How to Introduce GPS Tracking to Employees
The Top 5 Questions Businesses Have on Gaining Acceptance
How do you build a positive perception of GPS tracking with your employees? If you are considering using fleet management technology to solve your businesses challenges, this is likely a question you and your management are looking to answer.
Although you may be convinced that GPS tracking will benefit your business, we often hear that employees are not always on the same page from the start.
It is common for drivers to think GPS tracking is “Big Brother” or not understand how and why your business plans to use the technology. It is essential to promote driver adoption before using GPS data to ensure this project is successful.
We get questions often from business owners and fleet managers on how they should introduce GPS tracking to their drivers. Here are the top 5 questions our customers ask and how to address them to help gain employees acceptance.
Video: Introducing GPS Tracking to Employees
1. How do we address employee concerns?
It’s important to listen to the objections your employees have about GPS tracking and answer them with complete transparency. It will open the door to a conversation that allows you to debunk the myths and alleviate their concerns. You can explain that using GPS tracking is not about a lack of trust; it is about incorporating tools that will create better results for your business.
When there is technology available to help solve difficult business challenges, help perform jobs more efficiently, and increase revenue, why would it not be used? Explaining that your business will not use GPS tracking to be overly intrusive, but rather to improve productivity and help the business become more profitable, will increase positive perception of the technology.
2. When should we tell employees?
Some fleet owners and managers are concerned about employees reacting negatively to their business using a GPS platform to track their vehicles, so they start using the system without introducing the technology to drivers and then surprise them with punishments. However, it is strongly advised to discuss your plans to use GPS tracking with your drivers before using the data.
Using GPS tracking to monitor vehicle locations without employee knowledge usually results with backlash and creates a negative perception of the technology. It is important to be upfront and honest about your plans to use the technology from the beginning.
3. How does GPS tracking Benefit employees?
One of the best ways to gain acceptance from your drivers is to discuss the ways GPS tracking benefit employees directly. GPS tracking helps businesses solve many challenges like increasing safety, improving driver accountability, and making operations more efficient. When your business runs as effectively as possible, it has a direct impact on revenue.
When your business becomes more profitable, it will increase employees’ earning potential. Having more funds available allows your business to increase salaries, award bonuses, and create incentives for employees.
Incentive programs
Incentive programs are a great way to improve fleet metrics and motivate your employees at the same time. A Driver Scorecard Report ranks drivers/vehicles based on speeding, rapid acceleration/deceleration, and idle time. You can use this report to show your employees what areas they need to improve to receive their incentives.
4. Should we share the business challenges that brought this on?
Another frequent question businesses have is if they should explain why the business needs to use a GPS tracking system. It is advised to share the business need for the technology with your employees, and it’s likely to increase their acceptance as well.
If speeding citations are higher than industry standards or fuel costs are at an all-time high, you should absolutely share that information with employees. Presenting how a GPS tracking system can help solve these challenges is important and will help your employees understand why the business needs it and get them on board.
5. How do we present the new rules?
It should not be a surprise to your drivers when they are held accountable for their behavior with GPS tracking data. That’s why it is a best practice to write driver policies for when and where GPS tracking will be used and share this information with your employees before the policy is put into action.
When your employees understand what is expected of them, there should be little to no backlash when this information is used for coaching or to hold them responsible for their performance.
Download: 5 Tips When Putting Safety Policies in Ink
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