Driver Recruitment and Retention

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Driver Recruitment and Retention
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Overview

• Overview/Introduction
• Recruiting Issues
• Retention Issues
• Wrap Up
• QA

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About Your Presenter

• Insurance Loss Control Professional from 1987 to
  1999
• Joined SafetyFirst to focus solely on fleet
  safety
• Active Professional Member, ASSE
• Scorer/Recorder NTDC/ATA

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Introduction

• Attracting good drivers and keeping the best
  ones are two challenges that can frustrate
  managers, but

Without drivers, trucks dont
move
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Introduction

• Benefits of maintaining a stable roster of
  drivers
• Increased Dispatch Capacity
• Sales Team Confidence
• Safety Team Results Improve

Profit not diverted to maintain overhead
expenses
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Introduction Costs of Turnover

• Turnover Costs
• Cost per Hire (e.g., advertising, agency fees,
  sign-on bonus, etc.) Vacancy Cost (e.g. lost
  opportunity, productivity and morale of other
  employees providing coverage for vacant
  positions) Learning Curve Productivity (e.g.,
  cost to train new employee plus cost of lost
  business knowledge)

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Introduction Costs of Turnover
Various worksheets can be obtained or developed
to track and analyze turnover costs (this one is
from Trincon)
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Introduction Not enough drivers

• Labor pool has been changing over the past 50
  years
• Average birthrate low (2.07 children per couple)
• Kids dont like/respect hard work
• Driving not viewed as career job
• Technology jobs are appealing ()

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Introduction Not enough drivers

• TWIC security screening
• NAFTA (increasing competition)
• Language Skills Enforcement
• Driver Health Legislation Proposals (certify
  medical exam)

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Introduction Company Issues

• During 2Q of 2008, CAB reports double the number
  of bankruptcies (970 carriers)
• This removed 88,000 tractors from the road, and

Scares drivers about job security
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Whats it all mean?

• Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric said

Business is like a sports team to win, you have
to field the best talent.
How about fielding a complete team?
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Introduction

• There may be two issues keeping your company from
  achieving its staffing goals
• Too few qualified candidates arriving at your
  door, and
• Too many veterans leaving your company.

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Introduction

• Disclaimer There are no magical solutions, no
  silver bullets
• You can do better, but what works for one company
  may not work for another
• You must analyze your current situation and
  develop your own plan

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Recruiting Strategies

• Effective recruiting demands
• Information management, and
• Sourcing tactics

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Recruiting Strategies

• Tracking information is critical to getting
  results and justifying budgets for sourcing

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Recruiting Strategies

• Typical questions recruiters ask
• Where did applicants first hear of your company?
• Why did some candidates who were completely
  unqualified apply?
• Why did qualified candidates fail to show up, or
  quit after orientation?

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Recruiting Strategies

• How do you track the answers?

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Recruiting Strategies

• These answers will provide the direction you need
  to take to improve your program
• Clearer wording in want ads
• Spend more on attractive ads, or hire
  professionals to help
• Cut ads that didnt work

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Recruiting Strategies

• Note exit interviews may help with recruiting
  tactics as much as they may help with retention
  issues
• If they misunderstood the job requirements, the
  ads may need work
• If they misunderstood recruiters offers, then
  recruiters may need to revise scripts

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Recruiting Strategies

• Sourcing attracting candidates
• Advertising thru various media (ie. newspapers,
  internet, job fairs)
• Recruiting research getting names and
  proactively reaching out to them about your
  opening

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Recruiting Strategies

• Advertising
• What has worked for your team?
• What hasnt worked?
• Can you fine tune your efforts at wording, ad
  placement, painting a picture, using color, etc.?

ALSO, check out page 3 4 of the handout!
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Recruiting Strategies

• Recruiting
• The best drivers who are happy where they are
  presently, do not look for ads or job fairs
• Do you attempt to contact them about switching to
  your company?
• Can you attract them with something they value
  that they dont have?

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Recruiting Strategies

• Recruiting
• How do you get names of potential candidates
  now? (drivers who are not actively looking)
• How do you approach them with a job opportunity?

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Recruiting Strategies

• Re-Recruiting
• Drivers who left your company may be worth
  bringing back (if not fired for cause, etc.)
• How do you maintain contact with them after they
  quit?
• Can they be brought back?

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Re-Recruitment

• After 3 Weeks
• Send If the Grass Isnt Greener Come Back to
  Your Roots postcard
• After 6 Weeks
• Send recruiting brochure with invitation to
  attend an open house
• Follow-up with phone call from member of
  management team

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If the grass isn't greener, come back to your
roots.
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ABC Companies Great part-time opportunities are available for drivers! Call 1-800-555-1212 to apply or go to www.abc.com to apply online. An Equal Opportunity Employer Joe Smith 100 Street Road Anytown, PA 10000
PLACE POSTAGE HERE
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Recruiting Strategies - Summary

• Track your efforts results
• Use ads that will be seen by qualified candidates
  and use wording that works (clear honest)
• Recruit drivers who arent looking (they may be a
  good fit by design)

See page 9 10 of handout
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Retention Strategies

• Drivers come in two categories
• Those wholl stay until the bitter end
• Those who start looking soon after orientation
  ends
• The difference?
• Loyalty/Trust/Expectations Are Met
• Pay/Benefits/Expectations Not Met

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Retention Strategies

• It would be easy to start rambling off a list of
  what you need to do to keep drivers, but many
  of these
• Youre already doing
• Youve already tried (and didnt work)
• Youll try and have mixed results

How do we turn options into results
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Retention Strategies

• First, ask why theyre leaving
• Obvious first step, but
• How do you know youre getting real answers?
• How/When/Who do you ask?
• Do you record and track the results?

See pages 5-7 of handout
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Retention Strategies

• Driver Surveys (active employees)
• Formal Exit Interviews (last ditch attempt to
  retain driver)
• Post-departure Phone Surveys
• Individuals who started training program and
  dropped out
• Employees who left after short period of time

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Retention Strategies

• Must be willing to really investigate
• Dont settle for the easy answers
• Its your career on the line press for details

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Retention Strategies

• Common Tactics
• Longer orientation, more detail and time asking
  questions of drivers
• Driver Mentors to buddy up with new hires
• Progressive training on life issues, how to deal
  with shippers, etc.
• Recognition, bonus, reward plans

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Retention Strategies

• Common Tactics
• Driver Support Team (stress relief valve,
  communications team, newsletters, explain
  benefits, help get benefits problems resolved
  while driver is away from home, etc.)
• Achievement (job/title progression) or career
  path development

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Retention Strategies
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Wrap Up

• Recruiting and Retention work best when you can
  get inside the minds of your drivers

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Wrap Up

• Tracking your efforts and results keep you from
  making the same mistakes, and can steer you to
  better results.

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Wrap Up

• Recruiting isnt just about advertising, its
  about selling your company as a great place to
  work without misleading candidates about the
  reality of your situation

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Wrap Up

• Recruiting needs fine tuning
• Last years ad should be re-written to reflect
  changes in your company and things learned from
  exit interviews or driver surveys.
• Drivers needs and wants change, too. Appeal to
  their concerns

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Wrap Up

• Drivers will stay loyally if you identify their
  concerns/expectations and take reasonable steps
  to address those concerns or meet those
  expectations.

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Wrap Up

• There are many resources available to provide
  ideas, sample wording, forms, procedures
• The handout has comments from safety directors
  who are current clients of SafetyFirst
• Talk to your peers, too.

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Need More?
Paul Farrell, CEO SafetyFirst Systems 1-888-603-69
87 (toll free)