Will flexible working ever suit today’s dealerships?

Some cite motor retail’s lack of flexibility as one barrier to recruitment. Can it do more? In its latest Spotlight on Running A Modern Dealership, Tom Seymour asks the experts

The automotive retail industry doesn’t necessarily have a reputation for being the most flexible when it comes to working hours.

Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic changed much when it comes to how people view flexibility around their jobs. As a result, regional dealer groups

are increasingly closing on Sundays and hybrid and working from home (WFH) still remains in some job roles.

But should the industry be doing more to make sure it can offer more flexibility to help attract and retain talent? New legislation was put in place from April 6 this year that expanded rights for employees around flexible working.

Employees can now make two rather than one request a year for flexible working, and the deadline for employers to respond to requests has been reduced from three months to two.

Two days a week in the workplace

TrustFord is a group that has a hybrid working policy throughout the business as part of its ambition to grow and retain the best people.

Colleagues can choose to work from home some days, with a minimum of two days a week spent in the workplace.

Sharon Ashcroft, TrustFord human resources director, says: "In line with our ambition to stay ahead in a changing world, offering flexible and hybrid working is absolutely the right thing to do for our colleagues.

“It fosters a healthier work/life balance, and better supports our valued colleagues, ensuring we attract and retain the best.”

Kate Clay, eStar Truck and Van HR director, acknowledges that a flexible working request might have been seen as a bit of an “unusual event” in the past, but it’s certainly becoming less so: “The pandemic has definitely given a platform to think about flexibility. The younger generation, in particular, wants a better work/life balance.

“There are so many other businesses outside and within the market that offer flexible working, so if you’re one that doesn’t, you’re taking yourself out of the market. It might be one day a week from home. Without exploring that, people will just look elsewhere.”

EStar is reviewing its hybrid working policy. When it comes to flexible working, the business has seen an increase in requests year-on-year.

Clay sees this as a positive reflection of the times, but says hybrid mainly works for departments like HR, marketing and accounts. The working review is looking at other departments where it might work too.

Obviously, technicians might struggle to fit a service ramp in their home office or garage. So, some roles make WFH or hybrid a bit tricky. But that doesn’t mean businesses can’t still think about what they can offer and be more flexible.

Addressing burn-out

Fraser Brown, MotorVise managing director, has experience leading dealerships and now works to advise automotive retailers on their approach to sales, training, recruitment and more.

He says automotive retail is not the easiest area to introduce flexible working. However, Brown has seen a desire to address burn-out for sales teams and an end to “ridiculous hours”. “Back in the day sales teams would get one day off per week and then every other Sunday. You’d be expected to do up to 70 hours a week. If you hadn’t achieved your sales target you would come in on your day off to get to where you needed to be.

“But, since the pandemic, normal sales hours would be around 45 hours a week. It’s healthier. It’s not so much about the hours, it’s about having back-to-back days off to rest and refresh. If you don’t get that, you’ll burn yourself out.”

One method MotorVise has seen work for technicians, in particular, is a 10-hour four-day week that allows ramps to be used for 10, rather than eight hours per day, freeing up one-in-five ramps. This results in greater productivity and happier technicians, who appreciate the opportunity of an improved work/life balance.

Three days off in a row

With sales teams, Brown suggests a rota where every third week, sales people get three days in a row off. For example, if the regular day off is a Thursday, on the third week they would also get the Friday and Saturday off.

Brown says: “This has worked really well for teams of five. Occasionally you do have a couple of people off at the same time during the week, but you have a very high coverage over the weekend. Attrition of sales teams has dropped by half when we tried that. Brown adds: “It requires a little bit of nous, but it’s possible to introduce this 21-day rota.”

Clay says it helps to have leadership buy-in on flexibility and eStar’s managing director Steve Bridge was a pioneer of hybrid working at Mercedes-Benz Vans before he joined the dealer group in 2021.

For job roles that are working remotely, Clay says it’s important you’re in a position as a business where there is trust in team members.

She says: “We trust our people. We don’t have a lot of processes where we’re checking up on people. Some who haven’t put hybrid working in place will be thinking team members might be out walking the dog or shopping. But you kind of have to take the plunge and you have to trust your people.”

Those working remotely have one-to-ones each month and regular video check-ins with managers.

It’s also important to make sure that those working from home don’t feel isolated, which is where video calls and the opportunity to meet face-to-face are still in place.

WFH also doesn’t necessarily suit everyone. Clay says any arrangement has to work for the business, as well as the employee. Not every role will lend itself to a hybrid approach. “Flexibility is a hot topic, but you also shouldn’t feel the pressure to introduce a blanket approach either.”

Businesses should identify what roles could include WFH, whether there’s the infrastructure in place to facilitate remote working and even if colleagues have the space or set-up to work.

Clay says that in extreme situations during COVID-19, she heard of examples where some were resting a laptop on an ironing board as they didn’t have a desk.

Team leaders need support too

Team leaders also need to be supported and prepared for remote working too.

Clay says: “It can be more difficult in some ways to manage people remotely. Particularly for managers that don’t have much experience in the first place.”

The fact that flexible working requests can be formally submitted twice a year, also means businesses should think about how they are set up to respond to them. It might be that not every request can be met fully, but, from eStar’s perspective, they’ll either try to grant flexibility or at least work towards a solution that suits both parties.

“It depends on the request itself. Even if we can’t accommodate the exact request, we would look at what else we could do. If it’s a technician that wants a specific shift change, eStar might look at the hours and an alternative suggestion that might meet halfway. Admittedly, it can be a challenge for an employee that has it in their head that it’s what they want.

“We have a great HR team here that are very people-focussed and their approach to having those discussions are fair and balanced, with managers present. We do as much as we can with how we approach these requests and ideas.”

Job shares and engaging an experienced workforce

One area Kate Clay, eStar Truck and Van HR director, would like to see more focus on is splitting full-time roles for job shares.

She says it’s generally not common in automotive retail to look at job sharing, but it can be good for certain roles. “If you don’t look at these other options, you will be ruling out people from the potential talent pool. “For example, mothers returning to work who don’t want to work full hours. “Job sharing is certainly something that should be looked at more.”

Another area MotorVise’s Fraser Brown thinks is undervalued is making sure flexibility is offered to experienced and older employees to at least give them the option to remain in the business, but on hours that suit what they need at that point in their life and career.

Brown says: “I think one of the biggest areas to look at is to re-engage with the older workforce and get them back into the dealership on more sensible hours. “Losing that experience due to retirement when the idea of reduced hours might retain them is worth looking at.”