Driver turnover is one of the trucking industry’s most ubiquitous and evergreen concerns. The annual industrywide turnover rate has consistently come in at over 90% since the 1990s. Conversations about turnover and retention often hinge heavily on pay, but that is only part of the story. While drivers certainly care about their paychecks, another factor may be even more responsible for this yearly exodus: poor engagement.

It is true that drivers often receive a bump in pay – via higher per-mile rates, new-hire bonuses or both – when moving from one carrier to another. This reality has prompted many industry leaders to ascribe high turnover largely to pay rate, but that assumption misses a crucial nuance.

“It really is not about pay. That always seems to be the go-to,” says Brad Fulton, director of research and analytics at Tenstreet. “Even when it is about pay, it’s not really about pay. It’s about pay fairness.”

Fulton, who holds a Ph.D. in applied social psychology, explained that drivers are typically less influenced by the absolute amount of pay they receive than by how fair that level of pay feels to them. Pay fairness is influenced by a variety of factors, including experiences with other carriers, relationships with current colleagues, and overall workload.

“Drivers come with past experiences. They carry over thoughts from different carriers, and that can be confusing, Fulton said. “When it comes to pay, they don’t always know how it is determined. Conversations about rates and bonuses tend to be somewhat hidden, which is detrimental to drivers’ perception of fairness.”

The fairness issue does not stop with pay. In fact, it colors drivers’ perceptions of a whole host of other topics, ranging from work-life balance to professional relationships. Solving the fairness issue requires a commitment to transparency, education, and communication.

Fulton encourages industry leaders to showcase that commitment by always keeping drivers’ quality of life in mind.

“You should be asking, ‘What can I do to improve the quality of life of this driver?’” Fulton said. “Having a committed and engaged driver stems from that question.”

In this context, Fulton defines engagement as an employee’s emotional and mental connection to the workplace. For example, an engaged employee may be generally excited, happy and effective, whereas a disengaged employee may be more disconnected, cynical and ineffective.

“An engaged employee will work harder and be more productive. At the same time, they’re happy to be there. They are more likely to continue a relationship with you,” Fulton said.

For companies hoping to create a more engaged workforce, the key is to lead by example. Cultivating a culture of engagement within any company starts with being an engaged employer.

“If you’re engaged with your employees, they will be engaged with you,” Fulton said. “It is a matter of thinking creatively about how to do that.”

Surveying is a vital tool for increasing employee engagement. Surveys help companies measure engagement levels across their organizations, while simultaneously providing a forum for communication between leaders and employees.

Simply conducting a survey is not enough, however. What happens before and after the survey – as well as the quality of the questions included – can determine whether the process leads to a more engaged workforce or actually perpetuates a culture of disengagement.

“Carriers need to be excited about the surveys and promote them enthusiastically. The most successful companies in driving engagement put a lot of resources behind retention and engagement surveys,” Fulton said.

In addition to marketing surveys well, carriers should be proactive and transparent about communicating survey results with drivers and addressing comments after the fact. If carriers don’t share collected data and make action plans based on results, drivers are more likely to feel like taking the survey was a waste of time, prompting them to further disengage.

The idea of creating a meaningful survey experience can prove intimidating for carriers. Tenstreet has created a suite of survey-based driver retention tools – known as Insights – to help carriers take the guesswork out of driver engagement.

Tenstreet’s Insights solution is available in three tiers: bronze, silver and gold. Each tier provides a different level of support, with bronze offering carriers a basic mechanism for collecting driver issues , silver offering expert-designed surveys at key intervals, and gold offering robust customization and advanced analytics.

One of the most impactful additions offered by the recently introduced gold tier is the ability to ask customized survey questions, allowing carriers to analyze company-specific measures and collect opinions related to policies, certifications, and anything else unique to the business.

“The gold surveys themselves are already expanded beyond the silver surveys. Then we can customize them,” Fulton said. “That is so important because we don’t always really know which questions a specific carrier should ask before getting into the weeds.”

Carriers receive continuous support from Tenstreet’s team when using the Insights solution. This expert support helps ensure carriers fully understand the tool and leverage it for maximum benefit.

Creating a more engaged workforce, however, does not stop at surveys. Carriers should also focus on other connection-promoting behaviors like establishing regular touchpoints with drivers during onboarding (and beyond), providing opportunities for drivers to talk to each other, and offering public job recognition. All of these efforts can help create a sense of connection between employees and companies, even when drivers are out on the road.

Tenstreet also offers a wide range of solutions that focus on each of those actions, making it easier for carriers to get started.

“The Tenstreet retention services team is strong. We have a lot of capabilities,” Fulton said. “We have the tools, experience and insights to really make an impact on retention and establishing a company culture that promotes engagement.”

When carriers work to create a greater sense of connection and engagement, it leads to happier and healthier drivers. This naturally reduces turnover, but it also leads to significant and impactful quality-of-life improvements for drivers. In an industry that has often failed to prioritize driver well-being, this is a huge step toward creating a better transportation sector.

“I am excited about seeing this industry starting to dig into quality improvement,” Fulton said. “It is such important work.”

Click here to learn more about Tenstreet’s engagement solutions.

The post Driver retention starts with commitment to engagement appeared first on FreightWaves.