The secret to motivating drivers? Positive reinforcement

18.10.2021

positive-reinforcement

If your employees drive as part of their daily duties, you may have experienced concerns with driver motivation in the past. 

Why is this a common challenge? 

This is a common challenge for all types of managers and one that can be complicated to address.

Driving is a fairly fixed occupation. With that comes habits, baked into employees and hard to change.

Let’s take a simple example. You run a catering company and part of your service involves chauffeuring clients. However, your telematics reports reveal that your drivers are accelerating and braking too harshly.

You want to address that, right? Well, unfortunately, driving habits are difficult to change. As such, drivers don’t feel motivated to practice greener driving. What’s in it for them, after all?

Furthermore, managers don’t have time to babysit over drivers 7 days a week. They’re already busy dealing with clients, satisfying customers and taking care of day-to-day operations.

So what can managers do to encourage better driver behaviour?

Easy: positive reinforcement. 13% of participants in a TINYpulse Employee Engagement and Organizational Culture Report reported encouragement and recognition as being top motivators for better performance. Clearly, drivers do want to improve. They want to contribute to a well-oiled fleet–but they need more than a paycheck.

They need encouragement, enthusiasm and remuneration.

So, how does positive reinforcement work?

Positive reinforcement recognises and rewards drivers who make a valiant effort to change their behaviour. This can be in the form of small, informal prizes or big, formal initiatives.

Small prizes can include:

  • A fully paid meal out
  • Gift baskets
  • Letters of recognition from the CEO
  • Tea and coffee facilities
  • Shopping vouchers           

More formal, company-wide initiatives can include:

  • Points systems, where drivers work towards prizes
  • ‘Driver of the month’ certificates
  • Cash prizes
  • Public acknowledgement of a driver’s performance

Whatever you go with, make sure it matches both your company values and suits your employees. A well-considered gift will make your drivers feel even more appreciated!

How Drivestar uses positive reinforcement

As we acknowledged before, managers are very busy. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the thought of approaching your employees with fresh and safe driving initiatives, so why not let us do that for you?

Enter Drivestar.

Drivestar is the perfect solution for modern companies struggling to hold onto motivated drivers.

The app replaces negative reinforcement and punishment with positive reinforcement. For example, instead of berating drivers for poor performance, we reward drivers for safe and green driving practices.

How does the app do this?

Telematics, for example, allow us to track the performance of each driver. Drivers earn a Drivestar score from 1 to 10, and as manager, you can decide how often you grade and reward competent drivers.

And, if drivers are slipping? You can show them their statistics on the app and encourage them to focus on improving. They’ll be motivated by the recognition their colleagues are receiving.

And did we mention the environmental benefits of the Drivestar app? 

By measuring speed, acceleration and braking habits, our app empowers you to run a greener fleet. Plus, encourage environmentally friendly driving. And reward employees who comply!

If you’re looking to revolutionise your driving services today, visit www.drivestar.eu to find out more! And, if you want to keep up with the discussion, visit our socials @vouchforme & @drivestar!