Sometimes it is assumed that truck driver satisfaction is equal to truck driver engagement, but this is in fact not so. Satisfied drivers may be happy or content with their job but that does not necessarily mean that they are working exceptionally hard or being productive. So, in other words, satisfied truck drivers may not be going the extra mile. There are a lot of motivating factors behind what drives a truck driver – pun intended.
On the other hand, truck driver engagement or participation is defined by a driver having an emotional commitment to the organization and its goals. This will translate into drivers that care about their jobs and are not just waiting for their next paycheck.
High employee engagement has been proven time and again to lead to better business outcomes. Organizations that increase investment in employee engagement by 10% can expect to grow their profits by approximately $2,400 per employee per year.
Reports have shown that employees who are more invested in their roles are more productive than those who aren’t. According to Gallup, organizations that have highly engaged employees can expect to see a profitability increase of 21%.
Engaged employees have a great effect on customer satisfaction. Who better for customers to interact with than drivers who are passionate about what they do and perform in a way that shows they are proud of their jobs? These types of drivers become ambassadors as they are truly invested in the success of the fleet and the organization.
Engagement and Retention
As we’re sure everyone knows by now, the cost of retaining a truck driver or employee is much less than acquiring a new one. Engaged drivers are less likely to want to leave their job to look for better prospects. If your best truck drivers are leaving at an alarming rate, this may plant a seed in the minds of other drivers to do the same. Fleets who experience this must find out why and improve driver engagement to prevent it in future.
Another valuable result of having engaged drivers is that it enhances overall company culture. Company culture is how people within an organization interact with each other and work together. Engaged drivers usually live and exemplify the company’s values every day, connect to the company’s mission, are committed to developing their career and learning new skills, and have a positive attitude. All of this produces a good company culture.
A surprising benefit of increased engagement is an improvement in employee safety. How? Engaged drivers feel more connected to their workplaces (their vehicles). This makes them more aware of their surroundings and more focused on the task at hand. Research has shown that 70% fewer safety incidents occur in highly engaged workplaces
It is the belief among many that success breeds engagement. However, psychological research has found the opposite to be true. When a truck driver is in a happy, positive or engaged state of mind, it is actually the precursor to success. Where an engaged workforce is present, there is always a subsequent rise in business performance.
The reason for this lies in the chemicals within human brains. Being engaged in work leads to positive emotions and a rise in serotonin and dopamine. These chemicals not only make people feel good but also enhance learning. Their presence helps people organize new information more effectively, retain information longer and retrieve information more quickly. It also allows people to think quicker and more creatively and improves problem-solving abilities.
So, in summary, when drivers are engaged, they experience more positive emotions. This, in turn, enables them to perform at a higher level and create success for your fleet.
Gamification and Engagement
As an overview, let’s look at what gamification is. According to Investopedia, it is the incentivizing of engagement in non-game contexts and activities by using game-style mechanics. These mechanics can include earning badges for completing certain tasks, levelling up, leaderboards and more.
So, why does gamification work? Humans want to achieve goals, feel valued, be competitive and attain dominance. Gamification provides all of this. Gamification tricks people into being more productive by making potentially boring or repetitive tasks seem more fun. Think about when you play a game. Games have challenges within them that you must complete in order to level up, receive a reward or move up on a leaderboard.
Doing such things in real life, like collecting a certain number of coins, can seem tedious but when done in a game it becomes interesting because there is a reward at the end.
Now, once you’ve implemented some type of scoring system within your fleet (as referred to above in the “Gamification” section), you can add onto that an incentive program. You can liken it to those store cards that provide you with points for purchases and then provide you with a gift or reward once you reach a certain amount of points.
So how does such an incentive program help improve driver engagement? Let’s go down the psychology route again. It all boils down to what motivates people. Now, this can be different depending on the person. Some individuals perform certain actions because they want to achieve personal satisfaction. That might include taking up a hobby because it makes them feel happy or exercising because it helps relieve stress after a long day at work.
What Motivates People?
Others are motivated by external factors. These individuals will do something to receive a reward of some sort, monetary or otherwise, or to avoid a less than-positive outcome should they not perform a certain action or task.
Now, this is not to say that some people are only intrinsically motivated and others only extrinsically. We all oscillate between the two and one type of motivation isn’t necessarily better than the other.
Creating an incentive program for your drivers is the perfect way to satisfy both types of motivations as well as make them more invested in what they do, which ultimately leads to success for your fleet.
There are a variety of ways an incentive program can be implemented. Ultimately, it will depend on the type of fleet you manage and taking the time to learn what your drivers respond to best. An incentive program only works if the drivers want what you are rewarding them with.
Before creating your incentive program, it would be helpful to survey your drivers on what rewards they would find motivational. This could be a cash bonus, time off, a vehicle upgrade or whatever else you can manage to provide. If you don’t provide an incentive that is appealing, drivers won’t feel much need to reach the goals that have been set out for them. Also, remember that it doesn’t have to be one single reward. You can also add in gift cards, company merchandise, e-gifts and more. This will increase the likelihood that each driver may receive something they like.
Going Beyond Incentives Alone
Make sure that when you do provide incentives that they are received by drivers quickly. In today’s fast-paced society, instant gratification is indeed important.
Using the scores and ranks provided by, you can put up a physical leaderboard in the breakroom or somewhere else visible. Then people can see themselves move up or down on the leaderboard and it further creates a competitive culture.
For feedback to be efficient in the context of a fleet, it is essential to provide relevant and useful training that supports the feedback. So, should drivers have numerous speeding events during a time period, they obviously have an issue relating to that. Professional training should then be offered to that truck driver to give them the tools to lessen his or her speeding, and then the driver should be given a time period within which to improve.
A great way to emphasize the effect of speeding and to show drivers their behavior in real-time is with the help of in-cab video. Visual aids are one of the best ways that people learn and retain information. As drivers go out and apply what they have learned, they should also be given the opportunity to see the improvement in their performance to have confirmation that, indeed, they are doing it correctly. And, of course, lots of praise is always a good motivator for increased engagement and productivity.
from Quick Transport Solutions Trucking Blog https://ift.tt/2LRQDRa
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