Best Dealership To Work For in the US

Hiawatha, Iowa

* Dealer: Dave Wright Nissan-Subaru

* Full-time employees: 66

* 2017 new-vehicle sales: 1,288, up 2.7%

* 2017 used-vehicle sales: 681, up 6.7%

* SALES MANAGER MARC WALLACE ON CHANGES TO RECRUITMENT: 
"We go beyond traditional media, finding success by creating engaging, values-based content for use across social media platforms. We started a new-hire referral bonus program, which includes training for our current team members on how to effectively recruit. We partner with high schools and colleges, including technical programs. Finally, we place emphasis on employee development and interdepartmental communication; we find one of our best sources of qualified candidates to be promoted from within."

*GENERAL MANAGER TYLER WRIGHT ON REWARDING EMPLOYEES AND SHOWING THEM THEY ARE VALUED: 
"Impact Award: We select one person per month who followed the company mission and went above and beyond to serve the customer, a fellow employee or the company. They receive a T-shirt, lunch with the owner and their manager, as well as the most-prized parking spot for the whole month; several employees help plan fun monthly events such as contests for prizes and catered root beer floats; annual golf outing; annual Christmas party that includes money and prizes for all; Slack app for posting birthdays, anniversaries, awards and news lets everyone feel connected, informed and valued; company culture classes give new employees insight to our company history, our processes and how to best serve our customers and fellow employees"

*PRESIDENT DAVE WRIGHT ON HELPING EMPLOYEES DEVELOP A CAREER PATH:
"We start day one with extensive training for their new role, and we outline the path needed to be promoted in the future. We teach them to follow the process for their role as well as invest in themselves to learn roles for other positions they may have interest in. We also encourage them to seek outside training to better understand a new role and to be ready when the position opens. Managers continue to identify and develop current employees for their next role." 

*OFFICE MANAGER VELVET BAKER ON MAKING WORK SCHEDULES MORE BALANCED OR FLEXIBLE:
"We start with salespeople and schedule them only 43 hours per week. Next, we require every staff member to have two days off per week. We try to accommodate employees' requests for family functions without using vacation days."

*GENERAL SALES MANAGER SCOTT WINKER ON COMPENSATION:
"Most employees are paid bonuses when they exceed their customer service targets. In sales, we adopted two pay plans: the first a traditional pay plan and the second a salary with bonuses. We always try to structure pay plans that are best in the market to reward our 'better than the rest' employees."