NADA Academy expands offerings for dealership personnel

The National Automobile Dealers Association is building on its NADA Academy training program by launching NADA Academy Plus, which will require attendance from a dealership “full-time student” along with five department managers, the association said Wednesday. The goal, NADA said in a statement, is to improve dealership performance and accelerate change at a dealership, in part by getting more staffers and managers on the same page.The full-time student would attend all six weeks of classes. Director of NADA Academy Allen Phibbs told Automotive News that the full-time student ideally would be an “emerging leader” for the dealership, such as a general manager or potential one.One week eachAlong with the student, five different department managers or directors each would attend a week of classes focusing on their specific department. Those weeks cover financial management, parts, service, pre-owned vehicle sales, new-vehicle sales and business leadership. All six employees can attend the business leadership course, which is the last of the six weeks of classes set over a 12-month period. Because multiple dealerships attend classes at the same time, the classes aren’t customizable to different dealerships.Phibbs said Academy Plus differs from the original Academy in its aim to accelerate change inside dealerships after each week of class ends, as well as offer additional services to attendees.“For the person attending the Academy, it’s completely up to their ability to effect change sooner rather than later,” Phibbs said. “In the Academy Plus, the student has their counterpart there for that specific week.”Bring the lessons homePhibbs used the example of a parts department manager attending the parts week with the full-time student. Once the class is over, the student returns to the dealership with the parts leader, who is expected to work with the student and take the lessons straight into the store.Additionally, Phibbs said, Academy Plus attendees’ entire dealership receives a premium subscription to NADA University Online, which is offered for the duration of the course. Phibbs said access to the online courses and webinars should help the rest of the employees work with department leaders to implement changes. Peter Fong, senior vice president of NADA’s dealership operations, said in the statement that change “becomes easier when your key leaders are on the same page.”Fong, who was named to his position this month, focuses on educational and consulting services for member dealerships.Academy Plus begins in October and is limited to 20 dealerships at a time. Along with access to NADA University Online, the course includes review sessions with NADA 20 Group consultants between class weeks and a walkthrough of the dealership by a consultant after academy completion.

NADA Academy expands offerings for dealership personnel

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