Having to continuously oversee downhearted, defeated or disgruntled staff creates frustration for management. It also holds the potential to snowball into an uncontrollable, yet avoidable expense. In the United States it is estimated that there are about 22 million workers who are categorized as having low morale in the workplace. The repercussions include approximately 350 billion dollars in additional costs to American businesses each year. Decreased employee productivity, worker absenteeism, and increased staff turnover all contribute to the costs these businesses burden.
Long distance professional drivers often cite that time away from home, the difficulty of making a living, and the lack of recognition for their hard work as reasons for not recommending the occupation to others. The industry is also predicting a shortage of drivers as the current generation of baby boomers retires from driving positions. This, therefore, makes maintaining a satisfied and happy workforce crucial to employee-related cost savings for any fleet organization.
What can fleet managers do to ensure these costs are minimized, and how can telematics contribute?
Telematics Systems provide infinite data to analyze, learn from, and be utilized to cut down on costs. Often, savings from altered driving habits can be passed on to the drivers themselves if they are exposed to the knowledge base the analysis can provide. If savings can be realized by the drivers themselves, as well as the organization, a reason for work dissatisfaction is minimized. Further to this, transparency with data by an organization is both welcomed and appreciated by workers[5]. Telematics provides an avenue for organizational higher-ups to recognize the importance and value of their fleet drivers.
With such isolated and independent work, it can be challenging to recognize and reward stellar and loyal employees to provide motivation and pride. Telematics provides strong metrics as well as the flexibility to single out and track what behavior to reward, while providing clear goals for drivers to find motivation and a challenge in. For example, recognizing and even rewarding drivers with the least number of a specific exception violations will provide the management awareness they are seeking. As an added bonus, the fleet assets as well as employees will be safer overall.
Additionally, knowing clear organizational expectations will reduce stress workers endure[6]. Using Telematics to translate “safe’, “efficient” or “compliant” driving expectations into measurable actions eliminates any confusion in the management-employee relationship. This will, in turn, uplift the quality of drivers’ work, therefore reducing stress, and increase satisfaction with the occupation.
Telematics is a tool that can be used by organizations to realize both financial gains as well as increased productivity, compliance, optimization, and safety[7]. There is, however, also the opportunity for fleet managers to dive deeper and use telematics as a tool to curtail downhearted, defeated, or disgruntled staff. Use the substantial capabilities of Geotab’s telematics to boost the employee-employer relationship, increase employee morale, and eliminate the manifestations of staff dissatisfaction that can be detrimental to any organization.
