Have you heard? Technicians are leaving faster than field service workforces can replace them. Trucking companies are faced with a shortage the likes of which they faced during the hay day of economic activity just a couple short years ago. But now it isn\u2019t truck drivers they are worried about finding, it is shop technicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The thing is, we live in a new age. Today\u2019s truck drivers\nhave different needs and responses. This is all about what people refer to has\n\u201cMillennial hiring.\u201d To keep up with economic growth and customer demand,\ntrucking companies must explore other talent pools and get creative when it\ncomes to replacing retiring technicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether or not a fleet succeeds will depend on how well they\nseek out workers in unexplored and innovative places. If new, skilled\ntechnicians can be added to the team, trucking companies will have more flexibility\nto set their prices and choose which jobs they want to accept. When they don\u2019t\noperate this way, fleets will be shorthanded and forced to charge higher\nprices, without reaping additional profits. This is a lose-lose situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Should You Do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact is, for trucking companies in the modern era,\nsurvival and success requires a serious rethinking of the kind of people that\nshould be hired. Yet, that is only a part of the problem. Finding qualified\ntechnicians to fill workforce gaps is only half the battle. The people you hire\nmust also be the right fit for a rapidly evolving industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The world is changing, and the data shows that. Consider the\nfollowing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Technicians are now seen as trusted experts and become the\nface of the brand. The good news is that learning how to successfully engage\nnew technicians is not an insurmountable challenge. Fleets must respond by\nlearning to understand what millennials want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is an exercise. Have you ever looked up your particular\ntrucking company on Glassdoor? Did you even know there was a website called Glassdoor<\/a>? Millennials are very familiar\nwith that site, so if you\u2019re not doing anything to control or manage it, you\nshould be. It could be that your company name is being trashed on the internet\nbecause you aren\u2019t properly paying attention to <\/p>\n\n\n\n While you can\u2019t control what past employees say about your\ncompany, you do get the opportunity to respond to and address their comments. You\nshould take the time to have a look at what employees are saying and attempt to\nreach out if there is any way to address or rectify the situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Are You Marketing the Brand?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The days are long gone when people used job boards alone.\nThe younger generation does their due diligence. What are they going to look\nat? Your company\u2019s website and social media feeds, of course. And the numbers\ndon\u2019t lie. Nearly two-thirds of millennials state that they visit company\nsocial media sites to obtain job information. This is how they learn if your\ncompany is a good fit for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even more, trucking companies that are active, with a solid\nsocial media presence and a full digital marketing effort are 58% more likely\nto attract top talent. How active you are on social media also impacts how your\nemployees view the organization. One out of every five employees report they\nare more likely to stay with a company that is engaged on social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is critical to pay attention to the mood of the job\nmarket. A full third of millennials 33% believe that employers should enhance\nthe livelihoods of employees. It should be a two-way street. A full fifty-six\npercent of millennials say \u201cthe people they work with\u201d is the top workplace\nattribute that enables them to do be their best and turn in their best work. In\nthe end, it is the people more than the actual work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart trucking companies market the good things about their\nbrand. In fact, showing how well your company takes care of its employees is\none of the most successful ways to recruit millennial technicians. Do you offer\nthings like comprehensive health benefits and vacation time? If so, you need to\nbe trumpeting these efforts to potential recruits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you offer professional development opportunities or\ncomprehensive career ladders or career path options? If so, market your\nbusiness with those initiatives front and center. Millennial workers also want\nto see that you are involved in your community and support social causes. From\nteam building activities to safety and recognition programs, you want to talk\nabout it all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once in the Door<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is great to have benefits that make employees happy. Marketing them properly is even better. The best is when you practice what you preach. Once in the door, what should your new truck drivers and other employees expect? Let\u2019s start with the most basic motivation: Money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Over half of millennials surveyed said earning a high salary\nwas important to them. Trucking and field service companies that pay their\ntechnicians well are more likely to attract new technicians looking for a\nreputable company to work with. More workers are interested in hybrid pay\nstructures. What are these? They are essentially pay schemes that offer both\nbase pay plus incentives. This offers your workers income stability while\nrewarding extra effort<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are different ways trucking companies can approach this\ntype hiring. First thing organizations do is financially incentivize\ntechnicians with team goals for billable hours. When a team hits their\ncollective goal, each person on the team is rewarded based their contribution\nto the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, it also goes beyond salary. Salary is not the\nsole motivator for millennials, but it does matter. If your company can offer\nattractive opportunities and competitive pay, you will likely see overall costs\ndecrease for recruiting and marketing. In the end, as these costs drop, your bottom-line\nbalances out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your trucking company should think outside the box. Do you\nhave safety days where you highlight good driving behavior and reward the best\noperators? You should gather some videos that show positive events, then you\ncan highlight good behavior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From Beginning to End<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Helping your workers start off right leaves a positive first\nimpression. Almost two-thirds of newly hired employees are more likely to stay\nwith a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding. From the\nmoment they walk into the door through their initial training, companies need\nto pay special care to the first impression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Guess what? New employees are more likely to stay if they go\nthrough a structured onboarding program. The least you can do is provide them\nwith one. Even better, you will benefit from greater new hire productivity,\nwhich is observed when an organization has a standard onboarding process in\nplace for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n