It is the same everywhere – no employer wants a good employee to quit. Employee turnover is costly as it can impact company culture, loss of productivity, and require additional time to recruit and train new talent. For example, employee turnover is especially costly in industries such as the trucking industry where drivers are needed to maintain service delivery targets. The factors that can cause driver shortage may include labor intensity (the need to work long and unpredictable hours), and age gap (more aging drivers being replaced with younger drivers). If you are a fleet manager who wants to know how to recruit and retain drivers well, this post is for you!
Recognize the Efforts of Your Best Drivers
It is human nature for employees to seek rewards for good performance. That’s why you have to recognize and reward appropriately. For starters, you may consider gamifying the environment by monitoring driver performance and implementing scorecards. The latter is used to identify and reward top-performing drivers with prizes such as days off and monetary bonuses. This is actually a proven method to improve employee engagement. Give it a shot!
Create a Family Culture
Although compensation is a top factor in selecting a job, it is not the sole factor for driver turnover. Employees from all industries seek fair treatment. It is pertinent that you use the first three months to build strong bonds with new employees to reduce the chance of turnover. You would want to establish a family-like environment to secure loyal drivers.
Use the Latest Recruitment Tactics
The traditional recruitment method was to create job postings and wait for drivers to reply. That may work in the past, but younger drivers are using different means to find and apply for jobs. For example, you may want to turn to online marketing to attract young drivers.
Start by focusing on social media to feature positive messages on your page and tell a story instead of just post mundane job advertisements. If you have a website, make sure it is optimized with Search Engine Optimization techniques. In addition, you should create a landing page that greets potential employees, as well as “sell” the job opportunity through interesting videos and driver stories. Publishing informative blog posts on a consistent basis also helps.
Never Disrespect Your Drivers
Drivers who feel disrespected are more likely to leave in the near future. Hence, avoid making the mistakes of overpromising corporate benefits, not addressing drivers by their name, and answering, “This is your problem.” when they ask for your help. Generally, you would want to make sure they feel and are respected at all times.
Offer Competitive Salaries to Your Drivers
As mentioned earlier, money is the leading factor when an individual chooses a driving job. Take the time to research industry standards and offer a competitive salary to interested parties. Of course, sometimes it is not about the figures alone. To make a salary competitive, you may include driver appreciation events, health support programs, and performance-based incentives. Wondering how best to structure a program for performance-based incentives? You can always rely on a GPS tracking system to monitor driver performance in order to dish out the appropriate incentives!