Marine Industry Guide to Growing The Workforce

MRAA worked closely with the National Marine Manufacturers Association and the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association to develop this 10+1 Strategy guide. It includes local initiatives you can consider in developing your workforce.

Guide: Mastering the Interview at Your Dealership

Great management begins with hiring great people. And it is this skill – recruiting and hiring great people – that can turn your business from an also-ran to market leader. A critical element in bringing this to life is found in-between recruiting and hiring in the oh-so-crucial skill of interviewing. This free MRAA mini-guide on hiring and interviewing has been real-world tested, as it is largely built on the process use by our team here at MRAA.

MRAA Mini-Guide: Why Your Dealership Needs an Org. Chart

Being great at workforce recruitment and retention often comes back to mastery of the basics: things like creating crystal clarity for your employees about what success looks like and how to work with your team to achieve it. This can be made easier by developing some simple resources like job descriptions, an employee handbook, and yes … a dealership organizational chart. The MRAA Mini-Guide was authored by Valerie Ziebron of VRZ Consulting.

MRAA Job Descriptions (MRAA Member Benefit)
MRAA members have access to nearly 50 job descriptions for common positions around the typical dealership, including the service department. Login and click the link above to download the service job descriptions you need.

Employee Handbook (MRAA Member Benefit)
MRAA Members can access this sample employee handbook for use as a guide or template for creating their own employee handbook.

How to Support Remote Employees

Today, working remotely is more common than ever, which means supporting remote employees is more important than ever. But that isn’t always an easy thing to accomplish. Your boat dealership has salespeople out on the water with customers, service technicians working on customer boats, and service reps making their rounds at boat shows. How can you make sure all of these employees working from all different locations are able to do their jobs efficiently and effectively?

• Setting Up New Employees for Success: The Importance of Onboarding
• Tech Friendly Corporate Culture Checklist
• Why Technicians Quit
• Soft Skills to Look For in a Marine Tech (Graphic)
• Get Your Shop in Order to Attract Millennial and Gen Z Technicians
• Venues to Find and Recruit Future Techs
• Retaining Technicians: From Marine Techs’ Perspective
• Golden Nuggets to Developing Marine Techs
• Tips on Recruiting and Managing Millennials in the Workplace
• Dos and Don’ts When Recruiting Millennials
• Communicating with Millennials in the Workplace
• Women Techs are Great for Business
• Creating a Work Environment that Supports Both Male and Female Techs
• Honoring Diversity in the Workplace

TechForce Foundation’s ‘Women Techs: Solving the Tech Shortage Problem’ Whitepaper
TechForce Foundation®, an MRAA workforce partner, recently released a critical new whitepaper addressing the role that women techs can play in solving the ongoing technician workforce shortage. “Women Techs: Solving the Tech Shortage Problem” deeply explains how the automotive, aviation, diesel, collision, motorsports and other transportation industry (marine) sectors can recruit and retain women technicians, and offer professional growth opportunities throughout every phase of their careers.

States Offering Tax Credits and Tuition Support for Apprenticeship Programs

Learn more via the Apprenticeship.gov website.

“What’s Stopping You from Your Best Busy Season”
Have you learned to identify what barriers are keeping you from your best performance? What do you need to stop doing? Are there things that are taking your focus away from where it needs to be, sucking your energy, time or other resources? When you are entering the busy season, you (and anyone in the marine industry) have things within your control, both personally and professionally, that will make a tangible difference in your success. This blog and resource from Valerie Ziebron (VRZ Consulting) provides each department of the dealership with insightful tactics to help your team quell anxiety, prioritize and maintain course down the winning path.  

Why YOU Should be a Marine Technician
A marine technician has often served as a hero to many, as this vital dealership position — one of the most coveted resources of the boating industry — has helped many North Americans keep their recreational toys running. Marine techs keep boats running and on customers on the water. However, current technicians within the industry continue to age and there’s a shortage of new techs entering the field. In fact, marine technicians are in high demand, as dealerships seek more leaders and solution finders of the future. Here are 10 reasons why an energetic and self-motivated individual like you should consider this profession and the boating industry.

Dealer Case Study: Combating a Local Tech Shortage
A special MRAA Q&A session with Eric Smith of Colorado Boat Center reveals a strategy used by the dealership that included one-week, on-the-job working, wrenching interviews to hire three marine technicians from outside its region to solve its workforce issues within its service department. This key decision helped the dealership troubleshoot and expose staffing issues —while fortifying its service team — helping it to maintain its objectives during the journey on the pathway to more success. 

“Resources for Your Mental Health and Well Being”

Download this flyer to share mental health resources with your employees.

“6 Things You Can Do to Care for Your Team’s Mental Health”

If you are an employer in the boating business, chances are several of your employees are facing mental health challenges right now. And you’re not alone.

Annual Employee Training Plan Template
Planning and implementing training programs at your dealership can often get lost in the day-to-day shuffle of selling and servicing boats. This guide can help you structure the training plans you’d like each of your employees to participate in throughout the year. Download it and use it for helping to develop the skills and abilities of your team.

10 Tips for Marine Dealership Performance Reviews
Performance reviews can be a powerful tool for you as a manager, for your employees and for your business. It’s an opportunity to partner with each of your employees to make their job better, to make their results better and to make your business better. When employees feel like you care about their success and are dedicated to helping them become more successful, they’re much more likely to stick with you through the ups and downs. That’s why we developed this list of 10 tips for marine dealership performance reviews.

Marine Technical Schools
Sometimes recruiting means starting with up-and-coming talent. We encourage our dealers to get active and remain active with tech schools in their region. Doing so can help ensure that not only will the marine education program remain healthy but also that these dealers will have an advantage when recruiting new employees. Need help finding a tech school, creating a local program or building a strong relationship with your local school? Contact MRAA Director of Workforce & Foundation Wendy Mackie at matt@mraa.com.

Dealership Scholarships
The MRAA Educational Foundation provides scholarships for technical and other training opportunities to the employees of MRAA Member dealerships.

KPA’s Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Guide
KPA, a partner of MRAA, has put together a guide to determining employee classification within your business. Since the recent changes made to the Fair Labor Standards Act by the US Department of Labor ensuring your business is classifying your exempt and non-exempt employees properly is crucial to keeping your business in compliance, minimizing employee complaints and HR issues.

Department of Labor: Guidance for Private Employers on Changes to the White Collar Exemptions in the Overtime Final Rule
In view of the changes introduced by the Final Rule to the salary level in particular, the Department is providing this guidance to assist employers in preparing for implementation of the Final Rule. Part I of this guidance provides a brief background on the FLSA’s white collar exemptions and how they apply generally.  Part II details some of the options employers may exercise in determining how best for their organizations to ensure that they comply with the Final Rule. This guidance, however, is not a comprehensive guide  to coverage and compliance under the FLSA. 

Exemption for Salesman
In Title 29 – LABOR, CHAPTER 8 – FAIR LABOR STANDARDS, Sec. 213 – Exemptions, there is an exemption under Section (b) Maximum hour requirements, stating: “The provisions of section 207 of this title shall not apply with respect to— . . . (10)(B) any salesman primarily engaged in selling trailers, boats, or aircraft, if he is employed by a non-manufacturing establishment primarily engaged in the business of selling trailers, boats, or aircraft to ultimate purchasers.” Click here to read the full exemption language. This information pertains strictly to federal law. Overtime exceptions and obligations may vary by state.