Driver retention is a difficult task that becomes more difficult during the holiday season.
It is common to see drivers leave their jobs around the middle of December and not return to work until the New Year. They do this to spend time with their families and enjoy some downtime.
However,
If you go above and beyond to take care of your drivers this time of year, they will feel valued and want to stay at your company. The strategy you use this time of year can improve your driver retention for all of next year.
Here is how to use the holidays to improve your driver retention:
- Unexpected Holiday Bonus or Gift
- Flexible Holiday Work Schedules
- Throw a Company Party During a Work Day
- End of Year Surveys
Unexpected Holiday Bonus or Gift
Gifts increase dopamine, especially when they are given as a surprise.
Dopamine has a direct impact on drivers’ mood and motivation. Boosting their dopamine will make them associate your company with the positive feeling and motivate them to stay with you.
Also, giving gifts creates what is called the “Law of Reciprocity”. The Law of Reciprocity states that if you give someone something, they will be compelled to reciprocate the favor.
Here is the deal, giving the gift or bonus as a surprise will maximize the amount of dopamine released. The element of surprise will increase dopamine, regardless of the gift you give.
For example, if all of your drivers are expecting their yearly bonus of $500 they will feel like they are entitled to the bonus when you give it to them.
However, if you surprise the drivers with $500 unexpectedly, they will have that dopamine hit and be more grateful.
Flexible Holiday Work Schedule
This is one of the trickier strategies to use during the holiday season. But it is one of the most impactful.
Offering your drivers flexible schedules this time of year allows them to spend more time at home with their loved ones. That is all any of your drivers want.
Working hard to offer drivers 2-5 extra days off this time of year will show them that you care about their personal lives.
Throw a Company Party During a Work Day
Employees always appreciate a great company party, but sometimes the party can become a nuisance.
If you try to throw the party at the end of the day on a Friday, there is a good chance some of your drivers will rather be going home instead of staying at work for 2 extra hours.
But if you take 2 hours on a Wednesday during lunchtime to celebrate, everyone will be excited to be there. Even if it is the same party as the one thrown on Friday evening.
This is because half of the experience of a company work party is thinking about what you are missing out on to stay at the party.
Drivers will be much more bought in and enjoy themselves more if they are thinking about how they get to miss work for a party.
No matter how great of a company party you throw, people would rather be with their family. Throw your great party during a workday to make everyone happy.
End of Year Surveys
Do you want to know what your drivers think about your company? Send them an online survey where their answers are anonymous.
This group data will give you a good sense of how your drivers feel about working for you.
If there are common grievances with the company then you will know exactly what you need to work on next year. Or if everything is positive then you know you are on the right path for driver retention.
Tenstreet offers a great survey system to help with your retention efforts. Or if you want to save some money you can use something as simple as Google Forms.
Sending your drivers an end-of-year survey will show them that you are dedicated to making your company a place that people love driving for.
The bottom line, you need to go above and beyond during the holiday season to show drivers how valuable they are to you and your company.
By putting in maximum effort this time of year, you will create lasting impressions with your drivers. These impressions will make your drivers want to work for you over the long haul (bad pun intended).
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