21 Thank You Notes from Truck Drivers
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we're thankful for the 30,000+ drivers and their carriers who entrust anonymous communications with WorkHound. Today we're excited to share the "thank you notes."
While it's the good, the bad, AND the ugly that impacts the nationwide driver shortage and skyrocketing turnover, today we’re sharing the top highlights of the good. There are literally truckloads beyond these messages, but each of these "thank you notes" was copied directly from the WorkHound dashboard, typos and all. (Remember, drivers shared positive feedback via mobile phone.)
- “WOW, I got a phone call. I am being told that we should have a solution to my complaint as soon as next month. Great results! Thank you very much!”
- "Thank you .... Workhound always help and save me and all of our company drivers. Specially early last year I'd had many serious problems with my dispatcher but you made myself that I was not alone. I've been back to work this March after 3 months of sick leave and finally have a brand new truck from my company last month. Thanks again..... I remember you called me some night on Feb last year for help me. I thought a angel called me that night at truck stop which was nobody around me and nobody was able to help me .... I remember your voice but I don't even know your name nor who you are ... But I've been always think about you and want to say thank you. Have a good night and thanks again."
- “Last week I turned in a negative response. The operations manager immediately responded and followed up again today with a phone call. That hit a home run with me. What more can you ask for?”
- “Thank you for contacting me about my issues!!! I really appreciate that my company took the time to speak with me!!!”
- “I just received a statement from my insurance stating I may owe money for an extra program through my company and our insurance. During signup, I thought this was going to be a free perk. I don’t want to be in this program, but I didn’t know who to contact at my company so I used WorkHound. Thanks”
- “I love this WorkHound mechanism! This really helps me let off steam.I need this outlet for my frustrations. Thank you for providing this.”
- "Thanks for your response. I think not yet to be revealed my identity. I don't want to hurt or be depressed anyone. All my work family are nice people even though missing many things that I...trying to solve and talk to my staff. I thinks it will be okay or acceptable. Thanks again. I am so happy that we have someone to discuss or get help. Have a good day Workhound.^^"
- "I had a concern voiced it on WorkHound and let them share it with my company and they called me back and noted my concern. I'm happy to have heard from someone "
- "Way to WorkHound! ! The people spoke and management listened and reversed a policy I really thought they wouldn't, so much so I didn't voice my opinion on because I was certain it would fall on deaf ears but thanks to WorkHound they did. Thanks guys you saved my future with my company."
- "Seems like business is down on the oil side and communication between drivers and staff is struggling about load availability. Shop is doing a much better job at getting equipment fixed and...manager back to get things running a little more smoothly. I appreciate this open forum of communicating with the company. The WorkHound article on LinkedIn was very informative. Thank you."
- "Hhhm my info on payroll settlement sheet says I made $0.03 a mile I know I made more than this but I am trying to use as a recruiting tool for my company, can we fix it to actually what I actual got per mile and WorkHound and yes you can disclose my identy thank you happy new year to both my company and WorkHound and all its employees and customers."
- “Well I can see that this work hound does work Tell them thank you for the restroom they put in the Texas terminal.”
- “Things are improving and hope things will continue to improve for the future. Thank you for your support.”
- “Thank You, looks to be an Awesome tool.”
- “I want to say thank you to both the Dir. of Operations and VP of operations for taking the time to reassure me and hear my frustration over the things I considered serious issues. They showed me that with this company unlike other companies they truly care about me as a driver. Thanks guys for making me feel like family.”
- "Reading your feedback from previous concerns are great let’s us know you actually hear us”
- “My last workhound survey raised a question about the fuel / performance bonus program. Not only was my question answered. I got a call gifting me 1% on my speed metrics, making me eligible for the 2 cent kick. That wasn’t even my intention. I just wanted to make sure the manual was correct. So thanks! I was informed the manual was correct and the person I had spoken to had been wrong initially, but I was given a bonus that I hadn’t quite earned. Much appreciated. I started out this month with staggering numbers. I burned some of my fuel economy up doing local work last week. But I’m still sitting in a pretty good place, looking forward to seeing how this month ends!”
- “Glad to see the problems we were experiencing have been resolved... thank you to my company for listening to the drivers”
- "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share without having to worry about it. We don't usually have a voice in ANY company..."
- "Thank you for the chance for us to voice our opinions. You all have already made a difference. Those of us who commented and I'm sure the drivers who didn't appreciate what you have done."
- “On WorkHound: They are becoming a lot more driver oriented about needs pay and home time. I've worked here 13 years and I think that this company is bound to be soon the top company in the industry to work for there changing a lot implementation of state of the art communications like WorkHound allowing employees to resolve issues fast and make suggestions In the field and be heard they are certainly making life more livable here.. There are a lot of really great people who Work here I can't wait to see how great we Make it this year. I think we're stepping in To a greater life for all."
Thank you notes like these are fantastic fuel for your recruiting campaigns, but once you've filled your seats, we know how to keep them full. Driver retention goes beyond the numbers, and feedback helps us get to the heart of the issue. Unfortunately, dispersed workers are as far away as possible from the leadership making decisions on their behalf.
With WorkHound in the palm of their hand, we’re helping to eliminate the communication gap they feel; and ultimately, building trust between the drivers and their companies so they can ride together for the long-haul.
Get to know why your workers are thankful by asking them directly this holiday season. It’s important to you, to them, and their relationship with your company. You could even receive some truck driver thank you notes, too.
Learn more about how employee engagement and positive feedback can impact your workforce here.
3 Reasons You Should Always Be Getting Feedback
Most of us have worked somewhere feedback was really only solicited and welcomed once a year. Maybe that took the form of a survey sent to all employees — or came in the form of a manager asking you about your experience as part of your annual review.
But is asking for feedback effective when it's so infrequent? The answer is a decisive “no.”
In fact, even asking for feedback on a quarterly basis may not provide the opportunity for employees to truly offer their insight about your company, their concerns, and areas that could be improved upon. That’s because we’re human — and a problem may crop up today that wasn’t an issue yesterday when you asked for feedback.
To make the most of employee feedback, you need to seek it continuously — and actually act on the feedback you receive.
Why is continually seeking feedback the best strategy? Read on as we take a deeper dive into the topic.
Reason 1: Feedback Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
We sometimes see clients or prospective clients looking to use WorkHound as a short-term tool to gather employee feedback for a few months. And while that might help you gain some valuable insights from your team, you’ll receive the most return on investment when you use WorkHound as a long-term part of your hiring and retention practices.
“Feedback is a long game,” says Max Farrell, CEO and Co-Founder at WorkHound. “We know that traditionally, a lot of feedback strategies were a once-a-year survey, and the problem with doing that is that it isolates the feedback that’s being shared. You aren’t able to track trends.”
Reason 2: Continual Feedback Allows You to React Quickly
In the trucking industry specifically, turnover is common. Seeking your drivers’ feedback on a continual basis, rather than in short spurts, can allow you to root out problems and potentially solve them before they become insurmountable— and turnaround your turnover.
“If you’re only seeking feedback once a year, drivers may be completely happy at the time of the survey, but then something happens after that and they don’t have a method of sharing their comments and concerns,” Farrell says. “When drivers don’t have an outlet to share their frustrations, they may share their feedback online, with other recruiters, or through other venues, rather than with your company so that you can take action.”
This is especially important at the beginning of a driver’s tenure with your business, since the first three months are often a “make it or break it” timeframe.
“If a company uses WorkHound for a short time but then turns it off, they’re not going to be capturing feedback from new employees,” Farrell says. “We know that the first 90 days is the most critical time period for employees as they’re being onboarded. So if you aren’t getting their feedback, you’re missing a critical piece of the puzzle.”
Reason 3: Regular Feedback Builds Data
Our world is becoming increasingly data-driven — and the trucking industry is no different.
Which begs an important question: You wouldn’t turn off the telematics on your trucks to stop monitoring their performance, so why would you turn off the human telematics that WorkHound allows for?
“The metrics on your WorkHound dashboard are updating in real-time,” Farrell says. “It takes a while for any kind of data to get up and running, so it’s important that you see seeking feedback as part of your long-term strategy — something you should be doing all the time, not some of the time.”
Over time, data collects and takes shape, allowing your team to be proactive, rather than reactive, when handling driver concerns and common issues.
WorkHound offers a way to get data from and on your people. Ready to begin collecting important and useful data about your drivers’ wants and needs? Contact us today for a demo!
WorkHound Recognized for 3 Unique Awards
In an exciting trio of events, WorkHound has been recognized as the 2019 Startup of the Year in Chattanooga, a second-time finalist for the Spirit of Innovation Award, as well as a first-time ranking on the FreightTech 100.
During the Annual Startup Week in Chattanooga, Workhound, a real-time feedback platform for front-line workers, won the top prize at the StartupWeek awards celebration.
"Our goal is to give workers a voice and to give companies an insight to understand their people's issues and concerns so they can act on that feedback and improve their employee retention and business success," said Max Farrell, WorkHound CEO, after winning the prize. "With the worker shortages in so many industries and with the importance of people's input into the daily work process, feedback is more important than it has ever been. So we are in a prime position to help companies where they are hurting."
WorkHound is on the trajectory to double its staff in the coming year. The company has grown 20-fold since coming to Chattanooga three years ago to participate in one of the first Dynamo Fund accelerator programs organized in Chattanooga by the Lamp Post Group. Chattanooga has experienced a resurgence of growth in the past 10 years thanks to the installation of “The Gig,” an innovative infrastructure of high-speed fiber internet.
"We realized that the smartest mid-sized cities are built around a thesis and in Chattanooga it was built around a strong supply-chain network," Farrell said. "We were able to take advantage of those ties to transportation and logistics to grow our customer base here."
Felicia Jackson, founder of CPR Wrap and last year's winner of the Startup of the Year Award, presented the award to Farrell.
"They are rapidly hiring workers and are rising to be one of the top B2B (business to business) companies in Chattanooga," she said.
During the 6th annual awards celebration Oct. 24 in Chattanooga, eight other winners also were recognized. Complete details can be found here.
WorkHound has also been recognized in the Freight.Tech100, a list including the most innovative and disruptive companies in the supply chain sector.
Nominations were sought and a panel, chosen by FreightWaves, narrowed the list of more than 500 nominations to 100 companies. Those 100 companies will now be judged by the external panel with voting conducted and overseen by accounting firm Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM).
The Top 25 companies will be announced during Freightwaves Live in Chicago, Nov. 12-13, 2019.