For better retention, focus on what’s controllable — Taking The Hire Road

On this episode of Taking The Hire Road, Jeremy Reymer, founder of DriverReach, is joined by a great industry friend and partner, Max Farrell, co-founder and CEO of WorkHound, a company committed to giving a voice to frontline workers through a real-time anonymous feedback platform.

The trucking industry has dealt with rampant turnover for years. Because of the volatile marketplace, a driver might be “happy in the beginning of the week, get fed up in the middle and quit in the end and have a job somewhere else,” Farrell said.

Historically, though, drivers only have a chance to provide feedback through annual surveys or exit interviews, which are too late or too slow. 

WorkHound helps shed light on the issues truck drivers and other frontline workers face in their jobs, which helps companies be proactive instead of reactive in understanding and addressing the problems in their businesses. Workers can provide feedback to their employers anonymously, and companies can take action on those insights to build a stronger business. Last year, WorkHound helped companies retain 12,000 workers.

“That feedback can be really helpful, so it’s not just always about what does it take to hold onto someone, it’s also about what does it take to make them more efficient at what they do so you can do more with less,” Farrell added.

Identifying an organization’s weak spots and leveraging feedback to understand where their organizations create efficiencies can help them to make changes now to allow them to stay competitive in the market. While the market is uncontrollable, companies can look inward at what they can control to make those positive changes. This means looking at what’s hindering their drivers from being productive — whether it’s maintenance issues, specifications of equipment, hold times in communication between driver managers and drivers or something else. 

The last thing a company wants is to have blind spots. Hearing directly from drivers, in an anonymous setting, can also help leadership confirm if the problems in their organization mirror the reality being presented by managers.

“What we’ve built is ways companies can do one-way or even two-way anonymous chats back and forth to address the issue with somebody on their team so that they can get to the bottom of something,” Farrell said of WorkHound.

A solid direct feedback loop provides companies with visibility into whether they are doing an adequate job. If they’re not, they can fix it. This is critical because when people don’t feel like a company is doing enough for them, they will either fight and unionize or try to leave, Farrell said. 

“I’m all for people having a voice, and if people feel left behind, they need to take care of themselves however they can. Companies do have the ability to do something about this,” Farrell said. 

Leveraging WorkHound allows companies to constantly stay on top of their employee satisfaction in real time in an honest environment and help them take action thanks to data-driven insights. 

Learn more about WorkHound here.

More from Taking The Hire Road:

Fleetworthy’s mission for manageable compliance

Boosting the bottom line with compliance and wellness

Driver appreciation WEAK? Give authentic thanks

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