In the words of Leslie B. Salter, "Every normal man and woman longs more keenly for love, for warm friendship, admiration and human responsiveness from his fellows, than for anything else in life..."
It's not the Sign On, Sign Off, Sign Here Bonus. It's not the referral and we will pay you in six months if he stays bonus. It is not the we will pay if you can put up with us and last 90 days Bonus. It is not the bonus, nor money that makes people happy and content, it's the personal relationships.
(Continued from Part I)
After the debut and introduction of the new owner operator and company driver to operations staff and executives, all of this, mind you is well-intended and a good start. It shows that the exexutives care about this new addition to the family. From his or her first day forward, things tend to go south. Inevitably, they are sent to his dispatcher to tell them they need a load. They are usually put in the drivers lounge to wait. Some of the better organized trucking companies, focus on making sure his first load is a good one, and he is given his information in a timely fashion, and give him a pat on the back... I emphasis first load.
So all of this comes together nicely. Now what? Off he goes into the sunset. His dispatcher is his main contact from now on. The first 90 days of his career at your company usually decides his tenure. Think of anytime you have started a new job, the people are new, the procedures are new, goals, personalites, corporate structure etc. You are trying to find a way to do a good job and understand what the company wants from you, how the interaction works between co-workers, how to get what you need to get your job done and so forth. Don't you want to be one of the best at what you do? Everybody does. The companies who are not clear on these basics are usually the ones with the most turnover.
Work is work. I assume you are not there to attend a BBQ or Picnic once a year. Nor have a day or week of appreciation named after your job position(not you personally, but your position). Don't get me wrong, I love BBQ and an occasional Picnic, if someone were to offer me a free pulled pork sandwich for lunch today, I would be there, no question. It would make me appreciate the free sandwich, but not necessarily my career decision at your company. I understand that this is an attempt to build a personal relationship with drivers and operators, but this type of relationship is built day by day, everyday. You are not trying to make friends to spend your personal time with, but you want the camraderie, the sense of teamwork, praise, being part of a successful organization, to take pride in what you do. How can you relate this to the owner operator and company driver? He is rarely in the office, and when he is, he is sent to the drivers lounge, to speak with his dispatcher through a phone on the wall. The whole design is wrong. Every once in a while, the dispatcher will make his way out to the lounge to speak with him in person. Everybody is busy, always busy...
How do you build this relationship with drivers and ops? Who exactly are their peers & colleagues? Is it their fellow drivers? In the usual sense of the word, yes, but how often do they see them? And when they do, what do they discuss? The pipeline of information begins and ends with your appointed representative and ambassador. Your dispatcher.
Look around at the dispatchers in your office. Who are they? Typically the lowest on the totem pole in operations. The dispatch position itself is generally viewed by employers and dispatchers themselves as a training ground to higher levels within your organization.
Are your dispatchers new to the industry? College Graduates, young people starting a career, former drivers, people with little or no experience? Amount of experience is not as important as quality of experience as we all know. In my humble opinion, Trucking companies have put the emphasis on the wrong positions for a long time. Do you view your dispatchers as simple relayers of facts? When to pick up, when to deliver, here is your next load. Has this position become so unimportant to you that half of your dispatchers have been replaced with all of the electronic communication available? Is your dispatcher/fleet manager handling 50, 75 trucks? How can any kind of a relationship, a comraderie be built? The benefits from a sound relationship between your dispatcher and your owner operator and company driver are limitless. Everyday communication becomes more and more impersonal. Technology is great and I love all of it. But it has it's place in our business.
There's an old Irish prayer that seems fitting, this is from memory, so forgive me if I have butchered it...
"Lord, grant us the hindsight to know where we have been, the foresight to know where we are going, and the insight to know when we have gone too far."
Once again, my editor is telling me I have blathered on for too long, that this is a blog and not a novel. Thank you for reading this, this topic will continued on Tuesday next week and will bring solutions with it for Dispatcher Training. I truly believe this is the solution to our driver retention problem in our industry. More to follow...
Monday's Blog - The continuation of "The Top Ten Company Drivers Checklist" explains how to choose your next Drving Job. Company Drivers, this is must read, you will thank me later, I guarantee it...
18 Wheels of Justice - Book and CD - $24.99 Combo
www.18WheelsofJustice.com
18 Wheels of Justice Series available on Amazon and at: http://www.18wheelsofjustice.com/
EMAIL - Negotiator@18wheelsofjustice.com
