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Home comforts

16th November 1995
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Page 36, 16th November 1995 — Home comforts
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Important though good wages are in retaining staff, operators can attract and retain the best by offering other benefits. Your drivers will be the first to thank you if a hot meal awaits them at the end of a shift.

There are no hard and fast rules for making your employees love you but there are a few basic things you can do which help to retain valued employees. Paying high wages is one of them—the operator who pays drivers twice the going rate is certainly going to attract staff and keep them.

But the operator who pays twice the going rate might not survive in business long enough to find out whether his staff want to stay until retirement. Paying good wages should be part of the package, but other benefits which add value to wages and comfort to the working environment should not be ignored.

Proper canteen

For example, how many transport companies have proper canteen facilities providing somewhere for drivers to relax while waiting for their next loads or for their vehicles to be maintained?

Tanker operator Patterson Bulk Liquids near Batley, Yorkshire is limited to a garage where drivers can make a cup of tea at present, although it does have the welcome addition of showers. But next year the 60tanker operation is building offices at its depot which will include a canteen catering for 20 to 30 at a time. "When they come in to clean and wash out they won't have to hang about in the garage or in the wet," says transport manager Eddie Storr. "Drivers are sometimes here for several hours and it will give them somewhere to relax."

Storr believes the canteen will also improve communication with more face-toface contact between management and staff. In the present set-up, drivers simply pick up written instructions at the depot on a Friday for the following week's work and little verbal communication takes place. Fortunately, the company has a low staff turnover, helped partly by the fact that tanker driver wages are relatively high.

Some hauliers argue that a staff canteen is impractical because most employees are drivers who are away from the depot for days at a time. For operations like these, vending may be the solution. Janette Gledhill, director of the Vending Association, says this can be extremely flexible with machines capable of vending drinks and hot meals. "Some employers give their employees a card which allows them so many meals free and then they pay for the rest," she says. "The cost will depend on the throughput in a particular site and how often it needs replenishing."

Alternatively, a canteen for a small number of staff can offer a mixture of branded products and limited fresh food, such as the ever popular all-day-breakfast.

Mike Oldfield, director of business and industry for contract caterer the Compass Group, deals with many haulage firms: "When the M25 opened we took on business from many transport companies in the vicinity—a lot are breakfast-based: drivers eat very early and then go on the road," he says. In these circumstances a staffed grill bar and a range of vending machines can work quite well. Oldfield's clients usually want to recover the cost of the food from their employees but are prepared to pay the add-on costs, such as staff and a management fee. Typically, a small canteen employing two staff will cost 420,000 to 430,000 a year and Compass will design and run the facility.

For companies employing hundreds, Compass can provide a famous name restaurant. It has sole rights in workplaces, railway stations and airports for Burger King, Pizza Hut, Upper Crust and Cafe Select Bob Cotton, director corporate affairs at industry caterer Gardner Merchant, says providing a staff restaurant gives "a strong message from the management that the staff are worthwhile" and for transport companies in isolated places it may be the only means—short of bringing sandwiches—of providing food for staff.

Two other areas which help to create a bond between employees and employer outside a straight "wages for work" exchange are works pension schemes and employee share schemes.

To set up a pension scheme independent advice is essential—it is no good talking to an adviser who is linked to a particular product or service. The Society of Pension Consultants has members who can provide the independent advice necessary to set up a fund for both small and large companies, to advise on the legal obligations and, if necessary, to run it. "If an employer does not want to run his scheme one of our members will do it for him," says SOPC secretary John Mortimer. "Anything can be contracted out."

Mortimer believes a good benefits package will go a long way to attracting the right people, but stresses that while a staff pension scheme might help attract new staff, it will not stop someone leaving: "When people move jobs the pension scheme is not the clinching factor, he says."

On the other hand, employee share ownership has been proved to be a direct motivating factor, with US statistics revealing that companies with a wide employee share ownership grow, on average, 11% faster than other companies

A survey of UK companies has shown that three out of four management teams believe that employee share ownership has a positive effect on productivity (CM 3-9 November 1994).

Beneficial effect

The schemes can have a beneficial effect on staff retention as tax-efficient schemes often require shares to be held for a number of years before their value can be realised, One method is to set up an ESOP (employee share ownership plan) with an employee benefit trust at its core which acquires and holds shares in the company.

The ESOP creates an internal market which allows employees to sell shares back to the ESOP for distribution to other employees. The articles of association can be drafted so that employees leaving have to sell their shares back to the company, ensuring all shares remain in the hands of employees.

Another area often overlooked by companies is the value of a good trade union agreement, which can ensure both fairness and a set of standards understood by all. Mick Binns, general-secretary of the National Owner Drivers' Association, represents owner-drivers but many are "selfemployed" in name only. At aggregates giant RMC, Binns represents 400 drivers: "Where there is a recognition agreement and the company endeavours to make it work, it is of mutual benefit," he says. "The company will contact me if it sees a problem laming so we can work together to make sure it does not get out of hand: similarly, my members can contact me to avert a problem."

Norfolk haulier Jack Richards, based in Fakenham, has developed a traditional relationship with its drivers: "We pay reasonably good money compared to other employers in the area," says director Tony Richards, adding that, anyway, the region is short of driving jobs, The value of good equipment should not be overlooked—Jack Richards is currently buying a new ERF EC10 every month. The company's first driver completes 25 years service next year and many other drivers have served 15 or 20 years.

Richards explains such long service by a regional X-factor: "The Norfolk man has always been loyal whether he is a painter, a plumber or a farmworker."

by Patric Curmane


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