Recruiting is hard work. A great way to reduce your workload and boost your recruitment efforts is to implement an internal truck driver referral program. Drivers already hear about reputable companies through word-of-mouth — whether that’s through their friends, social media, or while chatting with fellow drivers at truck stops. Your company can take advantage of that by creating an employee referral program. These programs allow current employees to refer friends, family, and other drivers to open positions and earn a bonus or compensation for filling empty trucks. Discover our five steps below to building a successful driver referral program.
1. Define a bonus structure.
There are many different ways you can implement a referral program, but you may want to consider a scaled system to start. When an employee successfully fills an empty truck, they get 50% of the bonus. Then, if the referred driver lasts for 90 days, they get the remaining 50%. This type of structure provides that initial incentive while motivating them to refer quality candidates who will actually be a good fit for the fleet.
2. Internally promote it.
You can have an employee referral program with one of the most generous incentives out there, but if your employees don’t understand it or know about it, you won’t see results. One of the best ways to promote the program is by advertising it. Send out internal company email reminders, place flyers in break rooms, post new positions on social media, and have face-to-face conversations with your drivers.
3. Prepare your drivers.
It’s your responsibility to make the process of referring a driver as easy as possible for your current drivers. These are busy people who are constantly on the road, so it’s a good idea to equip your drivers with resources like business cards or a designated recruiter email address, so they will feel prepared in situations where they’d like to refer a potential driver. You could also send out emails with open roles and link directly to a referral page on your website, giving them an easy-to-find resource while on the go.
4. Make the referral bonus appealing.
Your fleet is unique, and only you will know what benefits and bonuses your drivers will be interested in. If you don’t know what your drivers want, interview them and find out why they like driving for your fleet. Are they more interested in extra paid vacation time or monetary compensation? Either route you go, you’ll want to make it worth it. The key is to make the amount of money or vacation time desirable enough for the driver to want to make an effort outside of their normal work hours.
5. Expedite the hiring process.
When a driver hears about a position at your company from a peer, they trust that it’s a good company to work for. This can help shave some time off the hiring process because the recruiter won’t have to spend as much time going into detail on company culture or benefits. Additionally, when you have your best drivers out there looking for other drivers, they’re likely looking for drivers with qualities similar to their own; strong work ethic, honesty, safe driving record, etc. This means your recruiters can feel confident that the referred leads coming in are quality drivers. Quality drivers mean better retention rates.
With fleet shortages at an all-time high, carriers need to get creative with recruitment. If you’re not already leveraging the network of drivers within your own fleet, you’re missing a huge opportunity to bring in quality candidates. By building a driver referral program, you can turn your current employees into your company’s biggest advocates. It all comes down to communication, honesty, and transparency. If you’d like more guidance on building a driver referral program, reach out to us. KJ Media has 15+ years of driver recruiting experience and we’re here to help
