Driver Feedback Can Make You Shine

If you’re reading this, thank you, odds are that you’ve got a lot on your plate. As an HR leader or fleet manager, you make your company shine. 

Not to mention, you’re responsible for the challenging and seemingly all-encompassing job of hiring great talent — and then finding a way to retain them in an industry known for high turnover. Is that overwhelming?

Maybe, but it’s also your time to shine. HR leaders that ask for feedback from their workforce become heroes for their companies when they take action on it. Read on to learn how.

Driver Feedback Arms You to Make Informed Decisions

How many decisions do you make in a single day? In a leadership role, you’re responsible for making decisions spanning a full spectrum from quick and small to quite serious.

Since making the wrong decision can have major repercussions, particularly when it comes to hiring and retention, you want to have all the facts on hand and sometimes this slows down getting the decision made.

“Leaders make decisions. So being equipped with the right information and resources is critical,” says Katie Love, Marketing Manager at WorkHound. “Having feedback and data helps support the ability to make decisions quickly and confidently.”

That’s where WorkHound comes into play, providing feedback directly from your driving team, allowing you a real-time glimpse into the daily needs of your frontline.

“The first way it can make HR and other leaders shine is by giving them the tools they need to make better decisions,” Love says. “Assumptions are expensive, so data helps you protect your decision-making abilities. Asking for feedback directly from the drivers allows you to eliminate ‘snap judgements’ or ‘uninformed’ decisions.”

Shining a Light on Positives

People management also comes with the responsibility of being the bearer of bad news. HR managers are often tasked with sharing information about policy changes and details about other unpopular or potentially negative topics. 

But driver feedback is often positive — which, in turn, is a positive opportunity for you. For example, being the one responsible for telling drivers that a policy can’t change feels bad. But letting everyone know that Kelly in the recruiting office is doing a really great job just feels really good.

“Drivers often shout out team members by name in their feedback for doing good work, offering the opportunity for WorkHound users to convey their positive comment,” Love says. “It’s kind of the opposite of ‘don’t shoot the messenger.’ While sometimes it’s necessary to be the one who’s communicating the bad news with the team, being responsible for driver feedback also means you’ll also be sharing the good news and positive comments.”

Knowing Where to Focus Attention

No matter the size of your company, you likely have many drivers and other employees within your purview. You want to do what’s right for each of them, but some needs are bigger than others. Knowing where to prioritize is important. 

For example, it might not be necessary to give attention to all 1000 drivers, when it’s possible only 500 are at-risk. While that’s still a large number, driver feedback helps you understand which ones need the most attention. 

“Ultimately, feedback offers clarity for decision-makers,” Love says. “Customers can use the data they’re getting from drivers to help them understand what drivers need and want, which helps them to retain existing drivers and gain new ones.”

And over time, this can reap benefits, both within your existing role and potentially in future ones. 

“It can help managers scale their efforts — as retention leaders, they’re responsible for hundreds or thousands of drivers,” Love adds. “This helps them understand which drivers are the most at-risk and where they should really focus their efforts.”

Hear It From a Manager

Brad Sowa, Director of Recruiting at Roadrunner Freight, is familiar with the benefits of WorkHound. In his role with Roadrunner, he’s been tasked with helping overhaul company culture and drive down turnover.

“What WorkHound provides us is a point of feedback, rather than generalizations,” Sowa says. “With direct feedback and communication from our independent contractors, we can take the information they’re sharing and take action to correct things — not just with that driver specifically, but globally across the entire company.”

Having that ability to communicate is part of what fueled Roadrunner’s success in 2020, as they decreased turnover from over 140% in 2019 to 75% by mid-2020.

“For us, feedback drives action,” Sowa says. 

Want to see the impact of a driver feedback program for yourself? Sign up for a free demo to learn how we can help!