5 Tips for Retaining Employees and Couriers for the Long Term

Employee Retention in Delivery and Distribution

Any business in the delivery or distribution field, are well aware of the difficulties in recruiting couriers – yes, the ones who make deliveries and are the face of the business. Unfortunately, there is a high employee turnover in this field, even when working with a courier management system and managing distribution properly. The solution is to try and retain existing employees, to not be bothered as much with recruiting new ones.

Investing in Employee Retention

So, what can we do from today onwards to invest in employee retention? Everything you need to know is in the following article.

Strategies for Employee Retention

Transparent Workplace Communication

Working with couriers in full transparency: One of the things that causes couriers to "lose it“ is when there’s no transparency in the workplace, and more specifically when they don’t have access to crucial information or changes that have been made, which creates inefficiency and complexity. When working with a delivery management system through which the couriers have access to all of the information, they will be much more satisfied with the workplace.

Efficient Delivery Route Planning

Planning delivery routes in advance: The more organized couriers’ delivery routes are, the more relaxed their work day is going to be, which means that you will have an efficient and a satisfied employee at the end of the day. Nowadays in the delivery management system, you can find a delivery optimization feature which offers route planning with drop off points, relieving you from sending WhatsApp messages to the couriers, since they are able to see the delivery route and the shipping addresses in the delivery routing system, which will help them to complete the local delivery quicker without being interrupted with text messages and phone calls.

User-Friendly Software for Couriers

Working with a courier-friendly software: Let's not forget that couriers are on the road every day, some on scooters and some on vehicles, so they need a user-friendly delivery management software, which will allow them to access the next delivery destination at the touch of a button. While this might sound like a small detail, it’s a small improvement that may add convenience to the courier’s work and make them stay at your company rather than leave for another.

Implementing Reward Systems

Building a reward system for reaching goals: Bonuses and benefits are familiar to us from sales. But, you would be surprised – this method also works for couriers. Beyond earning more satisfied employees, you will earn way more efficient employees. The reward system can offer bonuses to the best employees, such as a bonus for meeting daily delivery goals and so on. Moreover, the naturally competitive environment between the couriers will help to keep this mechanism going.

Importance of Employee Feedback

Listening to your couriers: Often, there are situations where couriers are working on autopilot and are experiencing difficulties in their job as a result of incorrect management, which causes many to quit their job after a short period of time at the company. It’s recommended to actively listen to the couriers, for example: once in a while to set up a team meeting, in which couriers would speak up about various issues in order to streamline their work. By the way, the best solutions to the biggest problems are usually brought to light from the employees themselves, making it very beneficial to the business.

Good luck!