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Is there a better way of tracking employees?

  • February 7, 2017
  • AssessorsCommissionersCountyFirst RespondersGIS MappingGovernmentPolicePublic WorksSmall businessSolutionsState

Tracking assets for constructionA few years ago I owned a small route service company, Nature Scent Environmental Services, each day my employees would come into the warehouse get their route for the day and load up their business trucks. Then they would set out to take care of our customers. We had done things like this for years, and it seemed to work well. One morning one of our employees was in an accident on his way to the office. I told him to take care of himself and that I would jump in the truck and care for his customers exposing a weakness in our model that I hadn’t realized existed.

You see the company had been growing rapidly since our inception, it had started out as just my wife and me, but due to our success, we had been adding customers and employees. My employees were loyal and hardworking, and almost never took sick days. This day as I was filling in for my employee, I realized that we had grown to the point that I know longer knew where all of our customers where. This success was a good thing, but as I struggled to find customer locations, I knew this was a weak point that had to be addressed.

I decided that we needed a GPS tracking solution, but those were the early days of the internet and tech as we know it today. Mobile data networks barely existed, and AVL was prohibitively expensive, so I had our system built. It was a simple system we couldn’t see anything live it would only update over wifi when the trucks pulled back into the warehouse at the end of each day. Our goal was not to catch employees doing anything wrong; I had good employees. I just needed to make sure if someone called in sick or quit that we knew where all of their stops were and could easily fill their absence.

driver safety report

Free white paper on improvements to driver safety with in-vehicle GPS.

What I learned from this shocked me! Sure I could now see our customers locations, and that was invaluable, but the back and forth driving to see customers looked like a preschooler scribbling on a map. We optimized the routes our employees were driving and saw an immediate bump in the number of customers each employee could see by 30%. We were getting ready to hire another employee to keep up with demand, but with this new found efficiency we didn’t have to. Not only that but we were able to grow considerably more again without adding the expense of another salary, truck, fuel and everything else it took to make that employee satisfied.

Today we have an amazing system that allows you to manage your team from any location. Whether from your office or on the road we have the tools to make your company more profitable. Here’s to a fantastic year for your business. We would love to leverage our experience in GPS and AVL tracking to help you fill in the gaps. Whether that’s improving your employee’s safety, improving your customer impressions with on-time arrivals or adding money to your bottom line. Contact us today to for a no pressure demonstration of our GPS tracking software.

Four ways to get employees onboard to new technology.

  • January 14, 2017
  • Business NeedsGIS MappingGPS TrackingNewsSmall business

Change happens in all organizations. When it comes to business finding better ways to do things, especially when it comes to utilizing technology, is a means for more profits, quicker turnaround, and stronger customer satisfaction. New tools for timekeeping, processing, delivery and a myriad of other techniques in the workspace make the day to day operations more efficient. For all of the ways technology, like in-vehicle GPS technology, make a businesses life better, it is unfortunate then that many managers and team leaders have difficulty getting a buy-in from employees.

Whether it be a false sense that big brother is watching or a false sense of loyalty to old ways of doing things, many personnel find it difficult to accept these new tools, here are some basic tips on getting everyone onboard to these new forms of tech that make life easier in the long run.

Listen to employee concerns.

Take the time to hear employees concerns. The point is to lessen the impact of modifications to the procedure before the change takes place. Take a chance to observe employees as they will often remain silent, but performance and anxiety are indicators.

Show empathy for employee concerns.

Employees feel at a loss in times of stress and challenge search for solutions from management. Be transparent and honest. Speak to their concerns and use reassurance to calm fears. Don’t make false promises, just keep an open door policy for employees to communicate. For example, if drivers are concerned about new GPS in-vehicle tracking in their vehicles, listen to the concerns so they can be addressed, and to cull any rumors about spying on the employees.

Be positive about the change.

Reinforce goodwill by remaining upbeat about the modification. Get the buy-in from integral employees to be evangelists about the new technology. Show how it will benefit the work environment.

Make sure training is beneficial.

Make the time for employees to prepare for using the new technology. Preparation and training can help them transition. It will help to make them feel more comfortable and have the added benefit of making a move to the new platform smoother.

Recent Posts

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  • Is there a better way of tracking employees?
  • How first responders can gain transparency in day to day operations

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