Pay raises and sign-on bonuses are typically thought of as the most common approach a fleet will take in its driver recruiting and retention efforts. However, WorkHound data shows that through the first half of the year, professional truck drivers who are invested in their companies were more likely to sound off about equipment and logistics concerns than complain about pay.
From January through the end of June, WorkHound received 24,600 comments from more than 10,000 unique workers from various trucking companies to compile its 2021 mid-year trends report. The report highlights the importance of communication, employee outreach, equipment equity, and relationships within an organization. In 2021, equipment was the most common feedback theme, followed by people, explained Max Farrell, WorkHound co-founder and CEO, during a recent Mid-year Driver Feedback Trends Analysis webinar.
Farrell also noted that this report encompasses comments from not just drivers but technicians, office staff, and other workers at trucking companies. “Worker satisfaction in other departments directly impacts the satisfaction of drivers,” he stressed.
For the first time, WorkHound analyzed feedback according to company size. For the purposes of this report, a small trucking company is considered to have fewer than 200 workers, a medium-sized company has some 200-499 workers, with a large trucking company coming in at 500-plus workers.
Data within the report found that workers at larger trucking companies are less likely to find things worthy of praise than those at smaller companies. Small companies received 41% more positive comments, whereas just 27% of comments for large trucking companies were positive.
“Small companies received 50% more praise than large companies,” Farrell said. “The substantial lack of praise at larger companies is an indicator of culture. At small companies, workers are more accustomed to more frequent and personal communication, which suggests that workers at companies of all sizes may benefit from being contacted more frequently—and not only when something goes wrong.”
Based on the data collected, WorkHound broke down workers into three specific categories in its report: Invested workers, who are most likely to refer other drivers and advocate on behalf of their company; engaged workers, who see their work as status quo, or business as usual; and at-risk workers, whose comments indicate that they might have one foot out the door.
“The data shows that one-third of all commenters so far this year are invested workers,” Farrell explained. “Despite the fear that many employers have that worker feedback will be overwhelmingly negative, we see that this segment is substantially larger than the segment of at-risk workers, which is around 12.2% of all feedback. Smaller companies have fewer at-risk workers than larger companies.”
The report also breaks down the top concerns among invested and at-risk workers.
Invested workers cite equipment concerns
Paul Castronova, strategic projects manager at WorkHound, pointed out that invested workers are an important population of the driving force since they typically care deeply about the success of the company and, in general, are the most satisfied workers. However, he emphasized that being an invested worker is not a permanent experience.
“The feedback shows that smaller companies excel when it comes to nurturing relationships with their invested workers,” Castronova explained. “Communications tend to be more frequent and personalized in smaller companies than in their larger counterparts. Invested workers are hopeful for the success of the company. If an invested worker offers feedback, it’s important to listen even if there isn’t a high risk of departure.”
He advised that trucking companies focusing too narrowly on reducing turnover in the near term may miss vital information shared by their invested workers that will help the company in the longer term.
Breaking down negative comments from invested workers into themes, WorkHound found equipment is a big concern. Nearly one-third of all negative feedback from invested workers had something to do with company equipment.
“It goes without saying that functional, clean equipment is necessary to remain productive,” Castronova said. “Comments about missteps in maintenance and keeping trucks clean demonstrates increased strain in a higher-demand market and has added to their workplace experience.”
Invested workers are also looking for fair distribution of equipment, Castronova noted.
“Equipment is often used as a proxy for how much the company appreciates the contributions from their workers,” he said. “Drivers often see equipment allocation and distribution as a sign of respect and trust from the company. Favoritism is often mentioned with equipment.”
“People” was the second-highest-ranking theme in the data and the highest-ranking theme for smaller companies, according to WorkHound. The report noted that invested workers feel connected to people in their company.
“Invested workers care deeply that managers and supervisors know their name and don’t look at them as just a truck number,” Castronova said. “Finding ways to personalize your communications with workers goes a long way when trying to maintain a highly satisfied workforce. Invested workers appreciate it when supervisors and staff members remember details about their lives and experiences.
“Although we all hate to receive bad news, invested workers appreciate people that close the feedback loop even if it isn’t an answer they were looking for because it’s always better to know than to continue feeling unheard,” he added.
At-risk employee concerns
Although at-risk workers are the least satisfied segment of the overall worker group, Castronova was quick to point out that these are not “bad or low-quality workers.” Rather, they could be looking for coaching or training opportunities and positive intervention to help restore their trust in the company.
“Deeply dissatisfied workers are very likely to leave,” Castronova said. “Overrepresented themes in this population highlight persistent problem areas for their associated companies. Addressing these specific problem areas can have the most substantial impact on worker retention.”
The top at-risk worker themes for the first half of 2021, according to WorkHound, are communication, logistics, and pay.
At-risk workers make 178% more comments about communication than invested workers, 107% more comments about pay than invested workers, and 106% more comments about logistics than invested workers, according to WorkHound data.
“If invested worker concerns aren’t properly addressed, they become at-risk workers resulting in concerns about poor communication,” Castronova pointed out. “Lingering bad communication has a substantial impact on the emotional, physical, and financial well-being of workers.”
In trucking companies, regular breakdowns in communication typically happen between planners and drivers. Drivers often don’t feel like their schedule is full of well-planned routes or other information that will help them execute properly, Castronova said. Those drivers, then, begin to look at planners as the direct problem when there is a logistics breakdown.
“The other thing that we see is oftentimes drivers don’t feel like they are getting proper communication from dispatchers either,” he added. “When we talk about logistics and the communications problems there, it is directed at those two groups. So, focus on anything you can do to improve the relationship between dispatchers and planners and the drivers that they service.”
Getting through the rest of 2021
When Farrell analyzes WorkHound’s feedback data, what surprises him most is a misnomer that many commercial carriers believe drivers just don’t want to work.
“But what we often find in our data is the desires to work and the frustration around the inefficiencies of getting to work,” Farrell advised. “So, there always is that dynamic. I think that has been consistent for the last few years. The feedback has been people saying, ‘We want to do more but we are facing all these roadblocks to do our best work.’”
In order to help drivers and other employees do their best work, Farrell recommends that larger trucking companies try to identify opportunities to operate like smaller companies. Focus on people, rather than problems, he said.
Farrell also pointed out that it’s good to over-communicate as a strategy and to nurture invested workers. “Even if their concerns don’t indicate a risk for an immediate exit, these workers provide some of the most constructive feedback and operational intelligence,” Farrell emphasized. “Close the feedback loop, even if the news is bad.”
