Women
impactingdealerships
Market opportunities.
Workplace strategies.

2

3

5

9

11

Why a diverse
team is a smart
investment

A hire calling

What womenwant

Navigating thedealership

Dealer profile

leadership teamMarisa Carnevale-Henderson
Market Executive
Dealer Financial Services
Bank of America
marisa.carnevale-henderson@bofa.com

Jim Cockey
Market Executive
Dealer Financial Services
Bank of America
james.d.cockey@bofa.com

Why a diverse teamis a smart investment
Supporting diversity in the workplace is a passion of ours at Bank of America.
We’ve made a corporate
commitment to a diverse andinclusive environment around

Derek Comestro
Market Executive
Dealer Financial Services
Bank of America
derek.comestro@bofa.com

the world, holding our leaders
accountable for building diverse
teams. Our global workforce is
50% women, including 33% of
our Board of Directors and 32%
of our management team.1 We
know it’s not just the right thing
to do, but also a smart investment;
we recognize that we’re stronger
because of that diversity.

1

We also know that the conversation about
the role of women in the auto retailingindustry is not a new one. But we’repleased that the discussion has becomea mainstream topic in industry news andat meetings. Now the challenge is to movefrom discussion to solutions — and that’s
where we hope to help.
Each dealership needs to take a look, on
an individual basis, at what it’s doing toincrease diversity and support women
employees — and why those efforts are or
are not succeeding. If your dealership isn’t
successfully recruiting women, perhaps it’stime to try something new. And if womenare applying for jobs but your dealership
isn’t hiring them or retaining them after
they’re on the job, ask what’s causing that
gap. Is it the structure of the jobs —compensation plans, schedules or https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_00babde22013c45b5d7638d2cb18a8be/bankofamerica/db/867/9840/annual_report/BAC+2022+Annual+Report.pdf.

benefits — or the culture or atmospherein the store that isn’t meeting women’s
needs and expectations?
What we hear from our clients, and what
we know from our own experience, is that
there are two key steps in building a diverse
workforce. First, owners and corporate
leaders need to make diversity a priority
and set expectations with department
managers for recruiting, hiring andsupporting women employees. Second, it’s
important to find the right channels andcenters of influence to help in the recruiting
process. That may mean thinking outside
the box and beyond the usual options.
Although each dealership’s solution will bedifferent, there’s one thing we all know:
Diversity of the workforce drives
diversity of the culture and allows any
company to better address the everchanging needs of today’s consumer.

women impacting dealerships

2

overview

A hire calling
Dealers know they need more women in the showroom: Now action must follow attitude.
Historically a field dominated by men, auto retailing has been
making incremental progress toward more gender balance inthe past decade. The 2021 National Association of Automobile
Dealers (NADA) Workforce Study found small yearly increases
in the number of women working at dealerships — although thepercentage of female dealership employees decreased slightly,
from 34% in 2019 to 30% in 2021, according to the June 2021
Cox Automotive “The State of Dealership Staffing” report.2
And, according to the 2021 NADA study, only 5% of dealershipgeneral managers and around 1% of service technicians are
women. Clearly, work remains to make auto retailing botha place where women want to look for jobs and a desirable
destination for a career, industry analysts and experts say.

Distribution of women in U.S. dealerships3
Service B-Technician
General Manager
Sales Manager
Parts Manager
Service Manager
Parts Consultant
Sales Consultant
F&I Manager
Service Manager

1%
5%
7%
7%

The good news is that, inspired by the presence ofindustry leaders such as General Motors CEO Mary
Barra and fueled by research including Automotive
News’ Project XX, the dealership community is actively
discussing how to increase the presence of women in
the business.
“What’s changing is that we’re talking about it,” says Julie
Brinkman, former chief operating officer for Hireology, aChicago-based Recruitment CRM for Automotive Retail.
“(Before)... we weren’t really even talking about the role ofwomen in the industry.”
Agreeing with Brinkman is Fleming Ford, former vice presidentof people analytics at ESI Trends, which conducts the NADA
Workforce Study. “Almost any dealer will say, ‘I want to hire
more women,’” Ford says. “There’s a universal belief that womenbring something different to the table and that in particular thecustomer base likes to see women at the dealership.”“But too many dealers aren’t yet doing it with a lot of intent.
Because of the decades of male domination, as a leader you
have to do more, and with more deliberation, than simply talking
about it.” But dealers are coming to understand why hiring andsupporting women is a business priority.

9%
9%
11%
15%
21%

Source: https://www.coxautoinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-Dealership-Staffing-Study-Summary.pdf.
Source: https://njcar.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021-NADA-National-Regional-Trends-in-CompensationRetention.pdf.

2
3

women impacting dealerships

3

overview“Investing in women — allowing andgiving women opportunities for careers
and leadership roles — is not only
the right thing to do but also a reallysmart investment in the business,”says Marisa Carnevale-Henderson,
Bank of America market executive for
Dealer Financial Services. As of February
2020, there were 13 million women-owned
businesses in the United States, according
to the Women’s Business Enterprise
National Council (WBENC).4
Says Carnevale-Henderson, “If those women
walk into a dealership and see only men,
especially on the dealership floor, it justdoesn’t mirror their world at large. It’s
critically important that dealerships mirror
the marketplace in terms of who’s making
decisions for households today.”“It’s no secret that women make themajority of household decisions about
what car to buy and when. Every firm andevery dealer, every company in the U.S.

4

needs to do a better job of recognizing
who the buyer really is and making thatbuyer feel comfortable in the store,” says
James Cockey, Bank of America market
executive for Dealer Financial Services.
Brinkman notes, “As a woman, if I see
women working at the dealership, it may
well be that my defenses are lowered, Iam more confident that the dealership
understands women, will understand thefact that I have a family, will understand myneeds as far as a vehicle goes.” In addition,
making sure women feel comfortable
when applying for dealership jobs is criticalbecause “we are in an environment wherea labor shortage is a real thing,” Brinkman
says. “For all intents and purposes, you’re
cutting out half the job-seeking population
if the environment in a dealership is notconducive to women working there.”
Dealerships can take some basic first steps
to help even the playing field for women.
For instance, Ford says ESI research forSource: https://www.wbenc.org/news/behind-the-numbers-the-state-of-women-owned-businesses-in-2018/#.

NADA shows that turnover is higher among
women at dealerships, perhaps in part
because women are paid less than men
for doing the same jobs.
Some dealerships, Ford says, makea deliberate decision to push for aworkforce that’s 50% or more women,changing compensation and work
schedules to create “career paths thatare more attractive, manageable andunderstandable,” she says.
But in addition, Ford says, industry leadersneed to address the long-standing “boysclub” culture that still permeates many
dealership sales and service departments.
“There are great men managing andworking in dealerships, but sometimes
we all have blinders on,” she says.
“Unconsciously, we’re tolerating behavior
that would make a woman uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, even if you’re tolerating
the idea of ‘guys being guys,’ as a leader,
you’re reinforcing the problem.”

The problem can affect a dealership’s
ability to attract not only female employees
and customers. “I’ll venture to say that ahostile work environment affects not just
women but men, too,” says Hireology’s
Brinkman. “If the sales floor or the servicebay culture verges on hostility, you’re goingto lose good men as well as women fromyour dealership.”Candice Crane, an independent consultant
and former dealership executive, says it’stime to address the issue.
“I’ve talked to a lot of dealer
principals who want more women on
the showroom floor or in leadership
positions — there’s an understandingthat this is beneficial for the business,”
Crane says. “There is an appetite toimprove the diversity in the industry. And
with so many changes happening in auto
retailing — from F&I to online sales andtechnology — now is the time to also makethese changes at the dealership.”

women impacting dealerships

4making the workplace better

What women want
In many cases, what men want
Creating an inclusive dealership• Take an honest look at your dealership• Address the myths

Here are suggestions for your dealership.
What can a dealership do to make its workplace, culture and job
offerings more attractive to women — and at the same time
help retain the women who currently work there? Auto retailingexperts offer concrete suggestions.

• Restructure work and pay• Make benefits competitive• Establish your reputation as an inclusive employer• Write female-friendly job descriptions• Consider adding a human resources department• Support women employees• Publicize female staff• Promote industry careers

Take an honest look at dealership operations
and culture.
“First and foremost, dealers need to make an objective
assessment of their sales and service culture,” says Hireology’s
Julie Brinkman. “That includes looking at things like the language
used at the dealership, the jokes that are made, and asking,‘Would a woman be comfortable working here?’”Brinkman suggests asking employees for their insights, either byusing anonymous surveys (on paper or via tools such as Google
Forms or Survey Monkey) or one-on-one private conversations.
“If you’re the dealer principal and feel that your presencein these conversations might be intimidating, tap one ofyour managers to sit down with employees,” she says.

women impacting dealerships

5making the workplace better

Candice Crane agrees. “Start by assessing
what’s working and what’s not byconducting a qualitative analysis of theteam,” Crane says. “Spend time one on
one with team members, perhaps talking
with a few people each day for a month,and intensely listen. You’ll find things
you’re proud of and also things you needto address.”are better at math and numbers, andwomen sometimes believe these myths
themselves. It doesn’t come from theauto industry but is an unconscious biasthat needs to be addressed.”

Address the myths of genderbias — with everyone.

“It’s old information by now that womenand millennials and centennials have a
different value system about work/lifebalance,” DeVere says. A six-day week
working 70 hours on commission, so
common at the stereotypical dealership,
is less appealing to younger people andespecially women — and men — with family
responsibilities. Flexible scheduling,including rotating weekends off, andteam selling can meet employees’ needs
and also maintain dealership profits.

Discuss with managers and staff thepersistent and sometimes subconscious
biases against women in the workplace —and at dealerships in particular. Some
dealers and managers, for instance, havethe perception that their staff includes anacceptable percentage of women. But inreality, none are in leadership or working withcustomers. “Dealers will say, ‘I have a lot of
women working for me’ — but they’re in the
BDC or in the back office. That speaks to
how people see the capabilities of womenand an unconscious bias that exists,” says
Jody DeVere, founder of askpatty.com, which
offers automotive advice to women. “Forinstance, there is still a myth out therethat men are better salespeople andRestructure work schedules and payplans to appeal to a more diverse
workforce.

“No one wants to work bell to bell anymore,”says ESI Trends’ Fleming Ford. Says
consultant Crane, “Roles can be designed
and compensation plans can evolve toinclude more stability, more rewards forholistic contributions to the business,rather than the ‘What have you done forme today?’ approach.”

Dealerships should consider compensationplans that are not purely variable, offering
more base pay rather than straightcommission, Crane says. Says Hireology’s
Brinkman: “The desire, especially among
women but millennials as well, is for apay plan offering consistency, rather
than the feast-or-famine situation ofcommission pay.”
Offer competitive benefits

Healthcare

Paid time off

Retirement &401(k)

Matching
contributions

Make sure employee benefits arecompetitive.
If dealerships want to establish a pipelineof job candidates and also retain current
employees, they need to be competitive
with businesses that are hiring people awayfrom the industry, DeVere says. That means
providing appropriate healthcare plans as wellas investing in employees through benefits
such as paid time off and retirement plansincluding a 401(k) with matching contributions.
“We are in an environment where a labor
shortage is a real thing; unemployment
is at historic lows,” Brinkman says.
“There is a lot of competition for job
seekers, meaning dealerships need towork hard to attract the best people.”

Market the dealership and its
available jobs to the target
audience.
“A dealership needs a strong employment
brand,” Brinkman says. “That includes a
career site that features a diverse group of
employees who work at the dealership. The
career site should provide stories about the
career paths available to job seekers, using
the stories of those real employees.”
Brinkman says the career site also should
highlight other things that matter topotential job applicants, including work
schedules and benefits, as well as thedealership’s investment and involvementin the community.

women impacting dealerships

6

making the workplace better

Write female-friendly job descriptions++

Expand your pool of applicantsWrite job descriptions that are inclusive andappeal to a diverse group of job seekers.
“Consider the words you use,” Brinkman says. Some websites
and apps will evaluate a job description, pinpointing words
that are exclusionary or discriminatory or simply unappealing
to certain demographic groups. For instance, terms such as“lone wolf” or “sales ninja” are not only trite and overused
but also can turn off women and other job seekers,
Brinkman says.
In addition, she says, a dealership should consider therequirements included in a job description. For example,
Hireology has found that women are more likely to apply forjobs only when they feel 100% qualified, while men are
more likely to take a risk. Given that, should a job description
ask that an applicant have previous dealership experience? Is
that a truly necessary requirement for the job?
“Think about the requirements in a job description,” Brinkman says.
“Are they shrinking or expanding your pool of applicants?”

Consider establishing a human resources
department or hiring a dedicated HR executive.
An HR department can bring new employees on board,
monitor and schedule training, and help put policies in place.
Brinkman says Hireology’s research indicates that aseamless employee orientation is one of the mostimportant things a company can do to retain thatworker. That includes a well-defined and well-managed
orientation, she says, with little “wow” moments to help new
staff members feel welcome in their first weeks. It also helps
to assign a buddy — an informal “go to” person — to each
new employee, someone who can help answer questions
and talk over any difficult situations.
In addition, says askpatty.com’s DeVere, “Having HR
policies in place and an HR professional on staff can help
women in particular when they need to handle awkward or
uncomfortable situations.” It makes good business sense,
too. In the current environment, having professional
HR practices in place and regularly monitored helps
mitigate risk, DeVere says.
Welcomenew hires

Hire an
HR proAssign a
buddy

Add
“Wow”
moments7

making the workplace better“The best thing
we can do isto start tobuild strong
women fromthe moment
they’re born.”
Kelly Ross
Chief Financial Officer
Morgan Auto Group
Tampa, FL

Dedicate extra effort tosupporting new female employees.

Publicize the role of womenon your staff.

Ford of ESI Trends suggests that because
the number of women working at a
dealership is generally so low, the store
should consider spending extra time andeffort on new hires. “If we are bringing
women into the business, we have to do
extra from the beginning to support them,”
she says.

Besides sharing stories of female employeeson the dealership website, Ford suggests
featuring them in marketing and on social
media to send a message to both staff
and customers. “How about ads that say,
‘If you want to get your car serviced, ask
for Kim or Diane,’” she says. “Position thepresence of women employees as part ofyour dealership’s culture, and celebrate yoursuccesses with your customers as well as
your staff.”

Ford also recommends making women partof the hiring process and providing a mentor
for women who are new on the staff. The
mentor doesn’t need to be another woman
but someone to talk and consult with.
“The onboarding needs to be different,
reflecting the fact that turnover ishigher for women at dealerships,” shesays. “They often don’t reach that firstyear on the job.”
In addition, because so relatively few
women are in leadership positions, Fordsuggests “overcelebrating” the successes offemale employees and consciously looking
to find and develop women who can moveinto leadership roles.

Send dealership and dealer groupleaders — both men and women— to conferences and presentations
that discuss the issues of women in
the auto industry.
Such conferences tend to attract women.
Experts argue that industry leaders anddealer management, who are often men,need to hear what’s being said from the
podium and in roundtables.
“Men need to come to these conferences,too, to hear from the women in theindustry and move the discussion
forward,” DeVere says.

Promote the dealership and theindustry as a place where women
are welcomed and can make a
successful career.
“For all the millions of dollars in advertising
spent by dealerships, you don’t often see ads
or videos about what an amazing industry it
is to work in,” DeVere says. “School counselors
aren’t sitting down with high schoolers —boys or girls — to suggest careers in theauto industry.”“It seems many come to the auto industry
by accident, yet there are so many exciting
careers available: salespeople, techs,
engineers, finance, marketing, digital.”
For individual dealerships or dealer groups,
DeVere and others suggest a proactive
approach: attending career days or recruiting
events at high schools, colleges and vocational
schools and supporting tech classrooms withdonations, tools, scholarships or internships.
“We need to do a better job ofadvertising the opportunities in theindustry, including tech positions, notjust to women but to everyone,” Fordsays. “Where else can someone make sucha good living without taking on a lot ofcollege debt?”

women impacting dealerships

8

what women can do for themselves

Navigating the dealership
Strategies for making industry inroads
In many ways, it’s an exciting time to be a woman in the auto
industry. From General Motors’ Mary Barra on down, qualified
women are highly sought after for positions at automakers
and suppliers and also in auto retailing.

“This is a sector that is still dominated by men,” says Marisa
Carnevale-Henderson at Bank of America. “But women cannot
be intimidated or afraid of it, because there is so muchpotential for women in the industry. We hope they will
embrace the opportunities and help to pave that path forother women in the auto industry.”

But at the same time, women remain a minority at dealerships.
Women were 21.1% of automobile dealers and 9.0% of
automotive repair and maintenance employees in 2022,
according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.5

Industry experts and leaders offer these pieces of advice forwomen interested in making or furthering a career in a dealership.

Take a five-step approachYour path to career success1
Setyour own
goals

5

5

2

Selfpromote

4

Build asupportnetwork3

Be
the best

Show
confidence

Source: https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm.

women impacting dealerships

9

what women can do for themselves

your own goals
1 Set
and objectives, andstick with them.
“People like to talk about women
having to develop ‘a thick skin’ tosurvive in this business. I want tofind a different way to say that,”says Julie Brinkman at Hireology.
“Whatever the industry, haveyour goals be clear and wellunderstood — a set of goals
and objectives, a vision ofwhere you see yourself inthe next few years. That
helps create the doggedness topersist in challenging situations.”
Echoes Kelly Ross, executive
vice president and chief financial
officer for Morgan Auto Group:“Set your goals high, and don’ttake no for an answer.”a support
2 Build
network.

— be an3 Self-promoteadvocate for yourself.

the best employee
4 Beor manager
possible.

confident
5 Bein
your success.

Jody DeVere, founder of askpatty.
com, says it’s critical for eachwoman in the industry to build a
network of other women to talkand consult with, that includes
peers as well as mentors.

With so few women in
dealerships, they can’t count on
their female peers for support,
especially in day-to-day work
matters. Says independent
consultant Candice Crane, “Ilove the idea of mentorship, but
honestly, we don’t have a large
enough percentage of womenin the industry to be mentors.
Most women in their stores,
even those in management
positions, are all alone. They
might have mentors in theindustry but not at their store.
“What that means is that awoman executive will need
to be an advocate for herself
at her store. Part of that isgoing to the GM or the owner
when tough situations comeup — not being afraid to put
your foot down and advocate
for your perspective.”

Workplace experts say thatgaining respect and authority candepend on mastering your job,and knowing your industry andcompany. “Be strong. The firstthing, the most important thing,is to know your business,” says
Carnevale-Henderson. “Be thebest at whatever role you are in.”Beyond that, DeVere says, continuehoning skills and gatheringknowledge. “Take advantage
of any training opportunities.
Understand your products andkeep learning,” she says. “Don’t
work in a vacuum.”

Says Brinkman: “The advice I give
women at Hireology is: Don’t
apologize for who you are or
having an opinion and doing
well. You need to give yourself
the power that you want anddon’t rely on anyone to bestow it
on you, and certainly do not letanyone take away your power.”“Yes, men can be mentors,”
DeVere says, “but it’s still
important to find other women
who have the experiences you
have, who are in the same orsimilar roles in the industry — aswell as more senior women who
have been there before you andcan help you avoid the pitfalls.”
DeVere calls this building a“personal board of directors.”
To find and connect with other
women in the industry, sherecommends joining industry
groups and attending conferences
like Women in Automotive or
the Automotive News Leading
Women Network. Additionally,
Brinkman says, every woman
working at a dealership should
work to build a support system
within her company.

“Every woman should develop
a strong professional relationshipwith her manager and others on
her team at the dealership — thepeople who can help make sure
she has the resources she needs,”
DeVere says.

Says Carnevale-Henderson:“Being a successful woman
in the auto industry can reallymake a difference. That sortof role model can help inspireother women who haven’t
thought about this industry toapply for jobs and consider acareer here. “It’s an exciting
and challenging time to be inautomotive because of all
the changes in the business.
And there’s a real opportunity
for strong women to pave
a path for other women inthis business.”

women impacting dealerships

10

“I found theindustry
intriguingfrom thebeginning.”

Dealer profile
Kelly Ross
Chief Financial Officer
Morgan Auto Group
Tampa, FL

Kelly Ross says she joined the auto industry by accident. In December
1985, when her sister-in-law didn’t show up for her new job at a
local Maryland auto dealership, the store called and Ross answered.
“They said they needed someone to answer the phones, andI thought, ‘I can do that.’ So I took the job. And I never looked
back,” says Ross.

that deter women from dealership jobs is the number of hours we put
in — both the early, 6:00 a.m. starts and the late nights, in sales and in
fixed ops,” she says. “Luckily I had a supportive family who could coverfor me with my son.”By 1988 Ross had moved into accounting, and in 1992 was hired
as controller for a Georgia dealership. She then spent four years
at AutoNation before joining Morgan in 2005. When asked if she
has found it difficult to be a woman in the dealership industry, shesays she never really thought about it as she climbed the corporate
ladder. “I was just raised that way, not to see gender as a barrier.
My parents said I could do anything I set my mind to do,” she says.
“Honestly I didn’t realize we were such a minority in the industry until
I was at a higher level, and saw the lack of women around me and thelack of opportunities for women.”“I found the industry intriguing from the beginning.” Today, Ross
is chief financial officer for Morgan Auto Group, a Florida dealer
group with 62 retail locations selling 21 makes of new vehicles from
Kia to Lamborghini, spanning the Sunshine State from Tallahassee
to Ft. Lauderdale.6 Of Morgan Auto Group’s leadership team, 33%(7 of 21) are women.7

But today, she says, things are improving. “The whole notion of whata millennial wants from a work environment has enlightened
our industry, and that is changing the work environment for
women as well,” she says. Younger employees are asking for abetter work/life balance, she says, as well as a more reasonable
40-to-50-hour workweek and more predictable (less commissionbased) pay plans. “We are beginning to understand that maybe
we can’t keep expecting the same things out of employees that
we have for the past 30 years,” she says.

After that first dealership receptionist job, Ross moved to Florida.
Thinking she wanted to continue working at a dealership, shewent to buy a car. “I made it part of my negotiations — I said,‘I’ll buy a car if you give me a job.’ They told me they werelooking for a receptionist, and handed me an application,” she says.
She decided she wanted to learn the dealership business inside andout, but as a single mom found the hours difficult. “One of the things

Ross says if she could contribute one thing to the women of thedealership industry, she’d like to start an industry group specificallydesigned for younger women. “The best thing we can do is to start
to build strong women from the moment they’re born,” she says.
“From the time they’re in elementary school, through highschool and college, we need to keep telling them there
is nothing they can’t do.”

6
7

Source: Morgan Auto Group: About Us https://www.morganautogroup.com/about-us/.
Source: Morgan Auto Group Leadership Team https://www.morganautogroup.com/about-us/staff/.

women impacting dealerships

11Anticipate every turn
In an industry that’s always evolving, your dealership can rely on our Dealer Financial
Services team’s 90 years of experience to see what’s around the corner, forward-thinking
insights to prepare you, and technology to keep you ahead of the curve.
What would you like the power to do?®

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