
Ask any CEO or owner of a business what the greatest asset of the business is, and you will probably hear the cliché of our employees are our greatest asset, and while it is well intended, it rarely gets explained or unpacked.
Not so for Managing Director of the Morgan Group, Hugh Morgan, who is proud to use the dealership he acquired 14 years ago, Morgan Nissan Welkom, as a perfect example of what it means when your employees are your greatest asset.
“Although it is a well-meaning and often used phrase, I suppose I don’t really like to compare my valuable employees to an asset,” he explains. “If possible, I like to have it more quantifiable, and when you have fourteen employees at one dealership with more than ten years’ service, you know that you are doing something right.”
According to Morgan, the one thing he constantly sees in every aspect of the business is human effort. “Every employee forms an important and irreplaceable cog in our auto-industry, and if we can assure continuity with employees staying on, we can only be better in our service, our value proposition and the products we provide,” he said. “What makes me proud of the team is that eight of them have been with the dealership since day one.”
The following employees at Morgan Nissan Welkom have ten or more years’ service: Stephen Makhakhe (14 years), George Fullegar (14), Abe Konjo (14), Hestelle Scheepers (14), Jaco Henning (14), Dewet Greyling (14), Jimmy Nthatsisi (14), Gladwin Nkagoang (14), Hendrik Yawa (14), Leah Mokeretla (13), Magdeline Selepe (12), Lize-Mari Geyser (12), Shaun Breedt (10) and Marie Baumgarten (10).
Whilst the used vehicle trade is very much an area where true talent and creativity lies in the motor retail space, there are numbers that are important and interrelated in a traditional franchised used vehicle department.
The transition from a career in the OEM environment to the business at dealership level was like chalk and cheese.
Audi Centre Sandton was named 2024 Dealer of the Year, while Hatfield Motor Group walked away with the coveted 2024 Dealer Group of the Year prize during Audi South Africa’s annual Vorsprung Awards.