How can courier employers look after their employees?

When it comes to jobs and careers, the courier and delivery driver industry can be quite a precarious area. It often has a low retention rate, a high rate of job vacancies, which are sometimes only filled on a temporary basis before those people move on to other work. This is down to a wide range of factors (often personal associated with the employee.) Just as a good teacher makes for a good student, so a good employer makes for a good employee. What should employers be doing for their employees within this industry? Read on to find out what we suggest and see our general aims and thoughts on this subject when it comes to our own workers.

1) Having the best tools and equipment is vital

You wouldn’t expect to visit a hospital or have an operation without proper equipment. For couriers and van drivers, this equipment is the vehicles they drive. Having vans or lorries which are modern, comfortable and efficient can go a long way to ensuring satisfied employees. The ironic thing about this, is that this can also save the employers and companies money, because modern vehicles with contemporary technology save time and hassle for all.

2) Driving is a mentally demanding job

It is no surprise that a courier is constantly on the road, having to maintain a high degree of attention and alertness at all times. Employers who recognise this tend to have the best relationships with their employees. Example of things which can be done to help in these situations include giving drivers decent breaks between jobs, or clear days away from work where they can completely switch off. This will also boost safety on roads, which is something that is always a very important aim of the nation overall. There are often disturbing items in the news this week, reporting that hundreds of lorry drivers are exceeding the limits on the hours they are supposed to drive. In other words, many lorry drivers are driving tired and even falling asleep at the wheel. The best employers will recognise this and the legal limits that must be stuck to. We have never and will never lay unreasonable expectations on our drivers. We believe in looking after our same day couriers so that they will look after our customers. You can depend on Rock Solid Deliveries to take good care of your package and your driver.

3) Offer a rewards or benefit programme

Not all employers are able to be in a position to do this – particularly smaller ones, but this is aimed at bigger or well-known companies. It has been proved that being incentivised motivates people. If people have something extra to work for or towards, it can massively boost productivity which is healthy for employer and employee alike. Those employers which are able to provide such schemes to employees show that they are valuable members of their working ‘family.’

4) Emphasis on openness and communication

Driving can be a long job which is very often undertaken in solitude. Apart from when couriers or delivery drivers drop off parcels and have the most fleeting interaction with people, they are alone for large parts of the day. This can mean that things are ‘bottled up’ and problems get left to bubble away rather than be solved. Having an open communication policy between staff and employers can do wonders to boosting the atmosphere and spirit of the organisation. Ultimately, it is the customers who benefit when this is done.

What about us?

We know that our company would not exist without our fantastic employees and staff, and it is our couriers and drivers who are vital to bringing our customer’s deliveries to their doors in a professional and high quality way. We do everything in our power to ensure our staff are happy and well looked after, as we know that productive staff not only have a passion to get out of bed and come to work every day, but they help to expand and grow the company overall. This makes for happy staff and a happy company which is double win!

We deliver in all parts of the UK, including capital cities such as London, Cardiff and Edinburgh. Take a look at these pages for further details.