The Benefits of Driving Internal Promotion and Leadership Development
On January 26, 2011, Dealer.com put out a press release which many businesses – especially small ones – would surely love to duplicate. The 14-year-old, Vermont-based online marketing solutions provider announced it had closed 2010 with substantial revenue growth as well as major strides in research and development.
The release was noteworthy because of the company's customer base: automotive manufacturers, auto dealers, and media companies – all of which have been especially hard hit by the Great Recession and continuing down economy. So what is Dealer.com's recipe for success in this environment?
Even though the company has 271 employees, their Product Manager Bob George, who has been with the firm for five years, says a longtime competitive advantage has been their ability to maintain a culture of open communication in which ideas are encouraged from the bottom up, at all levels.
"Despite the growth, even our smallest clients are still pleased and feel like they are a priority," he told Winning Workplaces as part of the due diligence process for our 2010 Top Small Company Workplaces award, which Dealer.com won.
Like several other of our award winners, Dealer.com used a growth-spurred move to a new location at its operational base of Burlington in 2007 as an opportunity to be more intentional about using the physical workspace to facilitate open communication. It also represents their commitment to an employee's whole life, not just their work life: a state-of-the-art health facility with tennis and basketball courts makes up about 25 percent of their 60,000 square feet.
Yet, there's more going on within their walls that encourages and empowers their staff to deliver peak performance. Impressively, the company reports that 80 percent of the current management team resulted from internal leadership development. This is reflective of an overall focus of promoting and developing from within: on average, 27 percent of job openings are filled from within.
George exemplifies this focus. He started in a freelance role as an industry writer and now works full time as a product manager.
"Management put me in this new role because they could see that I'm good at synthesizing lots of new ideas into something cohesive," he says. "It's a very 'ground-up' environment here, where good ideas come from anywhere, including the clients."
Jerry Winder, e-commerce director for one of Dealer.com's customers, Utah-based Larry H. Miller Group (which operates a number of auto dealerships in the Rocky Mountain states and on the West Coast), affirms the relationship benefits of this outreach.
"I like how accessible their executives are," he says. "We have great conversations, and the executives personally evaluate our proposals. It's very high touch."
There are two big initiatives that epitomize Dealer.com's commitment to professional development, which impacts the bottom line in the management's level of "touch" with customers as well as cross-department interaction and motivation. First, approximately 20 "high potential" staff members participate in a leadership development program which resulted from a state grant and a partnership with Burlington-based Champlain College. These employees engage in a year's worth of tailored, MBA-level course work.
"Anyone can take them," says Director of Operations David Parker, who has been with the company for over four years. "Although they're all full and we'll have to add new courses soon."
In addition, in 2009 Dealer.com launched a customized, interactive online learning management system called uFuel. Helping leadership continually assess staff knowledge and skills, it's been a systematic tool to provide training, marketing expertise and even industry certifications like "Google Certified Employee."
It is evident that the company works hard, but – again, as with other Winning Workplaces award honorees – it keeps a balance by playing hard as well to avoid burnout and retain employees (turnover is a low 8 percent). Their aforementioned health facility is further funded and improved through an on-site fitness instructor. The company also offers on-site massages and kayak excursions, and their organic café with meal delivery to employees' desks is a big hit.
Marketing staff member Marisa Mora, who wears the fact she was Dealer.com's first employee as a badge of honor, has improved her skills, along with her performance potential, by taking advantage of the company's numerous training opportunities.
"The energy and inspiration from the founders is incredible," she says. "I'm still excited and energized about our products.
Company: Dealer.com
Web site: www.dealer.com
Industry: Online marketing solutions for the automotive industry
Location: Burlington, VT
Number of Employees: 271
Sales: $50.7 million
