Golden And "Other" Eggs

We all have probably heard the fable about the goose that laid eggs made of gold. They got one golden egg each day, and it made them rich, but the owners felt that killing and cutting her open would make them rich beyond their wildest dreams because surely she was full of golden eggs inside. Their ignorance and greed got the best of them! They took their eyes off of the sure thing they had and lost it because of unrealistic expectations.

In the world of trucking, driver turnover may be the visible culprit that gets all the blame for diminishing a company's profits through both hard and soft costs, but in reality, churn (recruiting's word for turnover) is an effect and not a cause.

Most of the time, it is easier to blame the departing driver of thinking that "the grass is greener" elsewhere than to really examine the company culture for factors that contribute to churn. In a large company with many drivers, and many support personnel, the truth is harder to find because of the bond among those who work inside. This creates a "them vs us" mentality between support personnel and drivers. Since information is controlled by support personnel, often without a Driver Advocate being provided by the company, it can be made to appear that drivers who quit are nothing more than job-hoppers who are never going to be content anywhere regardless.

A small company can be just as detrimental to its own financial health when it ignores the metrics because it chooses to play the nepotism and cronyism game. If a company owner hires people to head up his or her company just because they are relatives or friends and not because they are field-qualified for the position they will occupy, there is no incentive to try and find the right button that will stop the revolving door of driver turnover. Micromanagement becomes what passes for safety. Cost-cutting becomes the primary focus because no one has a clue that cutting costs as a primary endeavor is a sure sign that a company is receding instead of growing.

Make no mistake about it; if you are in the business of transporting goods, whether it be computers or produced water from well sites, the wisest investment you can make is in driver retention. This is the business end of your business. None of your customers care how many desk jockeys you have if you are in the transportation business. (this does not remotely suggest that they are not important to your business) They care about the part of your company that is directly advantageous or adverse to their interests.

In trucking, your drivers are you as far as the companies you do business with on a regular basis are concerned. They can make or break you in more ways than one. So why would you place someone in charge of your drivers who has no clue? Why would you turn over the goose to someone who thinks that all geese lay golden eggs? What is even more ludicrous...Why would you allow someone to run your company into the ground by running off your tenured, safe, and productive drivers? Has your HR person shared the numbers with you on what it costs to hire, train, and bring new drivers up to speed?

Imagine how much you are losing in direct costs; not to mention the losses incurred through loss of productivity. That means suffering losses that come from damaged equipment because less-than-qualified drivers were hired by a hiring manager who has no clue as to what to look for, loss of customer respect, low morale, and losses incurred due to drivers that are hired and leave within a week or two because they cannot meet the demands of the job or simply see the discrepancies. And all this does not even take into consideration the reputation your company is garnering all the while with both drivers and customers. I could name at least one major oilfield service company that could be the poster child for the effects of doing things in such manner; and several others that seem to be following suit.

Just as the two foolish owners of the goose that laid golden eggs were ignorant of the inner workings of the goose, so it goes that there are foolish owners of trucking companies that still consider drivers second-class components of their business and allow their middle managers to oppress, discourage, disrespect, and frustrate their golden egg-laying geese to the point of moving on in search of better opportunities. After all, if all the golden egg-laying geese leave, the only ones left will be those that lay the "other" kind of eggs; the kind that cost you money instead of making it for you.

I think we would do well to remember that the definition of insanity is: "Doing the same thing the same way repeatedly while expecting different results each time."

Tudaloo & Happy Trails!

Francisco Gomez
Commercial Driver Liaison Services
Check out my professional profile and connect with me on LinkedIn. http://lnkd.in/jkRwJg