Whether you’re an employee or an employer, in this post we’ll discuss some of the reasons why career progression needs to be given the attention it deserves and how to go about establishing pathways that help both workers and employers get to where they want to go.
Why career progression is important
For employees looking to establish a career plan, they may need to take the matter into their own hands by raising the topic with their manager. While it can be an awkward conversation (particularly for workers aspiring to their manager’s role), most good managers will appreciate the honesty. In many cases, it’s still much easier to have that conversation than to have to resign a little further down the track because you’re feeling unfulfilled.
The importance of networking
We’re quite lucky within the dealership industry as most people are quite happy to chat to others and share their perspective—some may even be able to offer a helping hand in some way!
Knowing when is the right time to move forward
Career progression will also depend on other factors including the area you work in, the individual employer, and the available opportunities. But for employees that think they might be ready to take the next step in their career, there are a few questions they can ask themselves to better understand if it’s the right career move:
- Have I reached my ceiling in the business, or am I just bored? – This can be helpful to weigh up whether there genuinely isn’t any more scope for progression, or if there are still new things they can learn.
- Have I truly outgrown my role? – Employees that feel their day-to-day has become too easy may have outgrown the role and need a new challenge to stay engaged.
- Do I still feel challenged? – Even where an employee has reached a ceiling but still feels challenged, they may feel like they want to stay in the same role.
How can dealerships offer more career progression opportunities?
For dealerships that want to offer their employees more career progression opportunities but don’t know how, here are some simple things that almost any dealership can do:
Implementing regular OEM training to ensure the service department is across the latest technology and sharing that knowledge with the sales department to ensure they know how it works and how to sell it to customers is a great way to keep employees engaged, learning, and at the forefront of industry advancements.
Regularly promoting internal staff members will foster a culture where employees believe there is genuine scope and opportunity to move up within the dealership. The prospect of promotion will also act as a strong motivator for workers to want to give their all given the prospect of reward for delivering a strong and consistent performance.
You can even use current employees as an example when hiring new employees to help sell your dealership—for example, you could introduce them to a staff member that started out as an Apprentice, before working their way up to become a Workshop Supervisor or Service Advisor, and then a Service Manager.
For example, a lot of Technicians will say they want to become a Service Manager, but you may only have one Service Manager role. Instead, you might be able to gain some insights into what aspects of the role they’re most attracted to and find alternative ways to meet that desire in some way, shape or form in their current role. There are also a lot of Technicians out there that aspire to become something like an Aftersales Manager, so you may be surprised to find some employees want to head in a different direction to what you initially presumed.
