7 Ways to Attract and Retain Fleet Professionals

According to McKinsey, “high performers are 400 percent more productive than average ones.”

For fleet operations that require efficiency and productivity from their staff, it’s crucial to find and retain top talent. But with Baby Boomers nearing retirement and a shortage of millennials in the industry, attracting and retaining top fleet professionals can be difficult.

Improving compensation packages, learning more about what’s important to prospective employees, creating more visibility for the operation, and using tools like social media platforms to showcase openings and company culture can help recruit long-term employees.

Improve Compensation Packages

Yes, offering a competitive salary is important, but it’s not the only thing current and prospective employees are looking for. Employees are seeking a complete package. Once you determine the salary you’re offering is on par with your competitors, then it’s time to focus on the overall benefits package. Staff members want good health, dental and vision insurance, a retirement plan and competitive paid-time-off packages. They might also be looking for additional benefits like flexible schedules to obtain a work-life balance.

Showcase Advancement Opportunities

To keep employees engaged, operations should outline career advancement opportunities. For both recruiting and retaining staff members, operations should make it clear how the employee can advance and grow his or her career at the company.

Offer On-going Training, Education

Investing in your employees’ ongoing training and education will benefit both the staff member and the organization. Offering opportunities to learn will help teams stay up-to-date on advancements in the field and new technology. It will also keep employees engaged and motivated to take on new roles and challenges.

Create an Internship Program

One way to add new, young employees to your staff is by creating an internship program. This allows you to temporarily hire students from local tech schools and train them on specific roles. If the intern is a quality employee and someone you want to keep on staff full-time, you would likely be the front-runner in retaining him or her if he or she had a good experience during the internship.

Form Relationships with Technical Colleges and High Schools

Recruiting young staff members is key for the long-term success of your operation. To assist with this, organizations should partner with local technical schools and attend their career fairs. Operations should also consider ways to sponsor programs at the school, or even arrange for staff members to teach or speak to the students.

To start recruiting even earlier, operations should consider holding events at local high schools. Organizations can help inform high school students about the fleet industry and encourage those interested to pursue an education and training to land jobs in the field.

Get on Social Media

Operations shouldn’t overlook the power of social media when it comes to recruiting fleet professionals. Younger employees are on social media, so posting job listings on the platform will add visibility to the openings.

Social media is also a great platform to convey the company’s culture. Posting photos of the work areas and company activities, and linking to blog posts and other content will help show potential employees more about the organization.

Encourage Word-of-Mouth Advertising

One of an operation’s best recruiting tools is its current staff. Tap into your current employees to have them spread the word about job openings. People want to hear from their peers on what it’s really like to work at an organization. In addition to being compensated well and having the opportunity to advance their careers, employees want to be happy when at work. Hearing testimonials directly from employees will resonate with potential new hires.

Contact RTA Fleet Management Software today to request a free demo to see how RTA’s solution can help improve the efficiency of your fleet.