Do you value your drivers?
This may seem to be a strange question, but I suspect whilst most of you do, some don’t, and as our industry changes perhaps our relationships need to as well.
In my opinion, drivers come into different categories dependant on their ability and knowledge. There are those who are ‘natural’ drivers – you know the kind, you can stick them in anything from a Bedford Val to a Setra and they will give the passengers a smooth and safe journey, keep the coach spotless, and do much more than the usual safety checks to look after ‘their’ motor. There are those who are brilliant communicators, but seem to return coaches with the odd scrape and dent. Those who prefer to stay near to home, those who prefer to be away all of the time, those who prefer to drive a regular series, and those who prefer a different challenge every week.
Some of my friends on Facebook appear to be suffering from midseasonitis, as they are feeling unloved and uncared for by their employers, and are looking for an exit. Midseasonitis is nothing new, and we all know some prima donna drivers who moan a bucket full in the depot, but click back into gear as soon as they are given a coach full of clients to look after. The problem appears to be that some of these are now looking at an exit not only from the company that employs them, but from the industry too. Now this is a real worry, as these experienced people cannot easily be replaced.
In my opinion there are dozens of good coach operators who do care about their drivers, and coaches for that matter, and we read about them every week in this and other trade magazines. Good management will know every drivers likes and dislikes, abilities and shortcomings, and try to gear their work towards getting the best out of them for the sake of the company, themselves, and the driver concerned. Not an easy task, yet some are able to do it to the benefit of all without showing favouritism or bias. The larger the company, the harder this is, as the day to day operations are taken out of the owners hands and passed down to others who may not share your working policies.
One thing’s for certain, we cannot operate without drivers, but can’t be controlled by them either.
In some respects the industry is changing faster than the operators are, but hasn’t this always been the case? I have some understanding of the thought that market leaders – either national or local – are leaders because they do adapt to change quicker than others, and this includes their in-house relationships with their employees. These are the companies with a waiting list of drivers wishing to work for them, and these are the drivers you can find throughout the UK and Europe who have an obvious pride in themselves, their employers, and their passengers. They are, in a word, professional, and even in the best of companies will only be the top ten percent of your driving stock. These are the men and women who are essentially the backbone of your operation, who can drive anything, be sent anywhere, can converse easily and in a friendly manner, inform without teaching, advise without preaching, and to lose one of them whilst not being the end of the world, would leave a big hole for you to fill, and add to your worry and stress levels.
So what is it worth to keep them? Just how important do you see them – and have you even asked either yourself or them about your/their aspirations, needs and wishes for both the present and the future? When was the last time you thanked them for a job well done, or even sat them down and discussed things over a cup of coffee? Too much to ask? I think not. I do not know of anyone who likes to be treated as a number, and not a person, and as we are all in a people business, shouldn’t we set the standard?
Drivers forums are not uncommon these days, and the feedback can be so constructive for both sides. Some companies do this very well, and Shearings – to name but one, are amongst the best. Martin Lock, the Commercial Director of National Holidays, tells me not only do they operate drivers forums, where senior drivers and management get together quarterly, but drivers seminars and retraining sessions together with in-house magazines enable not only drivers to get their points across, but management can get their problem areas aired too.
John Johnson of multi award winning Johnsons of Henley in Arden goes even further, not only training car drivers up to PCV standards, but then rather than just handing them over to the Traffic Department to do with as they wish, the Training Department oversees them for the first year as NQD’s – Newly Qualified Drivers. This clearly brings benefits, as the driver turnover is very low, and it introduces them at their own pace to not only the wonderful world of coach and bus driving, but to the Johnson ethos too.
John is a big fan of Fish!, the New York Times best seller (available from Amazon or your local bookshop on order), which is a guide to producing better results and boosting moral. I went on to the Amazon pages to search for this book, and the positive revues speak for themselves. It may be a bit American for our taste, but the message it contains is clear – and more important, valid.
( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fish-Remarkable-Morale-Improve-Results/dp/0340819804/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b )
So, where do we go from here?
To the question “Do you value your drivers?”- of course you do, without them you wouldn’t have a company. The question is really “How do you treat your drivers?” Only you can answer that one.
You will get what you pay for, you will benefit (or not) from the training, retraining, and lead you give them (or not), and I suggest that the next time you complain of a driver shortage you look inwardly, not outwardly, because if you have a problem keeping staff, you could be part of the problem – and the solution.
