Dealers shouldn’t let a lack of sales experience on a resume stop them from hiring an otherwise qualified candidate, sales manager and Automotive News 40 Under 40 honoree Erikka Wells told NADA attendees.
Not giving real consideration to applicants who are women and people of color is choking dealers’ ability to net a wider customer reach, she said.
Dealers should ask themselves: Is this applicant passionate? Are they hungry? Wells, who spoke at the Automotive News Retail Forum in Las Vegas on Thursday, said dealerships might see more returns if they take on people who are willing to learn and grow in the industry.
“Every time I see one of my employees, I see myself,” Wells said. “I remember being hungry. I remember wanting more. I remember that all the options I have now are all afforded because someone gave me an opportunity years ago when my resume didn’t match, when people wouldn’t hire someone like me.”
What happens, too often, is dealers hire types of people they’re already familiar with instead of branching out, Wells said.
“With men, they see potential,” Wells said. “They look and say, ‘Aw, that guy reminds me of my son or my nephew or my cousin or somebody like me. They look like me. We can relate.'”
Wells said it was a different story as she sought jobs in the industry. With her, it was the same thing over and over: Tell me your background. What did you do? What have you done? What are your results?
She doesn’t think most dealers intentionally try to discriminate, but they might have unconscious bias when making hiring decisions, she said.
And dealerships also need to work on extending empathy to their employees if they want better retention rates, she added. A big chunk of that is accepting that employees have a fundamental right to family time, she said.
“To think that you have to choose every day — between doing what you love for your family and loving your family — is a hard choice,” said Wells, a mother of three. “Why do I have to give up giving my family 100 percent of me to come to work? Why can’t I understand that there’s a balance and that when I have that balance at work, I’m giving the best part of myself to my kids, as well?”