and culture guidance for their clients.

Kain says the most difficult job in the dealership has to deal with business development activity. It’s finding the right person to be able to follow up frequently and differentiate between online and the showroom. You have to coach dealers on how to communicate and adapt to the different needs of the client.

Kain discusses his take on how the rest of the year will go. While he believes things will get creative, he says everything has to deal with the law of supply and demand. Don’t put yourself or your future at risk by not having a good strategy and marketing to support those initiatives.


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