TRUCKING CEOS: INSURED IN A CAPTIVE? TURN DRIVER TURNOVER INTO RETENTION

Are you interested in one principle that will change your recruiting and retention results, forever? 

NO spin, no hype here, just a solid way to reduce empty seats. 

I don’t want to change what you do; I want to change the way you and your recruiters think about recruiting and retention and then what you do.

When you understand that you are hiring your turnover, you will understand why what you do leads to consistent driver shortage and turnover problems.

Unless you have turnover less than 40%, then you need to seriously reconsider your current approach to getting and keeping drivers.

Excuses are the top reason for failure. That’s why recruiters on average hire only 2 to 4 out of 100 applicants.

But if I can change the way you and your recruiters think, then the chances are some good will develop in the way they get and keep drivers. And that will lead to success.

If you are a trucking CEO who has open seats, you need to understand that turnover is all about you and not your recruiters.

If you ignore the reason why and have a lack of desire to address the problem effectively by incorporating uniquely different ideas, then you will continue to provide the basis for trucks sitting for lack of drivers.

Adding recruiters, spending more money on advertising, marketing, and/or more social focus just won’t provide better results because the fundamentals are still not in place.

Are you interested? Do you  feel that you have a great program but are still not getting the results you need? Frustrated but feeling nothing more can be done? Living in a “we have tried everything” world?

Would you like to increase your retention, decrease “ghosting”, hire more, and keep more drivers?

Do something extraordinary! Go forth and lead change!

Call to Action: Develop a “Next Practices” way of thinking. What business are you really in? Trucking? No. Logistics? No. Moving Freight? None of these! I’ll explain.

How do you attract drivers to respond to your advertising or social media posts?

What is your competitive advantage? Why should a driver come to work for you? What is your “attractor factor”?

• How do you create an emotional attachment to your company?
• Does everything you do create a specific level of professionalism?
• Do you have a waiting list of drivers wanting to come to work for you?
• Example: How do recruiters answer the phone? Is it real professional?
• Do your  first impressions promote  positive thoughts?

Have you created a reputation and standard by which other companies are compared against?  Probably not!

Do you know what drivers really think of your company?

So what business are you really in or should be in?

• Your product is the reaction you create in driver applicants, new drivers, customers, consignees, and vendors.
• Managing and creating a positive emotional reaction is your product.
• I call it: Reaction Management
• The business you are in is to create positive, exciting, memorable, and attractive reactions to what you do, who you are and what you deliver.
• This is why drivers will come and stay. THIS IS YOUR COMPETIVE ADVANTAGE!

Every interaction with drivers is an opportunity to get and keep drivers and grow your company. This is more than CULTURE. Culture is a part of REACTION MANAGEMENT.

Think differently and rethink your recruiting and retention processes. This is NEXT PRACTICES THINKING.

Where do you start reshaping your recruiting efforts for more effective long term results?

 Rethink your recruiting process:

• Proper “Re-teaching” of recruiters using new concepts in rethinking how to recruit and why
• Hire better & smarter – assess for traits not, only experience or skills
• Be able to predict early turnover
• Really know why so many drivers leave so soon after hire or shortly thereafter
• Adopt “Next Practices” in retention, recruiting
• Provide honesty in recruiting and honesty in driving & embrace what drivers value in their employment. Know what they are promised to manage expectations

Successful driver recruiting and retention involves doing the right things right. Most recruiters have little to no formal training in developing ad copy for advertising, marketing, social media posts.

Training in interviewing skills, asking the right questions, having a conversation, using a formal written hiring process are all key factors in rethinking your driver issues.

It’s time to learn how to execute new strategies to cut your advertising costs by 20-30%, hire more drivers, develop an early warning system to identify “at risk of leaving” drivers.

Time to think differently, teach recruiters to think differently and better prepare them to get out of the “excuses” business of “I can’t find qualified drivers” and have them learn to “qualify” potential drivers, not “disqualify” them.

Think differently and teach new skills and watch the success that will follow.

Norris Beren is the creator of Rapid Results Recruiter Retraining and Coaching Model. He is Risk Reward Consulting’s Chief Executive Advisor who provides guidance to trucking CEOs. In addition, he is the author of the book “How to Create an Intelligent Driver Retention System” and strategic resources such as The Driver Turnover Assessment and The Secret Sauce to Get and Keep Drivers .Call or email Norris@ driversareflrst.com or 847-514-6767

Want to improve your recruiters skills and performance? Call or email for more information about onsite or virtual reteaching of your driver hiring team.