Employee turnover is a big problem for car dealerships, and when a shop finds a quality employee, it’s good business to give that employee a reason to stick around. That’s why Fiat Chrysler has partnered with for-profit Strayer University to offer free, “no-cost, no-debt” college courses to U.S. dealership employees.
-Fiat Chrysler says that roughly half of its sales force departs in any given year. That’s a huge number, but still somewhat lower than the industry average: According to a National Automobile Dealers Association study, the average U.S. dealership saw a whopping 66 percent turnover among sales consultants in 2013. So the automaker forged a deal to lure dealership employees into sticking around by offering free college courses, whether it’s individual classes or a full associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degree.
-Dealerships that participate in the voluntary program will be asked to pay a flat monthly fee, regardless of the number of employees who participate in the education program, a Fiat Chrysler spokesperson told Automotive News. Any employee working at a participating dealer, from lot attendants all the way up to managers, can take classes either online or at one of Strayer University’s 77 campuses in 15 states. The cost to dealers was not disclosed.
-The offer is similar to a recent Starbucks partnership with Arizona State University, with one notable exception: While Starbucks asks its employees to pay their own tuition and then request a reimbursement, FCA’s setup doesn’t require employees to pay any out-of-pocket cost or take on any loans.
-It’s worth noting that for-profit universities have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, accused of using illegal, predatory lending schemes to funnel federal education money into shareholders’ pockets, while leaving students with lower employment prospects, diminished salaries, and a higher likelihood of defaulting on their loans as compared to their private- and community-college peers. As it’s described, FCA’s plan would at least eliminate the financial risk—assuming that individual franchise dealerships decide to spend the money to participate in the program.
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The automaker opened up the opt-in program to the 365 dealers in its southeast region—Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama, and Tennessee—this week, with nationwide expansion due in the third quarter of this year. Depending on how many dealers choose to participate, the program could theoretically enroll as many as 118,000 FCA dealer employees.
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via Agya
