Motor Dealer caught up with 4 excessive profile girls in automotive and received their tackle the challenges and alternatives going through the sector.
The motor sector presents a various vary of profession choices and girls are enjoying outstanding roles on the prime of the career. Take Sue Robinson, CEO of the Nationwide Franchised Sellers Affiliation, heading up the pursuits of 1000’s of UK automotive sellers. Then there’s Jacqui Barker, OEM technique director at know-how group Keyloop, Kate Clay, an award-winning human assets director at eStar Truck & Van and Sally Foote, the chief working officer of Promote My Automobile at Carwow. All of them share insights into their particular person journeys and explored wider points throughout the trade.
Secure areas
Becoming a member of eStar, Clay made a raft of incisive adjustments to the enterprise – implementing value determinations, one to ones, profit opinions, and enhancing absence charges. Clay’s work on this earned her the HR Director of the 12 months title from HR Journal and led to the eStar staff being named HR Group of the 12 months on the Motor Dealer Trade Awards 2023. One of many key focuses was creating inclusive and secure areas for colleagues. She says: “We’re in a male-dominated surroundings, the client base from a business car perspective is male-dominated as effectively. Now we have executed a variety of work to attract girls to the enterprise. We had been 22% feminine in 2022, we at the moment are at 43% (senior leaders which might be girls).
“Setting a tradition the place it’s inclusive and secure for girls is the place I believe we’re getting the attraction. Now we have the one feminine head of truck gross sales in Mercedes-Benz, Kate Carter, she’s simply received lady of the yr with Auto Dealer, so we’re so happy with her. Now we have two feminine GMs out of six now, which is sensible, they had been promoted internally.
“It kind of set that tone and culture for the business. That we wanted to look after the people, invest in the people, make sure that they are our biggest asset because that is what we truly believe.”
Confidence challenge
One space the place girls within the trade will be supported is enhancing confidence. Foote of Carwow notes that the overall confidence of feminine workers is often lower than their male friends.
She says: “We see this when it comes to candidates who apply for open roles, which employees are speaking up in (often) male-dominated rooms and which team members are taking on new projects – especially perhaps when they are not 100% qualified on paper. It’s why we’ve launched the Confidence Project, to share our findings and solutions and help others who are passionate about fostering confidence and leadership in their own organisation.”
What about outdated feedback and banter? How prevalent is it now? Barker has direct views on these conditions and good recommendation for all.
“We have to as women, work hard to gain the respect of people that we work with and you have to work harder to get into rooms that you are not invited into. The fact that anybody thinks it’s acceptable to go up to a woman at an event and suggest anything inappropriate is disgusting. It should be a safe space for all women. If you feel uncomfortable going to those events because you don’t know what you are going to get, then you don’t go, and it means that you don’t get the opportunity to go to events and network when you should. We work hard to be respected for our intelligence not the way that we look or dress.”
How inclusive and secure the trade is may make an enormous distinction to confidence girls have in becoming a member of it.
Outdated norms
Foote says that she has spent her profession working in markets characterised by change and disruption and girls are enjoying a pivotal function.
“That’s actually true of automotive proper now! The trade is extremely adaptable, driving innovation, and it’s nice to see that a lot of the change presently going down is being spearheaded by girls. When it comes to the challenges of being a frontrunner in a male-dominated trade, I believe there may be fact to the adage that you would be able to’t be what you may’t see. We all know there’s a scarcity of gender steadiness in our sector, throughout most ranges, however particularly senior management.
“That’s one of the reasons I was so happy for Carwow to be sponsoring the Drive Her Success podcast, designed to shine a spotlight on women working in automotive retail by sharing their career journeys, and helping those considering a job in the car industry to find out more. There are women at all levels in automotive retail and it’s important we see them and hear from them.”
Barker at Keyloop believes girls in automotive are wanted greater than ever earlier than.
“The prime goal for automotive when it comes to demographic are girls that appear like me, girls which have more cash, or girls who’re selecting to reside alone, or girls who don’t need children or are having children later.
“Women are a vital part of the workforce. If you want to sell to your prime audience and you haven’t got any women in your showrooms you are not going to connect with them. It is really important that you don’t just recruit men that look like you but you actually reflect the demographic that you are trying to sell to.”
Keyloop’s just lately launched ERG ‘KeyShift’ is one instance of how companies within the automotive trade are being creating alternatives to help girls. The launch of KeyShift concerned a panel of girls. Barker says Keyloop is forming the ERG’s pillars off the again of suggestions from the launch.
“I at all times thought I used to be too bouncy for the boardroom. I’ve a sure power however that power is who I’m. I’m very keen about the way in which that we ship nice options and work with prospects and make it simpler for folks to purchase vehicles. That has been my function – how can I work with companies that allow the automotive shopping for course of and do it effectively?
“The Barbara Cox award came out of the Cox Automotive ERG. Its massive to have recognition for stuff that you do, particularly when you are not expecting it. And I know that I was nominated by another woman in the industry. That meant a huge amount. I am very grateful for the respect that I have earned in the industry. I also know that women appreciate that some people stick their head above the parapet and actually do things to help other women, not just talk about it but create opportunity, hire them. I’ve hired really great men, too. I’m not just looking to hire women. I am looking to hire talent.”
‘WOW Women’, Carwow’s established group seeks to help Carwow’s feminine workers and enhance illustration of girls throughout the corporate. It includes month-to-month in-person espresso periods on themes akin to velocity networking, advocating for your self and managing imposter syndrome. Making a supportive wider trade begins with every enterprise taking duty for his or her workers.
Clay echoes this sentiment. The latest eStar engagement survey exhibits that 81% of workers really feel the enterprise has a supportive tradition, up from 74% in 2023.
She says: “If you have people that you look after well, they will look after your customers and that has an impact on your profits. Engaged colleagues will produce a better performance because they are happier at work. A lot of people miss that. They go straight for… ‘we’ll cut the L&D budget, reign back on benefits, we won’t be able to do x, y and z people wise because we are focusing on other things. It is actually the people that should be focused on in the first place.”
“As part of D&I strategy there has been training on topics such as unconscious bias, and LGBTQ+ foundation training. It is something quite close to my heart – I want people to understand what it’s like to have an inclusive workforce and the motor trade can be quite backwards when it comes to things like that.”
Collaboration is a key theme, which is inspired not least by the NFDA, with Robinson spearheading a lot of the dialogue. Robinson provides: “Collaboration is essential across the industry, and working together on critical issues with these important networks is key to driving positive change. Many NFDA members encourage inclusive hiring practices and workplace environments that support career progression for women. Through schemes like Drive My Career, franchised retailers are creating rewarding careers for so many people from all walks of life.”
Seen empowerment of girls within the auto trade within the current will encourage extra girls to hitch the trade sooner or later.
Empowering all apprentices
Apprenticeship programmes with rotational components are key to making sure conventional ‘gender roles’ don’t seep into the trade. Maybe a younger lady in an apprenticeship group was put within the office however she wished to be taught to work with vehicles quite than simply enter spreadsheets.
Barker says: “Everybody worked in every department and you would gravitate towards the thing that excited you most, that you were really good at. Don’t just pigeonhole people into certain jobs because of the gender they are. Don’t make assumptions based on the gender of a person, give them the opportunity to grow in the way that they want to naturally grow.”
After all, the NFDA’s Drive My Profession has straight approached the topic of apprenticeships with campaigns akin to #MyApprenticeshipStory (partnered with the Automotive 30% Membership). Robinson says: “The campaign aims to promote gender diversity by sharing inspiring stories of female apprentices, further emphasising the industry’s commitment to inclusivity and equality. Through networking events, mentorship opportunities, and attending careers fairs, NFDA helps create spaces where women can connect, share experiences, and access professional development resources.”
Last ideas
A glance in direction of the way forward for the progress of girls within the motor trade will embody robust challenges. Bridging the pay hole within the trade is one in every of these challenges.
Clay displays on her journey with eStar which started when she joined the enterprise in July 2021. From a HR perspective, primarily, Clay introduced what was a weak enterprise in 2020 again to life and re-examined technique and course of. A full assessment of equal pay was part of this.
She says: “I think some people still aren’t doing what they need to do with equal pay, it can sometimes be an afterthought. A lot of people running businesses at this level might look at everything but that. “It’s not even just about women, it’s about bringing people from different cultures as well. We have put in toilets for everyone, male toilets, female toilets. We’re looking at having prayer rooms at each site. The motor trade needs to get up to speed with the 21st century. Some businesses are better than others but some are still behind the times. Doing these sorts of initiatives will pull the motor trade into the 21st century.”
On variety within the trade, Barker provides: “Not only are there not that many women in the industry but there are even fewer women of colour. We want to make sure it is a welcoming and inclusive industry and we certainly, as a tech provider, have a global footprint and we operate in many cultures.”
Foote presents some last ideas, for now, with reference to girls within the motor trade.
She echoes the sentiment of many when she says: “I will continue to invest time and effort in my workplace and across my network to help champion women, encouraging them to create, take opportunities and connect to one another. I’m very grateful for everyone who has done the same for me – both men and women. My hope is that gender equality continues to progress in both the workplace and in society, to the extent that it becomes moot. We’ll all be better off when we reach that goal.”
Robinson ends on a excessive notice. “When folks consider the automotive trade, they usually consider outdated stereotypes, however it’s a extremely numerous sector with a variety of profession alternatives. Drive My Profession has performed an important function in selling and championing these alternatives and we’re happy with the function that it has performed in serving to to diversify the workforce. The challenges have typically been with ‘individuals and their perceptions of a female role within a working environment’.
“I have been guided and advised by a number of male colleagues who have given me an amazing amount of support and guidance, not to mention providing an ‘ear on a bad day’ – however there are still individuals who adhere to old style entrenched views and I imagine for those that is their view and it will be difficult to change – ‘not insurmountable’.”
