Like every automaker in the U.S. market these days, Fiat Chrysler is demanding more of its dealers: more physical investment in their showrooms, for one thing. And maybe more important, Fiat Chrysler wants more informed and capable employees, and better training and education to help them get that way. The need for dealerships to do a much better job of explaining complex vehicle infotainment technology alone is enough of a rationale for the latter demand.
So now the company is coming through with a new way to help dealers meet Fiat Chrysler's rising hurdles. It has arranged with
Chrysler Brand President and CEO Al Gardner proudly noted that the Degrees@Work program being tested in the company's Southeast region is better than the much-vaunted tuition program by
"We have the same theory [as Starbucks] of using this program to attract and retain top talent," Gardner told me. "But there are two reasons people don't get to go to college: the time it takes, and the cash outlay."
To address those obstacles, Fiat Chrysler is offering the nationwide program initially to personnel at up to 356 dealers in the Southeast that pay a flat fee on a monthly basis in exchange for being able to send as many of their employees as they want to Strayer University, which operates both online programs and 80 campuses in 24 states. The program covers the cost of books as well as a tuition bill that typically is $42,000 at Strayer.
The program emerged from Fiat Chrysler discussions with its dealers about 18 months ago about ways the company could extend the winning streak it has enjoyed since Fiat and the U.S. taxpayer rescued Chrysler from bankruptcy in 2009. "Their answer was to keep building fantastic products and price them appropriately and help us to attract and retain the best employees," Gardner said, as dealerships compete for talent "not only with the automotive marketplace but with the business world in general."
That's why Gardner was eager to point out the advantages of the Fiat Chrylser program over Starbucks', which is operated by Arizona State University online. Fiat Chrysler, by the way, has a pre-existing tuition program for its own employees, including cooperation with the United Auto Workers to cover union members.
Karl McDonnell, president and CEO of Strayer Education, told me that Fiat Chrysler "is trying to field the best team they can through the dealer network, and this is a powerful way to do that. Not many things in life still have the ability to transform a person's life the way a college degree does."
