Not long ago I was asked by a person outside of the ready mixed concrete business about our greatest strength and asset as an industry. Without hesitation, I immediately told them it was our drivers. Drivers make up a total of approximately two-thirds of all the employees for a ready mixed producer. They deliver concrete to the point of where customers receive their purchase and the revenue is actually realized. They have a profound effect on that transaction because, most often, they control the outcome of a successful sale.
Here are questions we have to ask as an industry when we talk about our greatest asset:
- Do we really invest in our drivers at the same level of all our other employees?
- Do we communicate with them at that same level too?
- How do we perceive drivers and their role on our team?
- Do drivers really feel part of the team and what they do as an important role to the company?
- Do we actively listen to them? (They do have important things to say and ideas to share.)
- Do they have a participatory voice in how decisions are made?
- Do we make them feel part of the team?
- Do we set goals, challenge them and measure their success?
- Do we recognize and reward superior performance?
- Do we properly train, educate and prepare them on all aspects of their job and duties?
- Do we create an environment where drivers love to come to work, be part of the team, and see their position not just as a job but as a lasting career?
These are all important questions concerning future drivers for our industry. They will want and expect these things when they look at opportunities in ready mixed concrete. We can no longer offer “driving” positions that just meet the industry’s needs, but career positions with opportunities to grow and expand drivers’ abilities and desires to succeed.
Through current technology, we see new opportunities to bridge the communication gaps between drivers and the rest of the business. Communications tools help keep drivers in sync and informed on the things going on in the company and their ability to seamlessly coordinate their efforts with the rest of operational teams. Many of these tools or technologies are already in place today as they bring tremendous value to the business and customers. But where does that value for drivers exist and how does it help them better communicate, perform their duties, improve themselves, and feel more part of a team? Maybe we’ve never asked ourselves that question.
FUTURE COURSE
When I look into the crystal ball, I see a concentrated need by the industry to focus on the issue of value for drivers, as recruiting and keeping them will demand attention. Future generations that are tech savvy and have grown up with technology in their hands will expect the same when they venture into the job market. They will want to communicate and learn with the tools they grew up with and expect better life/work balance than the industry has provided in the past. No longer will just sitting behind the wheel of a mixer truck and working long, inconsistent hours and never knowing when a person might finish for the day attract new recruits.
So how do we address the future of driver shortages and attract new long-term talent to the industry? I believe it starts first with redefining the position beyond just driving the vehicle. To do this, businesses must completely understand and buy into the fact that they want their drivers to do and be more than just concrete wheel men or women. Personal pride in doing a good job always involves a feeling of worth and value for an individual. Ready mixed truck drivers who might see themselves more as professional delivery specialists—utilizing multiple talents around their area of responsibility—are more apt to take pride in what they do and perform at much higher levels than those who don’t.
But those are the select few that by nature are self-motivated and take pride in a job well done. What about the rest? This is where management has to step in and set the cultural and operational expectation based on what defines the company and its level of customer service. If a driver understands and effectively performs the duties behind the roles listed here, operating the truck becomes only a segment of what he or she does in truly becoming a professional:
- Front Line Customer Service Agent
- In Transit Product Manager
- Quality Control Specialist
- Material Placement Consultant
- Logistics & Routing Expert
- Communication Facilitator
- Truck Driver
So, if the industry is to be successful in the future of recruiting these specialized driving professionals and keeping them long term, several things need to happen:
1. The role a driver plays in the business needs to be more clearly defined and there has to be a commitment from the business to spend the time and resources necessary to thoroughly train driving professionals in all aspects of their duties. This includes coaching, mentoring and following through with consistent and timely performance reviews.
2. All aspects of interviewing, hiring, onboarding, training and continual learning need to be formalized in a documented and regimented way so that expectations are always set and followed through with during the course of the employee’s tenure.
3. The business needs to incorporate new technologies that fully utilize the power of mobility, digitalization, E-learning, gamification and communitive exchanges. These things will attract future generations as they were the technologies candidate drivers grew up with and expect in their work life. Future drivers will shy away from businesses and industries that lack these types of tools, knowing the potential for their employer to be less competitive and efficient.
4. The RMC industry as a whole will need to focus on better order management and delivery scheduling so that customers’ needs are still met but in a manner where delivery hours can be more predictable and consistent. This will be a huge leap for the industry to undertake, but necessary if it is to become a truly transportation focused business.
5. Employees will need to be challenged every day and perform at their highest level. This will be possible by giving delivery professionals “real-time” feedback on how well they are performing on the things they actually control in a day.
6. These new generations of employees that grew up in a world of instant gratification, recognition, and reward will expect something similar in their working life. It doesn’t mean we have to coddle them but find better ways to understand what motivates them to succeed.
7. Recruiting new prospects will require the industry to provide a candidate not just a job opportunity, but a full career opportunity with a clear path of advancement and learning opportunities.
We cannot ignore the lack of interest of young people wanting to get into the RMC business and the ever-rising average age of a drivers now over 50 years old. Where will these new people come from? We know it’s a thankless job sometimes that requires a lot of hard work and long hours with financial and career uncertainties. I believe we have to key in on three things: All the great benefits the industry has to offer; the technologies that will not only benefit the company but also the employee; and, a steady well-defined career path for new prospects.
There is no doubt that the work will always be there for the ready mixed industry, but will the people? I don’t believe we can take that chance but rather we need to think outside the box and ask ourselves: “What would it take for me to want to get into this industry and stay in such a critical and important role?” I believe we know the answer to that question but not necessarily how to get there with normal conventional thinking.
Jack Delperdang is the author of Making It Happen – Achieving Excellence in RMC Transportation & Customer Service, 2023. A veteran of ready mixed concrete production management, he most recently oversaw enterprise-wide adoption of best operating practices for CRH/Oldcastle Materials. He presently runs CD Consulting Services and can be reached at 865/599-8441, [email protected].