Zeigler Auto Group Drives Growth by Training Its People

In 2004, the Zeigler Auto Group was four dealerships and a president, Aaron Zeigler, with a desire to expand. Along with aggressive hiring, Zeigler’s plan would require a training program to build skills and alignment with the company’s values. A solid training program is a lure for ambitious salespeople, because recruiters can show that it will help them develop their selling skills and perhaps move into management. Furthermore, the largest dealer- ship networks have formal training programs, and Zeigler wanted to compete for talent with them.

The company built training that combines classroom instruction with videos. Today all the salespeople and service advisers are expected to watch three training videos every day from an online library of more than 2,000, which are categorized by level of complexity. Each video runs five to seven minutes and features a presentation by Aaron Zeigler, the director of talent development Mike Van Ryn, or an outside training specialist. After watching each one, the employees take a quiz to check their understanding. Van Ryn and Zeigler employ video instruction because the format is flexible, allowing employees to learn as their schedule permits. When they meet for classroom training, which happens every month or two, they drill down deeper into topics. Usually, this involves a guest speaker at head- quarters, with the presentation shared in other locations via videoconferencing.

In addition to the daily training, new hires participate in an orientation program. The main feature of training is a six-hour class, which covers teamwork, customer service, and the company’s history. Other training brings together selected teams of employees targeted for promotion to management positions. They meet every other month at headquarters in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to study financial statements and learn other management skills.

One measure of the success of the training is that employee turnover in 2014 was just 7%, far down from more than 25% ten years earlier. Also, sales per employee per month are higher than they had been before the company started using the high-frequency video approach to learning. Furthermore, the company is meeting its president’s ambition to expand. It now has more than 20 dealerships in four states, with a workforce that includes hundreds of salespeople and service advisers.

Questions

1. Imagine you were helping Zeigler and Van Ryn prepare a needs assessment for training. Using examples from the information provided, what information would you include in the needs assessment?

2. What training methods is Zeigler Auto Group using? What others, if any, would you recommend it use? Give reasons for your recommendations.