Where Have All the Good People Gone?

Talk to any business owner in the past six months and they'll complain about how hard it is to find employees, much less good ones. So how do you attract employees in this job market?

We’ve been able to both find and retain some incredible talent at Don Hattan Dealerships, and when I think about how we did it, it really came down to three main areas we leaned into improving.

1. Quality of Life?

We can be honest here…working at a car lot has a stigma that the hours are going to be long and the environment is going to be toxic. At Don Hattan, we really work to break the status quo and create a workplace where our people feel energized and supported. One of the actions we took to live this principle was changing our hours. We used to service cars 6 days a week, but realized it was leaving our employees feeling overrun and exhausted. We also noticed that we weren’t actually making any more money by being open on Saturdays, so we changed our hours. It sounded scary, but was actually incredibly easy. We were doing it strictly for customer convenience, and they weren’t even coming in. This one shift allowed us to focus more on quality of life for our team. The idea is to say “adios” to everything that threatens our ability to take care of our people and protect our differentiating factor--- providing good customer service. You can’t do that if employees are working too many hours, because they don’t show up as their best selves, and customers suffer as a result.

2. Simplification

We’ve all been there…you see the latest “shiny object” and think it’s going to solve all of your problems. In reality, adopting new technology often creates more challenges as all the bells and whistles lead to overcomplication and a lot of extra, unnecessary steps. This leaves your team feeling like they’re just jumping through hoops with no real benefits for all the extra work. We are doubling down on our existing systems that are already running smoothly, and this self-control is allowing us to build momentum rather than stop and restart with every new trend. Keep things simple and stick with what works. If something isn’t working, look at alternative options, but don’t overcomplicate things more than necessary. The best talent wants simplicity and they want to know they’re using a system because it makes their life easier, not harder.

3. Focus

This is one area where every single person on earth could improve. If we truly stayed focused on our daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual goals, we would all be crushing it. Instead, many people end up spending their days putting out little fires for everyone else…all. day. long. We are working on teaching and modeling what it looks like to truly focus in on what’s important, how to stay out of the fray, and how to never lose sight of our goals. It’s an ongoing effort, but we are noticing that when our organization makes focus a priority, our people appreciate the accountability to stay on task. After all, when you focus on your goals, you move forward, and that momentum is motivating for everyone.

So next time you find yourself bemoaning how hard it is to find and keep good people, remember it’s a two-way street. What are you doing to make sure your company is a place people want to stay? We truly believe that our employees make our world go around. Keeping them happy, focused, and not too overwhelmed seems simple, but it’s often overlooked. We have to continually check ourselves to make sure we’re on track to live the values we believe when it comes to workplace culture. At the end of the day, I’m so grateful for our hardworking team that makes it all happen every day.