A TruckingHR Canada Webinar

By Jenna Collignon, Staff Writer

Earlier this year, TruckingHR (THRC) hosted a webinar that focused on highlighting the importance of creating workplaces where women want to work. THRC’s new Women’s Leadership Accord recognizes companies that are stepping up and making a true change. Over the time, they covered ideas such as tracking key workforce trends, flexible work arrangements, and accommodation challenges, all assets in a company that will aid them in improving retention. Focusing on flexibility, accommodations, and open conversations are three of the top ways to do so.

Tracking key workforce trends

Carriers looking to improve their workforce retention, says Tanara Ferguson, senior project manager at THRC, should start by investigating their turn-over rates, their average tenure length, and absenteeism, as monitoring these trends allows companies to identify gaps and evaluate the progress of their retention strategies. She also recommended conducting exit interviews, so as to understand why employees are leaving, and if there are any trends within those answers.

Asking these questions will allow fleets to create a strategy going forward to create a better environment for their employees.

Flexible work arrangements

As more employees across the industry seek a change and a more predictable work schedule, flexible working arrangements have become a retention tool for employers, added Cam Whalen, project manager at THRC.

“To determine what your employees are interested in, there’s no better way than to ask them,” Whalen said. Whalen also continued to say that while flexible work was once seen only as a workplace perk, it has become part of a modern work-life balance, and will aid in higher productivity, lower absenteeism, and stronger employee engagement across the board.

Fleets are beginning to implement selected routes, which allows drivers to choose to remain closer to home, to bring family members, or to bring pets in the cab with them.

Accommodation challenges

As the workforce changes, fleets must also be proactive in addressing various workplace accommodations, says Ferguson. Providing these accommodations for health concerns such as mobility challenges, chronic pain, high blood pressure, and more, will help employees remain productive and engaged, no matter their age.

THRC has found that most employees hesitate to disclose health concerns to their employers. When employees work in an inclusive environment, says Ferguson, they may still find it difficult to speak up and request accommodations. To solve this, employers need to create a culture that encourages disclosure by having open discussions about the available accommodations, and making their employees feel supported, as one of the biggest problems is that employers often still feel unprepared for these kinds of conversations.

“[Managers] were nervous about going into the conversations,” says Ferguson. “They were scared of asking a question they weren’t allowed to ask, so they didn’t know how to approach the conversation because they weren’t often having these accommodations discussions. They were nervous going in because they hadn’t had practice doing them, or didn’t necessarily have adequate training in order to host them.”

What Ferguson found was the key to improving these discussions and allowing for a more open and supportive workplace was to treat each accommodation request as their own case – treating them each as unique – and checking in regularly to ensure that the employees felt they were still being supported and that the accommodation was still working. Ferguson emphasized that even employees with the same condition may require different support, and thus each case needs to be individually evaluated.

To catch more of TruckingHR’s upcoming webinars, check out their website to keep up to date.\