Tips for Mastering the Motivation Fleet

After innovation and outsourcing, I’m continuing my deep dive into the key pillars that help establish your global fleet culture. Next up, motivation.

Does your fleet spark joy? Keep Marie Kondo in mind when you’re setting the intention of your motivation fleet.

Fleet Mobility Policies

Your fleet and mobility policies have an impact on your company’s ability to attract and retain talent. If your company has the ambition to have the very best people, you may reflect that in your fleet approach across the world.

A company that puts its employees at the top will have a strong drive to push forward initiatives that support this strategy. By emphasizing the motivation role of your fleet, you will work hand-in-hand with your HR partners at the global level to create the same synergies at the local level.

There are several aspects of your fleet that you can look at to make your employees feel appreciated. Let’s explore them:

Mobility Policy Details

Your written policy is a great place to state the intention behind the motivation of your fleet. It is not about giving Bentleys to all your employees, it is about giving them attractive options and a sense of freedom.

As a global fleet manager, your role is to provide the guidelines and let the local managers translate that based on their needs.

1. What vehicle can they pick?

Let’s be honest, this is the first question that most employees around the world would ask their HR manager. It’s important that you try to differentiate yourself from the competition by allowing the drivers to select between several attractive options.

Ask for benchmarks on the investment costs from your leasing company and go beyond what the market is offering to make a strong and immediate statement to your employees that you’re taking good care of them. This is basic but it is a good place to start. It will help the local team design the selection modeler with valuable input from the market.

You may also want to open the door for your employees to pick a vehicle above their job level by asking for a personal contribution. The same goes for additional options on the vehicle. You could set a budget of options per category and leave the door open to adding more options if the driver is paying for it.

2. What else can they choose?

In some areas around the world, a vehicle is not the best benefit you can give to employees. It may take them longer to come to work by vehicle than by other means of transportation. They may not have a place to park and some may not have a driver’s license. So, what you thought would be a benefit is now a burden for the employee. Make sure you offer alternatives to the traditional company vehicle. The solution will vary across markets depending on the infrastructure and the local taxation but make sure that there is an alternative solution offered in all countries if you want your employees to think that you’re taking good care of them.

You can also offer a blend of options where people can go for a smaller vehicle and have the option to use an e-bike or purchase a train pass.

3. Keep it updated

A policy set in stone is very quickly obsolete and you want to avoid this when you have a motivation fleet. The policy should be reviewed every year and input from employees and your fleet partners should be considered to make sure you stay where you want to be in terms of attractiveness. Capturing feedback from new hires or people who resign is also crucial for getting bold ideas on how you can improve.

Motivation Fleet

A motivation fleet is all about providing an incentive. Having fleet managers and your fleet management partner put themselves in the shoes of the employee from the moment they’re considering options to when the vehicle is returned will make all the difference.

1. Choosing the vehicle

Helping the employee fully understand what the options are is crucial. Just handing over a pdf or a paper version of the policy is not what employees expect. They want someone to walk them through everything that their employer is offering. You can outsource that to your fleet management company or do it internally, but it’s best to have a very personal experience. It’s a great opportunity to reinforce all the benefits your organization provides.

2. Services beyond the vehicles

When you select the services from the fleet management company, think about those that make the drivers feel supported and cared for. Door-to-door service, toll and violation management are services that will help the driver feel appreciated. Have your fleet managers go through potential pain points with your fleet partner and look at where your employee could feel unsupported.

3. Return of the old, pick up the new

At the end of the usage cycle of a vehicle, the driver will return their old vehicle and pick up their new one. Then it’s time to inspect the vehicle for damages. In the closed-end markets, too often this experience – that should be something very positive – is tainted by the fear of wears and tears beyond what is acceptable on the old vehicle. In some countries and in some company policies, this could have a negative financial impact on the driver. If you’re holding the driver accountable for the condition of the vehicle make sure the process is clearly outlined. Knowing what’s going to happen ahead of time can help the driver prepare and eliminate surprises later on. Additionally, an early inspection by a garage or by the fleet partner can help the driver understand what will be challenged. When knowing what to expect, there is time to take action to repair the damage that would have been missed.

That way, the focus will only be on the exciting moment of picking up a new vehicle and driving off with it.

Measuring Success Of Your Motivation Fleet

For a motivation fleet, success is defined through driver satisfaction. You should have a reliable and methodical process established with your fleet provider to capture it over time and over the largest possible population of drivers.

An event-based survey for drivers is good to capture the impact of each service but may fail to capture the overall impression of the drivers. Consider having that overall impression captured in a broader survey about the benefits that your company offers. This would also allow you to understand the importance of fleet in the countries in which you operate. This is a piece of valuable information when discussing the results of the survey with your HR team.

What are your thoughts on designing a motivation fleet as a pillar of your fleet culture? Let me know at gbourst@wheels.com.