Recruitment is costly for businesses - both in time and money. Getting it right means more than finding the right person to fill a position. Particularly when 20% of new hires leave a business within the first 45 days. That’s a statistic that rises to 33% over 90 days for drivers.
The standard cost for recruiting drivers is also higher than the standard $4,000 per-hire figure that gets bandied about. For trucking, it’s more like upwards of $5,000, which makes getting driver orientation training right even more important.
→ Download Now: Case Study - North American Logistics Company Reduces Injuries by 26%
Aside from the cost of hiring, there are other reasons new hire onboarding is so important for a business. Managing the expectations of new recruits, setting them up for success faster, and improving your fleet quality are just a few of them.
Most companies’ onboarding programs last for a week, tops. That’s where many of the problems start. New recruits feel rushed and the shine of the new job is quickly tarnished.
Onboarding is more than a number of admin processes or a collection of passwords and cards that need to be handed over. Onboarding should be used as a way of integrating new drivers into your business. When done well employee onboarding increases performance by 11%. It also helps companies retain the best talent long past the 90-day quitting period.
Great driver orientation training involves various strategies to help new recruits become productive faster, understand your business, and increase their commitment to your company. It should also lower your recruitment costs and be engaging. Below are some tips to help you do exactly that.
Onboarding should begin before day one
Orientation and a better understanding of what your business is about can - and should - start before new recruits begin. Digital welcome packs that include basic information about the job and set the scene for expectations are a great place to start. Including a short welcome clip from a supervisor or head of the organization provides a human touch and adds warmth.
Great onboarding increases team retention by 82% and productivity by as much as 70%.
Most drivers have already made up their minds about what the new job will be like before their first day. You can help them build an accurate picture with your digital welcome pack.
Welcome packs don’t have to be big or fancy. They should give the new hire clarity about their role, make them feel special, and warmly welcome them to your team. Digitizing your welcome packs has the advantage of being always accessible and saving on printing costs.
Get the basics right from day one
On the first day, onboarding should provide a little more structure and detail about the driver’s role. Company policies, compliance rules, and common processes like fueling and taking regular stops need to be covered. Keep it simple and clear.
The first day on the job is key for creating a good impression and building a sense of community. This becomes all the more important for industries where naturally there isn’t one - truck drivers operate in isolation. Businesses that are transparent about the way they work, retain more of their drivers for longer.
Instructor-led, face-to-face training in a “classroom” is costly, can’t be scaled and doesn’t promote knowledge retention. No driver is excited by the thought of hours of induction presentations at headquarters - they’re keen to get out on the road. Soulless slideshows with little interactivity are boring, dampen spirits and start new relationships off on the wrong foot.
Interactive technology, i.e. online and mobile learning tools, speed up onboarding processes and increase engagement by offering short, on-demand mobile learning clips. These smaller, bite-sized clips cater to two powerful modes of learning - visual and aural learning. They also build a new driver’s eagerness to get started.
Consider matching new recruits with a senior fleet driver on their first day. There are multiple advantages to this approach for training logistics employees. From day dot you’re helping new hires build relationships within your fleet. Senior staff feel valued and appreciated. This boosts their productivity and commitment. Finally, mentoring can increase productivity by as much as 67%.
Building commitment and relationships
After the initial training on processes, procedures, and mentor matching has been completed, there’s more to do. Onboarding is about more than just getting people operational, compliant, and up to scratch with health and safety.
A great onboarding program covers these aspects along with helping people assimilate. It defines what a ‘good job’ looks like for their role, sets people up for early success, and builds a sense of community.
Successful driver onboarding should include multiple touchpoints, and helpful tips for settling in. It’s a good idea to enable easy feedback from the new hire too so you know how to improve the process in the future.
Building relationships is especially important for remote workforces. Gallup found technology is an effective way to maintain contact and reduce feelings of isolation or loneliness in remote workforces. Almost a third of remote workers struggle with feelings of loneliness and 62% of remote workers are looking for technological solutions that help them stay connected with colleagues.
This can easily be done by establishing a cadence of communication made up of regular compliance reminders, check ins, and useful driver tips.
Start as you mean to continue
Onboarding new drivers should set the scene for their time with your fleet. It’s a make or break period where retention hangs in the balance. Taking advantage of technology is now imperative for onboarding programs - particularly when dealing with a remote workforce, as is the case for transport and logistics businesses.
Getting new drivers up to speed and nurturing their relationships with other fleet drivers digitally, as well as your company, builds loyalty and trust. From this foundation, productivity flourishes. From a business perspective, successful onboarding makes new drivers more profitable, faster as their time to productivity decreases.
Ultimately, strong onboarding of new hires in logistics is a win/win for all parties. Pay each element of a new hire’s journey to becoming part of your team. And when you utilize the power of remote technologies you will only enhance the experience, as well as reduce the overall cost of recruitment.
eduMe is a remote learning tool used by the workforces at modern companies world-over like Uber and Deliveroo who, with eduMe, are empowered to onboard their remote workforce seamlessly and at scale.
With eduMe, you can deliver concise, engaging learning to anyone, anywhere. Foster a sense of community through video messages and learning from peers or management, empower employees with a voice through sentiment-gathering Surveys. No computer, productivity loss or instructor required.
Want to see how it works for yourself? Request a demo 👇
