Keeping your employees happy and content is the key to a successful business. A positive environment in your fleet management company will help you boost the performance of your drivers, resulting in reduced losses and increased revenue.
While your primary focus is improving that company’s bottom line, several factors contribute. A fleet management company with happy and productive drivers will reduce fuel costs, eliminate potential risks, and help you deliver better client results.
However, maintaining driver engagement in your fleet can become challenging over time as you must develop exciting tasks and activities for them. So here are five ways you can help boost driver engagement in fleet management.
5 Strategies to Boost Driver Engagement And Productivity in Your Fleet Management
After much research and personal experiments, we have concluded that these five techniques are the most effective ways to increase driver productivity in fleet management.
1. Make Them Feel Appreciated
The greatest asset of any business is its employees. As a fleet owner, drivers are an indispensable part of your organization. So ensure that you make them feel important and appreciated every once in a while.
While a significant part of fleet management depends upon the drivers, are they treated that way? A survey conducted in 2016 about Overdrive Truckers shows that most drivers do not get the respect they deserve for their job.
Respect is paramount in any company setting. Since drivers are primarily out of the office, they barely get the time and opportunity to socialize and engage with other employees. Hence they might feel a bit disconnected from other employees.
However, this can be turned upside by making a little effort and incorporating empathy toward your fleet drivers. Ensure that your fleet driver feels appreciated and valued in your fleet management. You will see a visible difference in their performance and company culture overall.
2. Be Transparent
While fleet drivers need to bond with other employees, it is equally vital for them to connect with supervisors and managers. Building connections with fleet drivers is more about how you communicate with them than what you are communicating.
Most fleet managers think communicating regularly with the drivers is a part of their job and strictly maintain instruction-related conversations. However, supervisors must exchange information sincerely and spend quality time with their employees.
Being transparent with your fleet drivers will give them a sense of respect. In addition, it also adds to a positive work culture in your business, helping you run things smoothly.
But you might wonder how you can fill the communication gap between you and your fleet drivers. So here’s a practical solution:
Ask your fleet drivers relevant questions about their issues while working and listen to them sincerely. Try to address their concerns and challenges about work and work on practical solutions.
While money can be their primary issue, you must focus on other challenges related to control over routes, driver schedules, etc. Ensure you value your fleet driver’s opinions and perspectives while making any decisions affecting them. Whether it is the payscale, training, vehicle uplift, or schedules, incorporate their concerns and truly listen to them.
3. Honest Feedbacks Are The Key to Increased Driver Engagement
A common misconception of managers or supervisors is that employees want limited interaction. However, according to reports, about 65% of employees want regular feedback on their performance and tasks to improve their work quality and build a healthy professional connection with their employer.
You might be wondering how companies consistently get desired results from their employees. Well, the answer is regular interaction and feedback. Most companies with high-performing employees host a five-minute meeting at least once a week to review their work.
A five-minute conversation with your fleet drivers every week can help them understand your goals for your fleet management and provide them with the right direction. Giving drivers personal feedback about their performance can help them eliminate their unknowing mistakes and prevent additional losses.
Feedback must also be about their mistakes and what they are doing right. Appreciate their sincere efforts and strong points and ensure to be detailed!
For Example,
- “Hey, how you keep your car in mint condition is commendable!”
- “Thanks for giving our clients top-notch service.”
- “It’s so good to hear excellent reviews from clients every time you drive.”
4. Provider Driver With Their Desired Upfits
It is essential to give fleet drivers the right to speak and put forward their needs concerning their vehicles. Providing them with upfits according to their requirements is a win-win situation for everyone in a fleet management company.
As a fleet manager, upfitting vehicles with a specific set of features can help you go a long way with your service quality and maintenance of vehicles. In addition, better quality vehicles will also attract highly qualified employees and drivers to your fleet management.
With accurate vehicle enhancements, drivers in your fleet will be far more content and comfortable doing their job. This, in turn, will lead to less expense in driver turnover.
Nevertheless, you must ensure you talk to each driver about their right ideas and respect them. Otherwise, adding features and enhancements not needed by the drivers will only increase their frustration, and all the money invested goes down the drain.
5. Install High-Quality Audio Systems in Vehicles
Fleet drivers spend most of their time on the road, so installing good-quality audio systems in your fleet vehicles is essential. Studies show that the correct type of music can boost drivers’ performance by lifting their moods and energy.
Add subscriptions to channels that provide good quality sounds and a wide range of music, news, sports, entertainment, etc. You can look for companies that offer subscription packages covering several benefits at a lower rate.
Wrapping Up!
As a fleet manager, you must focus on driver engagement to ensure your fleet management company grows its revenue streams. Investing your time and money and reducing driver engagement will yield potential business growth returns.
Moreover, boosting driver engagement is not just a choice but a strategic move for fleet management owners. Engaged and content drivers show increased productivity, stick to their commitments, and are less likely to experience burnout or work-related mental fatigue.
We hope this article helped you understand how vital driver engagement is for fleet management. If you want to learn how to improve driver behavior in fleet management, click here.
