CARY, N.C. -

As part of Auto Remarketing's 2020 Best Auto Auctions to Work For program, we are featuring Q&As with leaders from some of the honorees. 

Next up is Jason McClenahan, president and chief executive officer at EBlock, which was among this year's Best Auto Auctions to Work For. 

That Q&A, available to CMG Premium subscribers, can be found below.

Auto Remarketing: Workplace safety has been a big topic in the auto auction industry, particularly for the traditional brick-and-mortar auctions where cars are running through the lanes. How does an adherence to workplace safety manifest differently in the digital wholesale space, where sales tend to be remote?

Jason McClenahan: For brick-and-mortar auctions, auction day is extremely exciting. With this excitement, comes this fear in the back of your mind in regards to the safety of your staff and customers. Thousands of units crossing several auction blocks, drivers all over the yard and in the lanes and hundreds of staff and clients everywhere. It’s easy to understand how critical the right safety strategy is. Now, digital auctions don’t have the same challenges presented, when it comes to safety. Safety is always a priority, as on any given day we may have hundreds of team members in dealerships all over North America.  Due to the nature of working remotely, it really comes down to communication and ensuring that the staff is trained and using the proper PPE.

AR: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your safety strategy?

JM: Due to the fact that we’re a digital auction, our safety strategy hasn’t been impacted as much as the physical auctions. That being said, we have had to make some major changes in order to ensure our staff and clients remain safe during these times. The largest change we had to make as a group, was to transition our workforce to be 100% remote. There are certain departments that couldn’t perform their jobs remotely, so we do have skeleton staff in some of our locations following all the precautions set out. We have eliminated travel as a company, and like everyone managing far more video calls than face to face visits with our clients.

AR: Training and development are key in any organization, but I imagine it’s especially challenging in the digital wholesale space. What have been some effective approaches you have taken when it comes to training and developing employees?

JM: Training has always been a major focus for both our staff and clients. All new hires go through a portion of classroom-style learning, combined with in-field training with staff and clients. This gets our new hires some real hands-on experience before they hit the ground running. This is an important part of our process for many reasons and allows new hires to meet team members that can support them in the field following training. Cross-training within other departments is another key strategy that we encourage. This allows our workforce to get a much better understanding of other departments in which they rely on. This puts our staff in a better position to be more well-rounded to move up within the organization.

AR: This year’s program had some particularly strong scores with supervisor relationship and overall employee engagement. What are some ways your organization foster positive professional relationships between supervisors and employees?

JM: Communication is really the key to everything. Supervisors listening to and supporting staff challenges is in our DNA. The best ideas have and always will be driven by the staff that are serving our customer’s day in and day out. Strong training, consistent follow up and support combined with crystal clear communication and expectations are what we strive for. It’s very easy to get complacent and simply focus on work and the task at hand. It’s also very important to celebrate wins and have some fun along the way. Getting to know your teammates is very important, and not as easy to do so in a remote world.

AR: Likewise, what are some ways your organization engages employees?

JM: We’re constantly taking feedback from the field to improve both the staff and client experiences with our company. When staff see some of their ideas come to fruition, it really increases engagement across the organization. We have several departments that work together in order to bring our company newsletter to life. These monthly newsletters, combined with our quarterly all employee town hall meetings really provide transparency throughout the company. Clearly defined vision, mission and cultural values are major driving principles that we try and live by. The more teammates in every department within our company that clearly understand these principles, provide us the critical engagement we want and need.