April 2018 - Employee Transport Management

Optimizing Fleet Performance During Summer Season

Posted on April 17, 2018February 20, 2023 by emptranssup-useradm

Summertime in 2022 is scorching than the previous years. Temperatures have gone to an all-time high of late and it’s really hard to stay outdoors these times.

With the increase in global warming, things have gone worse. Heat cramps, dehydration, and fainting are common among people.

While you take the case of transportation, there are so many important things to be considered that would be grist to the mill while traveling during the summertime.

These precautions and measures if adopted properly would benefit the drivers, travelers, and the managers who manage the fleet of vehicles in an organization.

1. Get the help of GPS

With the help of GPS-enabled tracking devices, it’s capable of re-routing the whole fleet route away from traffic congestions, summer congestion. This can also help the drivers to avoid time-wasting trips back to the office.

2. Optimum Route Finding

Getting stuck up in a traffic jam this summer would be the last thing you want to have. Always use mobile applications like Waze to give an outline of the traffic setup on your scheduled route and suggest better ways to avoid it.

3. Save Fuel

Adopt strategies like tracking and maintaining a list of your fuel expenses. As you know during summertime, the fuel usages are high compared to normal seasons. Always park your vehicles in places that provide shade.

4. Have the Data

Data is gold. Always have the previous years’ analytics on vehicle performance, fuel efficiencies, employee efficiency, and devise a proper plan according to it for optimizing fleet performance.

5. Maintenance Concerns

Maintenance costs are always high during summertime. Statistics say that the engine heat may go up by 20% during a hot season depending on the climate followed by wear and tear for tires at 15%.

The air conditioner maintenance is one spot of bother that needs to be taken care of.

6. Air Condition Usage

Always switch off the air condition systems while not required. It’s advisable to use the air condition on optimum levels as the chances of it getting damaged are very high.

7. Vehicle Overheating

Nothing is more frustrating than a breakdown on a sunny day. Imagine how many people it would affect in an organization if something like that happens. In order to avoid this scenario, the vehicle caretakers need to refill and clean the vehicle cooling systems.

Technology has advanced to a level wherein engine diagnostics could be sent to the fleet managers and make them aware of the systems once in a while.

The OBD can be installed and setup in the vehicle dashboard and updates can be sent to the control room. Engine diagnostic data is very critical in these circumstances.

8. Tire and Batteries

Underinflated and overinflated tires are a big no in the case of summertime. The chances of the tires getting deflated quickly are very high. Properly inflated tires would add value while fleet optimization is taken into account.

With respect to batteries, studies show that summer heat kills batteries 33% faster. The overheat increases the chemical processes occurring in lead-acid batteries and it would make the battery electrolytes evaporate.

Preventive maintenance checkups are very important for batteries during summertime.

9. Engine Belt Maintenance

The engine belts are to be inspected for cracks, wear, and tears during summertime. This check is often overlooked by the caretakers of the vehicle, but if it’s done properly, can save a lot of time and money.

The below-given costs are the main costs that would incur while doing maintenance during summertime.

Wear and tear on vehicles
Air condition overheating
Diminished Vehicle power
Poor visibility
Tire wear
Brake wear

A fleet manager must be ready and thoughtful about optimizing the whole process from end to end fleet management. There are different aspects of technology apart from traditional ways that can create a positive impact in this domain.

Technology-wise, here are a few things to be adopted and implemented thoroughly,

Fleet analysis, routing, and fleet right-sizing
Fleet assessment and performance benchmarking
Operational cost analysis
Evaluation for performance improvement opportunities
Specifications and configurations
Equipment utilization
Resources review

Conclusion

The development of an in detail optimizing fleet performance enhancement plan which displays optimization opportunities and realization of financial and operational gains are important when fleet management is taken into consideration.

Ongoing monitoring and an action plan are to be set up to ensure iterative improvement in fleet optimization every time. This should not be kept as an erratic process.

Usage of fleet optimizing applications which include global positioning system hardware can always improve the performance.

Failure to Motivate Employees – How It Impacts the Management

Posted on April 13, 2018February 20, 2023 by emptranssup-useradm

To convert intention into action, employees need to be motivated & build into a stronger team to cultivate a pleasing working environment. Failure to motivate employees can create poor communication, diminished productivity & cause low levels of engagement inside the management.

Many companies spend a lot to hire motivational speakers by realizing that nurturing the talents of the employees is important to build stronger teams.

Motivation and reward are much important to cultivate a good working environment. It is the drive that motivates employees to work towards a goal.

There is a lot of difference between how an unhappy worker approaches work and a happy worker does his/her work. Failure to recognize and reward good performance will demotivate the employees and lead to poor performance.

There are many business theories that state the importance of motivation & drawbacks of failure to motivate employees. We will be discussing them in this blog.

Relationship between Happiness and Job

Happiness has got a lot to do with business. Imagine that an unhappy employee is given a task; the person will find the work uninteresting and will complete the task without taking much interest in it. An unhappy employee does a job so that he is not fired.

Have you ever done a job above and beyond what is expected when you are not given an incentive? I’m sure your answer will be no. On the other hand, a happy worker will find the work enjoyable and find value in the work that is to be done.

There are intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect motivation.

Intrinsic factors

Responsibility – A sense of responsibility motivates an employee to work well.
Achievement – Employees are motivated when they a driven to a goal. Something to achieve is always a motivation to employees.
Recognition – When employees are praised for their work, they feel good that their work is being recognized.
Growth – When they achieve growth in their field of work it is a motivation for them.

Extrinsic Factors

Salary – When they are given a hike in their salary they tend to be more productive.
Benefits – When employees are provided with benefits other than their salary they feel motivated.
Working conditions – Better working conditions are a necessity and when provided with it will increase the productivity of the employees.
Safety and security – Apart from good working conditions a safer and more secure working condition will boost the morale of the employees.

Motivational Theories

There are numerous motivational theories that have been advised by experts in the field of management. They state that there are certain factors in the workplace that are responsible for employee satisfaction.

We will be discussing two of the main theories that point out the factors that motivate employees.

Herzberg’s Motivation Theory or Two Factor Theory

Herzberg’s motivation theory states that there are certain factors that motivate the employees and certain others that demotivate them.

This behavioral scientist proposed this hygiene theory factor affects the motivation and performance of the employees. There are job factors that prevent dissatisfaction while there are others that result in satisfaction. This was the theory put forward by Herzberg.

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory

One of the most popular theories proposed by Abraham Maslow is the need hierarchy theory. It suggests that there is a hierarchy of needs that is basic to every human being. These needs are:

Physiological
Safety
Social
Esteem
Self-actualization

Maslow proposed that all human efforts are to satisfy these needs and that motivation is the result of a person trying to achieve these needs. These needs are represented in a hierarchical form in a pyramid.

What Lack of Motivation Can Do?

Failure to motivate employees for their work they will soon make them start to think about why they should put much effort when it is not recognized. Management must be conscious of the things that cause demotivation among employees and solve it in time.

Employees who are not appreciated and motivated for the work that they do might stoop to a lower level. They must always be informed about the company goals and employee objectives. This gives them a sense of how important their work is to the organization.

It affects the morale of an entire office when one employee is dissatisfied with the work that he is doing. If the employees are dissatisfied with their jobs it can soon turn out that they will want to quit their job.

If you want to keep them occupied with their work make sure that you make it interesting for them.

Concluding Thoughts

It is essential that you must appreciate the work of your employees and give them proper motivation and appraisal. For instance, you might be running a customer service project where your employees need to solve the issues of your clients.

Failure to motivate employees might make it uneasy to talk with customers. They might not have the patience or energy to deal the customers they are talking with. In such situations, it is important to motivate them for the work they are doing.

Employee motivation can not only be done in terms of money but also by appreciating the work that they do.

How Do You Track or Measure Employee Engagement

Posted on April 9, 2018February 20, 2023 by emptranssup-useradm

Employee productivity is the holy grail for a company’s growth. A company’s human resource capabilities and its productive employee engagement on any day indicate the kind of growth a company is poised to have.

A lot of software products and solutions are available in the market.

Measuring employee engagement in office hours is one of the major things to be handled in a company’s state of affairs.

For staff to be engaged fully in office premises, they need to understand and believe that the company really cares about them.

That’s when the employee needs to know that their boss shows them that they care, so they’ll reply with much loyalty and sincerity to the whole group and company.

There are different methods to measure employee engagement. Most of these require both human and software-based intervention. Here are a few ways for your organization to measure employee engagement.

1) Surveys

Conduct one on one surveys on employees. This is a good way to analyze and track employee engagement. This can be done either offline or online.

By offline, it would be done by distributing questionnaires on papers to the employees and asking them to fill it up.

The questionnaire form would basically be a feedback template on which the employee can record his outputs based on the questions asked on the work culture, office environment, management behavior.

2) Recognition

A company in which its employees are recognized for their contribution would definitely add value to the whole organization.

Presenting awards for the best performers like the top employee award, most valuable player award, emerging star award could be a way for the organization to raise the competitive spirit, also improving employee engagement in various strata of the job.

3) Employee Happiness

Just having the right people would not be enough. If the company is having an uninspired workforce then it will be marred with more absences, a higher attrition rate, and a dip in performance.

Companies need an integral leader to make sure that everyone is happy and committed to succeeding. Without a clear vision to ensure workplace happiness, you will lose to increase everyone’s true talent. Happy staffs are productive staffs.

The tensions of the tasks assigned to staff can let them down. If the management wants to keep everyone engaged, then they must provide a working environment that employees want to be part of.

By introducing areas where your staff can rejuvenate and relax, the employer will increase the productivity and output of the employees. This can be done by introducing a game area, an innovation space, etc.

4) Work-life flexibility

In the fast-moving working environment, the thin line between work and life is a vexed question that is to be tackled on the go.

The management expects even more from their staff, also this can lead to putting the employees in a state of pressure or dilemma as to continue with the company or not.

Most of the time, this leads to long working hours which might end up with the employees staying away from their family which may affect them badly.

Providing flexible hours and working approaches to employees will give all employees to get hold of a good balance between life and work.

5) Regular Communication

Every staff of your company will be having their own problems. Addressing them would be a part of the human resource team and in net effect, this process would add up to employee productivity in all means.

By keeping an open interaction, you will implement an agile staff force that would want to work within your company.

Additionally, it is good to have personnel in the human resource team to take the initiative in your absence to effectively interact with your team.

Break down the silos and create systems so every staff in your company can get in touch with you. Take time to respond to your staff questions and leave very less queries unanswered.

6) Encourage staff to come out of their comfort zones

Employees are always repugnant to being or doing redundant tasks. A very few are excited being so.

By providing your employees with new responsibilities every day, the employer will also be giving them new opportunities to nurture and grow. This is equally beneficial to both the employee group and the organization.

This is a great way to make the staff feel valued and to enhance productivity among peers. New talent discovery is an undeniable fact that would come up if you introduce and delegate your staff to new opportunities and provide them with ownership.

There are also online tools to get feedback and take surveys of the employees. This is a new process that is gathering pace in the industry now.

Measuring the employee engagement process, adding points to each level that the employee has reached in the process, and incentivizing them is a new strategy adopted by the organizations to instill employee engagement.