5 Ways to Avoid Burnout in Your Dealership

True or false – to build a great team, all you need to do is fill it with top performers who align with your dealership’s values.

The correct answer is “false.” Having the right people is a great start, but it’s not enough. You also have to give them a feeling of belonging, so that they don’t burn out and leave. According to a workforce study conducted in 2017, burnout causes 20% to 50% of employee turnover.

So, if your dealership is experiencing a high turnover, this may be the cause. What are some of the signs of burnout in an employee? According to Psychology Today, you should be looking out for the following:

• Physical and emotional fatigue
• Disengagement from work and poor performance
• Feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem

Many employers tend to tell their burned-out workers to “suck it up,” because the work is supposedly tough on everyone. However, if their symptoms are serious enough, this will not work. Instead, they are more likely to simply give up and quit.

To ensure your employees don’t feel burned out, and in turn, reduce your turnover, we recommend you do the following:

1. Make Yourself Available as Often as Possible

Your employees should never feel afraid to talk to you whenever they need to. The best way to go about this is to leave the door into your office open and encourage your employees to come in if they have something to say.

This, of course, relies on the idea that you’re a communicative employer to begin with. If you never say hello to your workers or chit-chat with them, they may not feel comfortable enough coming into your office to talk to you.

So, communicate with each employee as often as possible and make sure your conversations don’t just boil down to “do this, do that.” Show interest in what they have to say, and if they have an issue, help them solve it.

2. Give Your Employees What They Need to Succeed

If your employees don’t have the resources to do their jobs properly, they will fail. While the philosophy of “working with what you got” is sound on paper, it’s not always so sound in practice.

For example, if you hire someone with a consistent track record of success, but they end up performing poorly at your dealership, then it could be due to the lack of proper resources – whether it’s a specific tool, extra training, or an additional pair of hands.

So, if an employee asks you for an additional resource, do your best to listen to their reasons and make an honest effort to help them out, because in the end, their success is your success.

3. Give Your Employees Feedback

Providing feedback to your employees is always a great way to bolster their performance. If an employee isn’t doing so great, it’s not a bad idea to help them get better by explaining what they’re doing wrong. On the flip side, if an employee has been doing incredibly well or has accomplished something impressive, give them a solid pat on the back and let them know why you’re so happy with the work they’re doing.

Most people just want to feel like what they do matters and they’re not grinding all day for nothing. The more appreciated they feel, the less likely they are to let their performance level drop.

4. Let Your Employees Feel Heard

If you’ve built your business from the ground up, then you certainly have a right to speak for it. However, that doesn’t mean that the people working for you don’t have anything valuable to contribute.

In the end, no one likes to simply be told what to do. So, if you keep telling your employees to just execute this or that, they’ll eventually get annoyed.

Depending on their job, your employees will have plenty of knowledge to share – whether it’s about your customers, products, or other areas. So, it’s important that you listen to what they have to say and involve them in certain decisions, particularly if they are the ones to get the job done later.

5. Ensure Your Employees Have Goals

Coming to work can be a grind when there’s no other purpose to it than to accomplish daily tasks. Employees tend to perform much better when they are building towards a particular goal.

Discuss with your employees what they want to accomplish at your dealership and then help them set goals that will get them there while ensuring they align with your business objectives. Once the goal or a particular milestone is achieved, provide a reward so that it’s clear it wasn’t all for nothing.

Measure Employee Performance

As we’ve already mentioned, one of the telltale signs of employee burnout is poor performance. So, if you notice one of your “A-Players” starting to perform worse than before, then you need to find out why and quickly remedy the problem – or you’ll lose them.

If you’re not sure how to easily evaluate employee performance, be sure to check out dealership expert Bob Clements’ tips in this guide.