As many businesses across the motor industry are experiencing a recruitment freeze, how many of these employers will be left with the right people in their “freezer”? 

RTS Consultants, the learning and development specialists are currently conducting extensive research to establish just what “really good recruitment looks like”. 


Whilst the CIPD 2008 recruitment survey reported that a quarter of organisations withdrew job offers because a candidate had lied or misrepresented their application, it is imperative that employers have all the information available to them to enable them to recruit the most suitable person every time.

RTS Consultants are conducting a comprehensive study into recruitment processes within the retail motor industry to elicit all the best and worst practices. The research is being led by Lesley Jefferson, a specialist HR and Recruitment Consultant at RTS Consultants. Lesley says of the research, “we are seeking to benchmark best practice recruitment techniques and will be looking outside the industry to see what ideas there are to glean”. Jefferson also adds, “Having the right person, in the right job, at the right time has never been so important as it is right now.”

Initially RTS Consultants are conducting an online survey into all aspects of automotive recruitment, from job search through to the first days at work. All experiences, good and bad, will be collated to build a comprehensive report to enable employers to understand trends in recruitment, effective sources of attracting talent, and the use of the internet and recruitment agencies. 

A number of retail motor industry businesses are partnering RTS Consultants on the research, including Lexus, Toyota, Mazda, Autoglass, Hyundai, Kia and Volvo. Two groups are being targeted for feedback; 1. Dealer Principals and General Managers and 2. new recruits, taken on in the last 12 months.

The research will provide these partners with a bespoke report to ensure their recruitment processes are enabling them to hire the right staff, first time. The online phase is open to all automotive retail employees until 13th March, so please go to www.rts-on-line.com/recruitment-survey

Previous research conducted by RTS Consultants has shown that retail automotive employee turnover rates in the range of 20 – 30% are commonly cited, with rates as high as 50% not uncommon in key groups such as Sales Executives.

With the national average across all sectors, being more like 18% there is a lot of work to do within automotive. Given the number of redundancies recently the pool of talent available to employers will be more comprehensive than seen before; businesses need to be ready to act as soon as those first green shoots appear.