Dealerships can now register their interest for the AM Best Dealerships To Work For 2018 programme.

Following the success of the inaugural initiative last year, in which 15 dealerships achieved Best Dealership status, AM has again teamed up with Best Companies Group to identify those retailers that are working hard to look after their staff.

Participation is free.

Employee engagement is an essential ingredient for a successful and profitable business. No company, large or small, can succeed over the long-term without a motivated, well-led workforce that understands and believes in the company mission.

The main objective of AM Best Dealerships To Work For (BDTWF) is to raise the bar among the industry’s employers, creating excellence and employee engagement in the workplace that will attract talented people for years to come.

The programme enables retailers to benchmark their performance and identify shortcomings in their employee policies so they can make improvements to increase their attractiveness to existing staff and potential recruits.

The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) and industry charity Ben have lent their support to the 2018 programme.

Steve Nash, chief executive officer at the IMI, said: “Happy, motivated and engaged staff are essential for long-term business success and the consistent delivery of a company’s values and standards.

"Initiatives like Best Dealerships To Work For empower staff and managers, enabling them to work together to achieve the best results for their company, those that work in it and, of course, their customers. Harnessing the power of people through the highest professional standards is what the IMI is all about and that’s why we support Best Dealerships to Work For.”

> Register your dealerships <

Retailers can register their dealerships at the programme website www.bestukdealerships.com.

It costs nothing to participate in the programme and become a Best Dealership To Work For, but employers have the opportunity to buy a comprehensive report detailing their strengths and weaknesses in their employee engagement policies.

MORE: Programme information and news on the 2017 winners 

Testimonials

AM Best Dealerships To Work For Michael Smyth quote

David Rye, manager director, Premier Ford:

“I am very proud to receive this award, voted for by our own staff. It demonstrates the continuous efforts made across all departments to make Premier Ford a great place to work. Moving forward, our objective remains to have a happy team of staff and, of course, happy customers.”

Stacey Turner, HR and legal director, Chorley Group:

“We pride ourselves on the way we treat our staff and the engagement we have with them, so the award is significant as external recognition and a means of attracting those we want to work for Chorley Group.

"We’re a family owned group and it was considered important by our management to set the highest standards. Our communication from the bottom up, the sharing of ideas for business improvements or ways of working will definitely be an area to focus on as a result of the Best UK Dealerships To Work For process.”

Robin Luscombe, managing director, Luscombe Motors:

“We know we do things pretty well in terms of looking after our staff, but it still gave me a great sense of pride, a validation that what I’m doing around people is working and that people do enjoy coming to work. This award also supports recruitment. It’s a great initiative.”

Michael Smyth, chairman, Swansway Group:

“We’ve been part of the Sunday Times Best Companies To Work For awards for years and we will drop it in favour of the AM UK Best Dealerships To Work For because I’m not interested in being put in the Sunday Times.

"I want to find out what staff are really thinking. What really surprised us was staff didn’t think we gave enough to charity, when we’re giving a couple of hundred thousand pounds a year. We don’t make too much of it because we’re not interested in self-aggrandisement.”

Best UK Dealerships to Work For 2017 winners

READ MORE: AM announces the Best Dealerships To Work For 2017

What are the benefits to you?

There are a number of benefits to the companies taking part.

They include:

1. Recognition as a top employer, including use of the AM Best UK Dealerships To Work For logo 

2. A promotional aid for recruitment and staff retention

3. Promotion to potential customers; raising your profile in your local area

4. The ability to benchmark performance against peers

5. Understanding of employees' views and areas to improve.

Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration, companies must:

  • Have a minimum of 15 employees working in the UK
  • Be a franchised dealership
  • Be a publicly or privately held business
  • Been in business for a minimum of one year

A 40% employee response rate is required (80% for dealerships with 15-24 employees).

Temporary or seasonal workers, contractors, consultants, interns and volunteers are not counted as employees or included in the survey. 

How it works

The Best UK Dealerships To Work For workplace assessment is a two-part process designed to gather information about each participating company.

Part one, the employer completes the Employer Questionnaire which details company policies, practices, benefits and demographics.

Part two, employees of the company complete the Employee Engagement & Satisfaction Survey, an in-depth set of 76 statements based on a 1-5 scale of ‘disagree strongly’ to ‘agree strongly’. The survey also includes two open-ended questions and seven demographic questions.

Both surveys are completed online, although a paper option is available if email and internet technology is not available for use by employees.

Best Companies Group will combine the results of the two surveys to determine which companies make the list of the Best UK Dealerships To Work For.

Participation is free of charge, and dealerships will have the opportunity of purchasing an employee feedback report from Best Companies Group which will provide comprehensive details of the surveys, including employee comments and benchmarking against peers.

Best Dealership To Work For 2018 timeline:

1 June                         

Participation registration deadline. Verification within 24 hours.  Companies that pre-ordered reports will then receive an invoice within 7 days

8 June                         

A web link for the Employer Questionnaire will be sent to the contact at each registered company

22 June                       

Completed Employer Questionnaires are due

29 June                       

Employee Engagement & Satisfaction Surveys are e-mailed to dealerships

13 July                       

Deadline for all online version of the employee survey

21 August                   

Notification letters sent to participating dealerships

4 September               

Employee Feedback reports are sent to dealerships that ordered them

8 November 2018                 

AM Best UK Dealerships To Work For report published and winners announced at Automotive Management Live, NEC, Birmingham

About Best Companies Group

As the research partner, Best Companies Group will be conducting the evaluations and will determine the final list of winners. 

Formed in 2004, BCG combines its state-of-the art survey technology with workplace excellence research expertise to create and manage “Best Places To Work” programmes all over the world. 

With more than 60 programs globally, BCG surveys over 600,000 employees annually, representing over 5,000 organisations. 

Among its many programmes, BCG also works with Automotive News (Detroit, MI) to manage the US version of the Best Dealerships to Work for. 

BCG also works on several large independent survey and research projects around the world. 

Led by president and co-founder, Peter Burke, BCG has derived success by employing research methodologies that insure the integrity of employer information and employee feedback. 

BCG will conduct the two-part assessment process through which they will gather valuable data from employers and employees to determine the dynamics and characteristics of each participating organisation. 

From that information, BCG is not only able to determine who is good enough to make the list, but the information is also used create the optional employee feedback report for each participant. 

This valuable report summarises the employee engagement data as well as provides industry benchmark reports so organisations can better understand how their own corporate culture stacks up against the best.