If You’re Happy and You Know It…Share the Word

When you think about establishing a feedback program, your mind may naturally go to the negative. There’s often an assumption that feedback is solely about problems or issues that need to be fixed.

But in reality, when you have a feedback program in place for your trucking company, you’ll get a good bit of positive feedback, too. While it may not seem like it sometimes, there are happy drivers out there!

We see it all the time in the feedback our clients receive — while they hear from drivers who are sharing concerns and questions, they also hear from drivers who are sharing praise. That begs the question: How can you shine a light on those happy voices?

That’s the topic we’ll be discussing on Nov. 16 in our “How to Elevate Happy Drivers for Recruiting and Retention” webinar, presented in coordination with Matt Kennedy of Melton Truck Lines and Lane Williams of Fusion Now Agency. Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll learn if you tune in:

1. You Can Use Positive Driver Feedback to Help Recruit New Drivers

At some time or another, most companies in all industries have used this phrase: “Don’t take it from us. Hear what our customers have to say…”

When you’re trying to sell your trucking carrier to drivers, amplifying the voices of your drivers can be your most powerful tool. After all, they’re your internal customers, and their word of mouth matters. This webinar will provide you the insights needed to turn that positive feedback into a recruiting resource.

“We will be talking about what to do with positive driver feedback,” says Katie Love, Marketing Manager at WorkHound. “There are a number of options that companies will be able to take away. We’ll talk about how to incorporate positive feedback into recruiting messaging, how to use it internally, and how to use it as a critical evaluation of how your company is doing.”

2. Positivity Is an Important Driving Force (Pun Intended)

When you read about the trucking industry or hear about it on the news, it’s usually presented in a negative light — not due to the actions of professional drivers or the work they do, but instead due to the persistent driver shortage and trucking’s role in ongoing logistics challenges.

Trucking has a negative rap when it comes to driver turnover and retention, and it’s a reputation that can keep potential new drivers out of the industry and push existing drivers out. Shining a light on the good can help counteract that.

“There are a lot of broken parts of the industry,” Love says. “It’s common to talk about what’s going wrong. But we know from our conversations with drivers that there are also a lot of things going right. We want to focus on how we can highlight what’s going well instead of spending all our energy focusing on the bad stuff.”

3. Leaning Into the Positives Can Pay Off

The culture of work is changing across all industries in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people are reassessing what they value in a job and whether they’re fulfilled in their current work.

That shift has many switching careers altogether, making hiring and retention an even more competitive landscape now than ever before. For the trucking industry, where turnover is a consistent issue, the challenge is magnified.

Potential drivers, both those already working in the industry and those who are switching from another career, are listening to the voices of others with experience in the field. That’s why amplifying those with positive viewpoints is such an important way to share the word.

“The industry is tight for talent right now, and drivers are really relying on their networks and word of mouth to determine where to continue their careers,” Love says. “Stories matter. It makes a big difference if companies can show drivers why they’re a good company rather than simply telling them.”

Ready to learn more about how to turn positive feedback into a hiring and retention tool? Mark your calendar for this webinar on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. CDT. Click here to register!