“Modernizing your workforce starts with modernizing your HR approach.”

In today’s labor market, successful truck fleets and logistics companies know that staying abreast of the issues will help them stay ahead of the competition. Follow our “Modernizing Your HR Approach” blog series as we navigate emerging trends and share tips for finding, hiring, and retaining the talent you need.

Without question, the competition for qualified workers is hot both within and across industries. As truck fleets and logistics operations increase their efforts to find qualified workers, we offer this new blog series to help you build a productive, modern workforce and a workplace culture that can help you attract and retain the talent you need.

Where do you start? The first step is to revisit your existing HR plan.

New labor laws, emerging technologies, shifting demographics, and other changes in the landscape demand that you regularly review your HR plan and make sure it’s clearly aligned with your business strategy. Even the most deliberate approach to compensation, training, and other HR management issues can be derailed by the needs of the moment.

Now’s the time to make adjustments. Here are three things a modern HR plan should have:

1. Flexibility

An effective HR plan should have the flexibility to meet short-term staffing needs while allowing you to quickly adapt to a changing business environment.

A good example is driver compensation.

Your current HR plan probably has a structured approach to driver pay. But it also needs the flexibility to accommodate changes in the marketplace; factor in more than just base pay; and adjust to your organization’s ongoing budget plans.

You can build flexibility into your HR plan by formally allotting time to assess the organizational implications of changes in driver compensation; creating a process to support communication across your organization when compensation changes happen; and ensuring that your budgeting process recognizes the need for flexibility in driver compensation.

Attracting and keeping drivers is not always about paying the most. Trucking HR Canada’s research demonstrates that millennials place a high value on things like

flexible work arrangements and more time off. Being accommodating and innovative in benefits and other areas can be just as important as wages.

2. It’s built for your workforce

Do you know the average age of your drivers? How many of them plan to retire? And when? How many different generations are in your workforce? How many different cultures are interacting?

These are important questions, especially as you consider things like succession planning, workplace inclusion strategies, and competitive compensation packages.

Building a culture that values its diversity is critical, and today this is a key factor in employee retention.

Succession planning is another good example. Staying abreast of the key skills and positions that will need replacing means you will be better prepared to recruit, onboard, and train. Remember: it can take years before people are proficient in certain roles. Planning ahead can mean a smoother transition that better supports business success. Make sure your HR plan is in sync with your workforce demographics.

3. It promotes collaboration

The need for collaboration in the workplace is nothing new, but it’s increasingly important in our globally and digitally connected world.

A collaborative work environment fosters strong connections among staff and has positive impacts on employee engagement.

And an engaged workforce is a happy one.

Review how your HR plan encourages collaboration among teams with a range of skills and skill levels. Pairing workers with varied backgrounds invites fresh ideas, increases the probability of reaching a diverse audience, and is good for business.

There was a time when an HR plan was just a set of procedures in a binder that sat on a shelf until a moment of indecision or crisis. Today, the modern HR plan is a living document that should be shared and revised on a regular basis.

Your company doesn’t sit still, and your present and future workers certainly don’t. Revisiting your HR plan and aligning it with your business plan and the needs of your workforce can help you make sure everyone is moving in the right direction.