Chevrolet has started piloting a sales staff recruitment and retention initiative that will provide dealers with a pool of qualified candidates and help them to keep new starters.

Pilots started with eight dealers two months ago. They will run to the end of the year.

If successful – and that will be measured by the number of people placed in the network, the number still in the job and the number of cars they have sold – the programme, run by AMS, will be made available to the whole retail network as an optional scheme.

“This initiative is in response to an issue raised by the franchised board,” said Chevrolet UK managing director Rory Harvey.

“It’s not necessary for people to have automotive experience; they need the right attributes and attitude to succeed.”

Chevrolet has placed recruitment adverts in local press and car magazines, and has held a number of open evenings.

Its role is to sift through the CVs to produce a shortlist of candidates from which the dealer can make their decision.

The carmaker has also recruited three people to act as coaches and mentors for the new starters, which Harvey believes will help improve retention. They are visiting new staff at least once a month.

“We are unsure yet whether to roll this out to other job functions.

“Sales is the key priority but we will review the results and see where dealers want to go with it,” Harvey said.