At Motorcars Honda, success starts with valuing employees and their families

At Motorcars Honda, management strives to foster a
At Motorcars Honda, management strives to foster a "one, big, happy family" atmosphere. | File photo

Motorcar Honda has always had a reputation of being willing to go the extra-mile for its nearly 300 employees.

“Turnover has actually been pretty good,” Trevor Gile, general manager of the family-owned dealership headed by his father, told Mega Dealer News.

None of that is happenstance for the Cleveland Heights new and used car dealership, twice named to Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Top Places To Work in the area over the last three years.

At Motorcars Honda, management strives to foster a "one, big, happy family" atmosphere.

"We do a lot of events like cook off contests, holiday costume contests where we get about 75 people to dress up,” Gile said. “We’ll bring in a bunch of food trucks where they can bring their family and give away a bunch of money. We have ugly sweater contests at Christmastime. We try to do a lot of things to engage.”

In addition to all the little things that the company does in an effort to retain its staff, a big part of keeping operations running smoothly lies in making sure each team member is thoroughly prepared to do what they are needed to.

“You’ve got to be constantly training,” Gile said. “You can’t assume Millennials can just take an IPad and know how to use it. You still have to train them. Like every other generation some are really tech-oriented, others are in the middle, and some hate it. Millennials aren’t that much different. They’re used to their phones and some basic things.”  

Gile started with the company in 2001 and since then has seen it grow to include a marketing company, software company, Allstate agency and multiple car washes. But all of it has its roots in Motorcars Honda -- the quaint but still growing dealership still run by his father -- that now counts somewhere in the neighborhood of 275 employees on its payroll.

“We still have a handful of employees who started out with my father in 1991,” Gile said. “With our extended hours, we’ve seen volume increases in our services.”

Open Monday through Thursdays until 3 a.m., the company primarily serves the Cleveland, Akron and Euclid area. Gile said it still embraces the motto, “Customers for life only just begins with the purchase or lease of a new Honda and truly doesn’t ever end.”