Driver Recruiting

[driverrecruiting-blog]

Holding on to the “Best Drivers

So you’ve invested in tracking information about potential drivers, and your qualification process is humming along. Now, how do you keep the best drivers from leaving?

It would be easy to start rambling off a long list of “must dos” about compensation package details, bonus program schemes, training programs, and “driver empowerment”, but that would miss the mark every time. Why? If we don’t know with certainty why drivers are leaving, we won’t know what we need to do to actually change the situation (*plus, every company is different: certain programs that may work for one company may not help your company at all).

Keeping drivers starts with understanding very precisely why they are leaving. You can assume or you can settle for a “canned answer”, but unless you’re willing to really push to discover the details, you may never really know why drivers are leaving your company.

As we had pointed out in the recruiting piece, information is your ally. Has your team:

Implemented a well structured exit interview process?

O Is this part of your driver handbook or policy manual?

O Does it include a pre-printed form with specific, mandatory questions?

Insisted that each driver complete at least a phone interview before releasing final settlements or pay? (Face to face may be difficult, but may also be a “last ditch opportunity” to salvage the relationship) Tracked the results of each and every interview in a database or spreadsheet?

Identified any ongoing trends?

Periodically reviewed what questions (and follow up questions) are used to get drivers to reveal the true nature of why they’re leaving?

It can seem overwhelming if you get several drivers who really “unload” a ton of opinions and objections all at once. It’s also tough to deal with criticism of your own management style, but if you really want to improve retention results, you’ve got to be willing to wear a thick skin and deal with whatever the drivers reveal.

When you’ve done the exit interview process consistently with all drivers (not just the “good ones”) you’ll start to build some helpful information. Just as you wouldn’t spend money on a consultant and totally ignore his or her findings report, you’ll need to analyze the results of the exit interviews. This will help uncover the underlying issues that are giving your drivers a reason to shop around for another job. Chances are that these issues are the same at most companies, but that doesn’t excuse their existence (or the perception that the issues exist).

Now you have the hard work of setting priorities and beginning to address these issues. You still have to put out your normal day-to-day fires and deal with finding resources, but at least you’ll have a plan to start making changes based on the real issues.