This week on Taking The Hire Road, Jeremy Reymer, founder and CEO of DriverReach, is joined by Ron Yazzetti, VP of U.S. new business sales and partnerships at Seiza (formerly Work4Labs).
Yazzetti is very familiar with the world of HR. During his work at multiple job boards over the years, he noticed a recurring trend: the demand for truck drivers.
Around seven years ago, he took it upon himself to learn about the trucking industry, and since then, his immersion in the transportation industry has only deepened. Now in his role at Seiza, a recruitment marketing technology company, he predominantly works with transportation businesses.
Seiza helps companies with one of their biggest challenges: reaching drivers. It does this largely through marketing and advertising but also provides expertise and insight into trends on social media, which is where its audience lives online. During his career, Yazzetti has witnessed the rise of social media.
“What we’re trying to do is leverage those channels to reach audiences of known truck drivers and help them reach qualified applicants they couldn’t reach on their own,” Yazzetti said.
Successful driver recruitment and retention, which are consistently significant concerns for carriers, require understanding the needs of drivers. Seiza surveys drivers yearly to understand the top issues they face. Yazzetti said one of his biggest takeaways from 2023’s Annual Driver Survey Report is the gap between employers and drivers.
“There’s a disconnect between what I think employers think they’re saying to drivers versus what drivers are seeing and feeling,” Yazzetti said.
The survey uncovered more about the mindset of drivers and what they value. It found pay and home time are predictably important, but so is how much drivers feel like they are part of the organization and not just a number.
Even people not necessarily happy with the compensation might stick around if they felt they were being listened to, Yazzetti said. Listening to drivers costs a company nothing.
Speaking of being heard, Yazzetti challenged listeners to survey their own workforce to see what they want in order to attract new employees.
“That information and insight are invaluable. They’ll be able to take that information and figure out the best way to advertise,” Yazzetti said.
Although some companies are concerned about what is posted or shared about them online, this feedback serves as an important tool about where the company stands in the public opinion of drivers and how it measures up in regard to pay and benefits.
When it comes to hiring with retention in mind, Yazzetti advised that being truthful and upfront about pay is critical, but companies can present compensation in different ways as long as it’s honest, like by providing averages and ranges. He also said compensation in the form of cents per mile and sign-on bonuses don’t perform well on social media.
Staying on top of drivers’ preferred methods of communication is also important, as it’s constantly changing. Yazetti said in last year’s survey, email messaging was a driver’s most preferred method, whereas this year it was least preferred. SMS is also rising in popularity.
To learn more about Seiza, click here.
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Redefining the value of trucking’s newcomers
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