Often overlooked, though a critical component to fleet management- People Management. The reality is that the majority of a fleet manager’s time often is spent dealing with personnel and interdepartmental issues. How you deal with these issues influences shop morale, user department relationships, and management’s opinion of your effectiveness as fleet manager.
Successful “people management” equates to successful fleet management. This translates into increased and improved operational efficiencies and improved customer service.
Below are six characteristics of said people management, employed by and common among the best of fleet managers around the nation:
1. Become a Role Model: Successful people management means you yourself, serve as an example of excellence. “Do as I Do”-By maintaining a high standard of personal performance, you encourage a similar high standard from all associates. An effective fleet manager ensures all employees perform to the best of their abilities and are given opportunities to improve their skill sets, and can do the job right the first time. In addition, a role model also means standing behind promises and following through on commitments to staff, user departments, and management.
2. Fairness. One way to exemplify fairness to your workforce is to ensure all rules are applied equally. It is important to be impartial when enforcing fleet policy and company rules. ‘Not Just a Critic”-Fairness also means acknowledging when someone does a good job. Never take credit for other people’s work, but also by providing constructive criticism when needed. Maintaining a “feel good” environment is sometimes counter-productive. Strive to develop a management style that is fair, firm, and consistent.
3. Encourage Self-Growth. Develop programs that incentivize associates to advance their skill sets by striving for excellence and taking advantage of training opportunities. Let your associates know you are receptive to new ideas to improve fleet operations. Encourage creativity and innovation!
4. Problem Resolution. When issues emerge with your fleet operation, your focus should be finding solutions, not assigning blame. If it is necessary to criticize, do so in private. The best way to resolve problems is to prevent them from happening in the first place. You may think everyone understands the goals of the department; however, it is important not to take this for granted. It is crucial to continually re-communicate the goals of the department. These goals need to be well defined and clearly stated.
5. Cultivate Customer Service. A best-in-class fleet operation has excellent interdepartmental relationships. It is important to remember that without user departments there would be no need for fleet operations. “Word of Mouth”-the cheapest advertising for your company you’ll ever find! An effective fleet manager listens to user departments. It is important to regularly survey customers to determine their needs, wants, and expectations of fleet operations. If you are not meeting these needs and expectations, then you’ve failed as a fleet operation. It is important for fleet operations to be cost-efficient and to temper unwarranted user department demands, but an unhappy customer represents a deficiency in your department’s performance.
Remember—-People management is harder than fleet management!