Last year, I talked about a serious problem with recruitment and retention that the CILT driver shortage survey had highlighted among members of both the BusMark and LogMark benchmarking scheme.
It had graphically shown just how bad the realities of the driver shortage actually were. Coach and bus operators fared worse than haulage companies, with an astonishing 96% of them admitting that they were unable to cover all their work.
That article preceded a series of contributions from industry experts which were subsequently published in routeone. Each brought a fresh perspective to the lens of the driver shortage crisis. routeone has been highly supportive of this agenda, and we have agreed that the process will be repeated in 2024.
It has been interesting to reflect on some of the great initiatives that the bus industry has launched during the recent past. In my 41 years in the sector, innovation has always been at its heart. Why would not that same innovation be directed to the industry’s biggest and most crucial challenge?
There are some excellent examples of that to be found. For me, one particularly stands out. That is the Recruit, Retain campaign run by Nottingham City Transport (NCT), under the leadership of Managing Director David Astill.
That initiative was not a sudden success; indeed, it had been 10 years in the making. NCT has worked with DriverMetrics to improve recruitment and selection of new drivers, and to develop competencies for existing staff.
The introduction of the Driver Risk Index has had a significant positive impact on both the selection of new recruits and the ability to intervene with established drivers who are under-performing. The results are impressive, and NCT has won a well-deserved award for its work.
Other examples include the You are not a bus driver approach implemented by Go North East. If you have not seen its clever videos, check them out. They are engaging and positive, and not at all cheesy, as they playfully describe drivers.
Another excellent use of video to recruit can be found in southern England, where Brighton and Hove Buses and Metrobus have produced a charming episode called A driving licence and a smile are all we ask.
That, too, is well worth a watch on YouTube. It uses Victoria Wood-style poetry to promote the benefits and rewards of becoming a bus driver. Such an approach demonstrates that positive investment and using home-grown staff to promote a good career, with good pay and conditions, can attract the right people to do this vital job.
In conclusion: Last year, we flagged the real concern that driver shortage was having on the industry. That challenge is still very real, and the government’s refusal to put coach and bus drivers on the shortage occupations list does not help anyone.
But despite that, the sector, as ever, continues to find solutions to issues around driver recruitment and retention. Hopefully, some generous recent pay awards coupled to flexible working practices can help the cause. I will watch with great interest how the industry rises to the challenge in 2024 – aided and abetted by some thought-provoking articles throughout the year.
Watch this space.
About the author
Austin Birks joined the National Bus Company’s senior management training scheme in 1983, later working for FirstGroup. He now has other business interests and chairs CILT’s Bus and Coach Forum.
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