Increasing employee retention rate seems to be the aim for most fleets lately, since driver shortage has appeared as one of the most worrying issues for fleet managers. Several reasons have been highlighted as causing driver shortage: the average age of a driver is high (currently around 50-55) and there are a lack of younger professionals willing to take up the career; the constant challenge of working in ever increasing traffic, sometimes in challenging weather conditions; dealing with inadequate infrastructure, especially bottlenecks and roadworks; and finally, dealing with the current working conditions…
Driving is a very demanding job that entails many hours on the road, and roads are often congested or subject to adverse weather conditions, plus there is time spent loading or unloading: despite the pressures to meet deadlines for deliveries in the face of strict time constraints, drivers must still drive safely and respect the law. It has probably always been a tough job, despite the myth of the free, wild driver in his articulated truck on long, empty roads, crossing wide open spaces, glamorised in the TV commercials.
So what should companies relying on vehicles and driving focus on to increase employee retention rate?
1. Use technology to make drivers´ lives easier
Technology can really make a difference when it comes to simplifying things: it is possible with this technology to divert drivers if they get lost or need to avoid traffic, do away with excessive calls enquiring as to their location, help them out if they are in trouble… and so on. There are many ways of winning driver approval.
2. Compensation and rewards
There should be compensation and rewards for hard work. Some telematics providers have already developed this idea by adding a dedicated module for setting up competitions aimed at promoting safety and safe driving—definitely worth a try!
3. Make driver training a priority
Whether in meetings, in the form of employee induction or as a refresher course, driver training will promote safety-mindedness within your company and make them feel proud of what they do.
4. Learn from mistakes
If your driver retention strategy has not been a success and some staff are looking to jump ship, make sure you learn from that experience and try to assess the reasons why. You could even set up a sort of exit interview to help identify problems within the company or the hiring process which you can only learn from before taking the necessary measures to correct.
