Benefits of Adding a Defensive Driving Course to Your Onboarding Training Strategy
Bringing new employees onto your team creates opportunities, but it also carries risk. If you’ve hired well, new staff can bring innovative ideas and improvements, as well as a fresh perspective and energy for the work. But new team members can also bring bad habits and skill deficiencies into their new role. That’s why onboarding is a critical step for both employees and the organization.
Onboarding is the act of bringing people into your organization as employees. Depending on the nature of the work and the type of company, you may also need to onboard contractors as well. The onboarding period is intended to integrate the new hires into your organization’s culture while providing them with the training they need to do their jobs effectively.
If their job involves driving, your onboarding process should include driver training.
Fleet Training is Important for All
But wait, you might say. Our drivers don’t need to drive specialized vehicles; they will be driving cars, small trucks, or vans and navigating roads they’re already familiar with. As long as they have a driver’s license, aren’t they trained enough?
Well, let’s think about that. Most drivers get their licenses as teens or young adults, and they may be coming on board with your company years or even decades later. Many states don’t require drivers to take driving lessons with a qualified instructor. And while drivers do need to pass written and driving tests, they may have forgotten some of the finer points as soon as the license was acquired.
Additionally, if your fleet drivers must maneuver larger vehicles, like vans or box trucks, they may face unfamiliar situations, like avoiding low hanging branches or building sections, or backing where they can only use side mirrors. Driver education classes don’t typically cover these hazards.
That means the responsibility for ensuring that their driving skills are adequate falls on the business. In most cases, when employees are driving company vehicles, and even sometimes when they are driving their personal vehicles to complete company business, the business is responsible for any accidents caused by their driver.
So, if an employee has an accident while on business for the company, it could impact the company’s insurance rates as well as the public’s opinion of the organization.
Training Drivers is Smart Business
The onboarding process is the ideal time to provide driving instruction to new employees in driving roles. This might be completed as live training or an online course, but it should refresh the employee’s existing knowledge and provide additional training.
But is it worth the additional cost of training? Time and again, studies show that the answer is yes. Good training programs will pay for themselves twice over by decreasing the number of accidents, which can lower the organization’s insurance premiums and prevent lost employee production time.
And when your drivers are safe, people will take notice, building your organization’s reputation as one that prioritizes safety and doing things the right way.
More Advantages
One more advantage of providing driver training is employee retention. While there is an added cost associated with providing any kind of training, a company that is willing to invest in its employees is more likely to retain high-quality employees. That means fewer training dollars going out the door as skilled employees stay loyal to your organization. And these skilled drivers will also be your best asset for recruiting new employees who are also highly skilled and motivated to stay with your company as your organization grows.
If cost is a concern, take a look at online fleet driver training provided by DriveSafe Online, which offers competitive pricing without skimping on quality. In fact, DriveSafe Online was named the “Best Overall Online Defensive Driving Course” for 2021.
Whether your employees drive company vehicles or personal vehicles for work tasks, or if they only drive in a limited role for your organization, a defensive driving course will ensure that everyone gets consistent, high-quality training.
DriveSafe Online defensive driving courses present state-specific driving laws and use an engaging, full-screen video format, drone video, and animations to immerse learners in the material. They also provide comprehensive instruction on standard driving techniques as well as situations that are unique to those who drive for a living.
Decrease downtime to keep your drivers on the road. Since these courses are 100% online, they can be deployed according to your scheduling and can be paused and restarted at any time with our intelligent bookmarking feature. These courses come in a variety of lengths to meet your company’s needs.
All of DriveSafe Online’s courses include a Certificate of Completion for documentation purposes. You can use this to share with your clientele that safety is a priority for your company.
Driver safety education is crucial for those who get behind the wheel in the name of your organization. Providing inadequate training, no training at all, or training only after an incident has occurred are risks that can be extremely costly, both in terms of dollars and human life.
Avoid the risk and incorporate defensive driving instruction into your onboarding strategy today.
Patrick M. is Editorial Director for the always expanding DriveSafe Online library of courses. With over two decades of experience developing award-winning training, he now focuses on innovating online driver safety training. Pulling from his background in journalism, he steers the wheel behind the creation of top-tier content that promotes a better journey—whether on the digital highway of learning or the real roads we travel every day.