Tackling Driver Turnover Part 5: Recognition
Recapping what we have learned so far would have us remember step one: creating a firm foundation for change starting with a commitment from the senior leadership. Step two was determining where you are in the marketplace for driver compensation and matching your position to your company’s growth strategy. Step three was emphasizing and focusing on the critical role that safety plays in the retention and recruiting of any trucking company. Part four was the creation of a communication strategy that includes all of our stakeholders, drivers, their families, owner-operators, customers, and suppliers.
Part five attempts to recognize people doing the right things and to reward that behavior by shining a light on the individual or individuals involved. Do you believe that people want to be with winners? Does being with winners inspire you to win?
The life of a truck driver is stacked against such an atmosphere if you dig into it. Fighting traffic daily, attempting to stick to a predetermined schedule of pickups and deliveries, understanding the basics of the machine you are in charge of daily, and on top of all this the basic human need coming from operations to find bad guys when things go wrong.
Think of all the moving parts that go into moving a load of freight. First, a salesman finds the load and starts the process of making sure the potential customer’s needs can be fulfilled. They will need to know the weight of the shipment, the value of the load, traffic lanes, and pick up and delivery schedules to name but a few pieces of information they need to get accurate. Then the quote is assembled and given to the customer, if successful that information is typically provided to a customer service representative whose job is to liaison with the customer and gather all the detail needed to initiate the pick up of the freight. There could be up to five people from various departments that would have some role to play in setting this first movement. Then this accumulative information is sent to the driver to execute with precision to ensure customer service is spot on so that the company can enjoy additional volumes from this shipper well into the future.
Now as we all know with this many moving parts, it is not unreasonable that something may go wrong, when, and if it does the first question that is usually asked in your typical trucking company of “who was the driver on that load?” In our misbegotten quest to see who screwed up, we typically start with the driver, and that’s just the world they live in, a favorite driver saying is you’re as good as your last load. One way to fight this tendency is to adopt a process of analyzing what happened by disassembling each part of the process to see where things broke down. We’re not looking for bad guys here, never looking for bad guys; we’re looking for errors or omissions from our documented process or SOP (Standard Operating Process). Was it written wrong? Is it stale dated? If none of these things are apparent then and only then might we have a performance issue.
Recognition can come in many forms. It could be company-wide with Best Fleets to Drive For. It could be national fleet safety awards, could be recognition of the individual driver, safe miles, longevity with the company, on road acts of bravery to name but a few possibilities. No matter what form you decide on, I will guarantee you that even the biggest most hardened truck driver in your fleet will walk a little taller when you sincerely thank them for what they do.
Pick your way of doing it but make sure it is genuine, thanking people for just showing up and being average is not what this is about. We’re looking for above and beyond acts. These things happen in your business every day all you have to do is look. The funny thing is, is that once you start the process the “above and beyond” will happen more and more often.
In my company, we started each day with a huddle of our operations folks. There were three questions for each person: 1. What is your biggest challenge for the day ahead? 2. Which driver went above and beyond yesterday? 3. Which driver needs to be brought in for a coaching opportunity?
What we were doing was trying to raise the bar and not only by recognizing the star on the day but also by coaching a future star. Again, I must stress, not looking for bad guys; we’re looking for ways to improve our service by identifying behavior that contributes to our winning culture.
I often quote coach Jimmy Johnson, whom I heard at a general session during a TCA event some years back. During the Q&A portion of the meeting, he was asked how he managed the young new millionaires that came to the Miami Dolphins each year. His answer was striking to me, which was, “As leadership, if you talk to people the way they are they will remain that way, speak to them the way you want them to be and they will become that.”
Robust systems supported by dedicated individuals who recognize and reward high performance creates a winning team and all that comes with that.
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Have a transgender friend who trained with a male trainer. Didn’t end well as the trainer was instructed to stop for the night at places that had proper facilities for a female.
He had Howard Stern on the radio and he was bashing people from the GLBT community as it Pride Week. Trainer thought it funny. My friend did not and was told my truck, my station.
First week was good, second week not great, third week was worse and by the fourth week, he did most of the driving in silence and my friend slept as best she could in a chair in the truck stops at night instead of the tractor which was risky for her.
She asked for him to stop for a bathroom break and he refused saying he wanted to go home. She had to urinate into an empty peanut bottle.
My friend did get her own truck eventually but was canned 2 days before her probation was up. Fired her by phone alongside the road on a day off.
She found out she was hired because she was trans for “window dressing” and fired when she had served her purpose. Of course no one would openly admit it as they needed their jobs and wee afraid of retaliation by the carrier.
My friend found a job with a smaller carrier who only cared if she could drive.
Hang in there, you”ll find someone.
I’ve enjoyed reading this post. You have addressed some of my concerns going into the industry. I don’t function well when I am treated badly and at my relatively advanced age, I can both track and identify bad behaviour. Staying out of personal debt also gives me the option of NOT accepting if from an employer or co workers. Having said that, I am pretty easy going. My issue? Being female and being told a few times now that they don’t have a “female trainer” for me. I don’t care if it is a male and I am sure not going to be a pain in the butt.
However, this metoo movement has bit me in the butt and here I am again, being waylaid possibly because no one has ASKED if a male is willing to train me, for a day, a week, a month.
Eight companies, 3 won’t/can’t train women, one didn’t get the new truck they were expecting, one gave me good marks on a road test, but …..? One one company were good people but and I was there for 4 days (2 driving), but they needed someone who could back up in Kentucky ‘today’ and were surprised when I didn’t get it right in those 2 days. I’ve been back for refreshers ($$$) and was told to come for refresher right before you go for a drive test.
The last one seemed really ‘right’ …but bla bla bla…lost their female trainer.
I’m in Kitchener looking for a local company for eventual long haul.
So, yay for good retention and respect…now I just have to find a way of getting in.
I’m totally not into same sex attraction and companies can’t ask that, but could I get training with a male trainer if I said I was???
(So inappropriate, I know).