Every employee has individual skills and strengths to contribute to your dealership, and when you take those into consideration and leverage them where they’re most effective, you’ll position your dealership to consistently come out ahead. When you utilize your employees’ unique skills to benefit your dealership, you’ll also end up with a stronger, more cohesive team overall. In fact, people who use their strengths on a regular basis are proven to be six times more engaged in their jobs, proving that playing up your employees’ strengths can benefit both individuals and your dealership as a whole.

In order to best recognize employee strengths, it’s necessary to first determine how individuals think, feel, and react within their work environments. Once all these are established, individual strengths will begin to emerge as your professionals grow in their areas of expertise; and from there, you’ll be able to build a stronger foundation by encouraging existing strengths, and also by helping employees grow in different areas.

In addition to observing your pros as they work, something as simple as asking about their preferences, likes, and interests can go a long way toward helping you boost engagement and build an environment where every employee feels his or her strengths are being utilized.

Putting Hidden Talents to Work

As your dealership grows and gains a broader consumer base, it’s a good idea to keep your eyes open for employees who have hidden talents you can utilize to benefit the business and generate leads. For example, as you work to build your social platform, look to your social butterflies and internet-savvy employees to help take some of the load and post, interact with, and engage online consumers. Additionally, look to those who have an affinity for organizing to help you plan dealership events and social posting. You undoubtedly have a photographer or two in your midst, so keep them in mind during events and line them up to capture images and moments to post to your online platforms. If you’ve got volunteers, utilize their enthusiasm for helping others and allow them to help you plan events like coat drives, pet adoptions, or food collections to benefit the community and get consumers into your dealership.

Every employee is different, and that means you have an entire pool of talent and creativity to draw from in order to benefit your dealership. When you include employees and involve them in day-to-day dealership activities, as well as larger events, you’ll boost employee engagement and create a dealership culture that is inviting and positive for shoppers.

It’s important to remember not every employee will approach situations in the same way, and managers who recognize different styles will be able to direct employee skillsets and talents so they are utilized to their fullest potential. One-on-one discussions, regular touch-base meetings, and team workshops are useful in determining different employee strengths, as well as discovering unique and creative ways employees can bring their talents to the forefront for the dealership.

Utilizing employee strengths is directly related to employee engagement at work. A recent Gallup study found that 40% of employees who felt neither praised nor ridiculed for their strengths or weaknesses were actively disengaged at work. However, only 22% of employees whose weaknesses were points of focus were actively disengaged. This goes to show that even bad attention is better than no attention at all. Out of the employees that agreed their supervisors focused on their strengths, only 1% stated they were actively disengaged, with a full 61% of these employees being engaged, effectively doubling the number of engaged employees nationwide.

Employees tend to work harder when they know they are appreciated, and taking time to admire and give praise to your employees never goes unnoticed. Utilizing them to their full potential, taking advantage of what they do best, and thanking them for their hard work really shows they are appreciated and needed, driving them to want to do even better and improve themselves and their work. Realize their strengths, utilize them, let them know they are appreciated—and then sit back and watch your dealership rise to the top.