Driver Recruitment
and Retention
Overview
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•
•
•
•
Overview/Introduction
Recruiting Issues
Retention Issues
Wrap Up
Q&A
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
Introduction
• Attracting “good” drivers and
keeping the “best” ones are two
challenges that can frustrate
managers, but…
Without drivers,
trucks don’t move
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
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)
Introduction – Costs of Turnover
Various
worksheets can be
obtained or
developed to track
and analyze
turnover costs
(this one is from
Trincon)
Introduction – Not enough drivers
• Labor pool has been changing over
the past 50 years
–Average birthrate low (2.07 children
per couple)
–“Kids” don’t like/respect hard work
–Driving not viewed as “career” job
–Technology jobs are appealing ($$$)
Introduction – Not enough drivers
• TWIC security screening
• NAFTA (increasing competition)
• Language Skills Enforcement
• Driver Health Legislation Proposals
(certify medical exam)
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
What’s 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?
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.
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
Recruiting Strategies
• Effective recruiting demands:
–Information management, and
–Sourcing tactics
&
Recruiting Strategies
• Tracking information is critical to
getting results and justifying
budgets for sourcing
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?
Recruiting Strategies
• How do you track the answers?
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 didn’t work
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 recruiter’s
offers, then recruiters may need to
revise scripts
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
Recruiting Strategies
• Advertising
–What has worked for your team?
–What hasn’t 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!
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 don’t have?
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?
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?
“Re-Recruitment”
• After 3 Weeks
–Send “If the Grass Isn’t 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
ABC Companies
PLACE
POSTAGE
HERE
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
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 aren’t looking
(they may be a good fit by design)
See page 9 & 10 of handout
Retention Strategies
• Drivers come in two categories:
–Those who’ll 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
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:
–You’re already doing
–You’ve already tried (and didn’t work)
–You’ll try and have mixed results
How do we turn options into results
Retention Strategies
• First, ask why they’re leaving
• Obvious first step, but…
–How do you know you’re getting
“real” answers?
–How/When/Who do you ask?
–Do you record and track the results?
See pages 5-7 of handout
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
Retention Strategies
• Must be willing to really investigate
• Don’t settle for the easy answers
• Its your career on the line – press
for details
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
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
Retention Strategies
Wrap Up
• Recruiting and Retention work best
when you can “get inside” the
minds of your drivers
Wrap Up
• Tracking your efforts and results
keep you from making the same
mistakes, and can steer you to
better results.
Wrap Up
• Recruiting isn’t just about
advertising, it’s about “selling” your
company as a great place to work
without misleading candidates
about the reality of your situation
Wrap Up
• Recruiting needs “fine tuning”:
–Last year’s ad should be re-written to
reflect changes in your company and
things learned from exit interviews or
driver surveys.
–Driver’s needs and wants change,
too. Appeal to their concerns
Wrap Up
• Drivers will stay loyally if you
identify their concerns/expectations
and take reasonable steps to
address those concerns or meet
those expectations.
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.
Need More?
Paul Farrell, CEO
SafetyFirst Systems
1-888-603-6987 (toll free)