National association OF
ISSUE 25/ MAY 2016
MOTORCOACH operators Monthly
Motorcoach
Industry At A Glance The Elements of Making an Effective Cold Call How to Give Better Employee
Performance Reviews
New U.S. DOT proposed
safety standard establishes additional safety for motorcoach
and large bus occupants
4 SALES MISTAKES SALES MANAGERS MAKE AND HOW TO AVOID THEM/
WHY “YOU’RE FIRED” IS SOMETHING EVERY BOSS SHOULD BE SAYING/
Here are four common mistakes Sales Managers make that can lead to their downfall...
Firing people has a bad rap in business. But sometimes, firing someone is the greatest gift...
THE ELEMENTS OF MAKING AN EFFECTIVE COLD CALL/
FMCSA REQUIRES USE OF NEW HEALTH FORM DETAILING MORE THOROUGH MEDICAL HISTORIES/
Let’s face it, most folks don’t enjoy making cold calls, but as any salesperson or business...
A new version of the commercial vehicle driver medical examination report form requires truckers to...
CAN WEARABLES MAKE HOURS-OFSERVICE RULES OBSOLETE?/
For many in the industry, the high-profile crash in New Jersey in 2014 involving a...
MOTORCOACH INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE/
EEOC ACTS AGAIN ON LGBT RIGHTS/
The EEOC has again taken the reins on LGBT rights by issuing some “Bathroom” guidance...
NEW U.S. DOT PROPOSED SAFETY STANDARD ESTABLISHES ADDITIONAL SAFETY FOR MOTORCOACH AND LARGE BUS OCCUPANTS/
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety...
HOW TO GIVE BETTER EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS/
Conducting regular performance reviews is an important and constructive...
UBER, LYFT VOW TO STOP DRIVING IN AUSTIN AFTER VOTERS KEEP REGULATIONS/
After voters in Austin, Texas, rejected a proposal for loosened regulations on....
According to a recent study released by the American Bus Association Foundation...
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Chairman’s Message Spring has Sprung and with it comes a very busy travel season. I would like to encourage all of our NAMO Members to practice what we preach and ‘TRAVEL SAFE” as we explore this great country we call home. A big Thank You goes out to all of our NAMO Members that were able to join dozens of other industry leaders in Washington, D.C., to participate in the American Bus Association’s (ABA) first annual Capitol Hill Fly-In, members met with elected officials and their staff to discuss important issues impacting our business. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ranking Member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, addressed participants and engaged with them on important issues facing
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the motorcoach, travel and tourism industries. Of particular interest to the congresswoman would be for her to actually speak with owner/ operators in the industry and the struggles they face keeping their respective companies up to date on the many rules and regulations that they face. To that respect Frank Farrow with Peter Pan and our own Executive Administrator Mary Presley have requested a face to face meeting with the congresswoman to enlighten her on several items of interest particularly the Safety Fitness Determination Rule now opened for comment. The purpose of this rule is to eliminate the current three-tier rating system (For example, satisfactory, conditional, and unsatisfactory) for determining safety fitness in favor of a single determination of unfit. Using data
the group leaders sitting at round table and the tour & travel partners moving from table to table every 6 minutes to speak to the group leaders about what their area and or property has to offer to their groups with the hopes of attracting more business.
from inspections or both, FMCSA proposes to evaluate carriers monthly to determine if they failed two or more BASICs and thus should be proposed unfit. More can be read on this important rule affecting our industry by going to: http://www.tianet.org/TIAnetOrg/docs/ FMCSASafetyFitnessDetermination.pdf Registration materials have been released for our upcoming Annual Conference in Atlantic City, NJ and the Atlantic City CVB has so many activities planned for the afternoon and evening events that I recommend you bring comfortable walking shoes.
If you have group leaders that you would like to participate in this session please contact Mary Presley to register them asap. The location of this portion of the conference will be held at Taj Mahal next door to Resorts Casino. More on this session can be read in our conference registration materials so be sure to open that email when you get it and register soon as rooms are extremely limited and on a first come first serve basis only. Registration materials are also available on our website at WWW.NAMOCOACHES.ORG. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! Daryl Johnson J and J Charter, Chairman, NAMO
We are trying something new this year and inviting Group Leaders to participate in a Tour & Travel Marketplace. The format for this new session will include tour & travel partners from Atlantic City and beyond with
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4 Sales Mistakes
4 Sales Mistakes Sales Mana and How to Avoid Them
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agers Make
Here are four common mistakes Sales Managers make that can lead to their downfall or the downfall of their team.
1. Focusing on the Wrong Guy It is easy to focus your attentions on the guy that is making the most sales. However, you have to focus on the guys who are not hitting their targets and find out why. What you need to know from your top performers is what technique they are using. You can then try using that technique to train those who are under performing.
2. Grooming the Wrong Leader It is important to be looking to those below you to help you find the next leaders. It is not necessarily crazy to think you will automatically be drawn to your top sellers, but selling is not managing. Watch your entire team for signs of leadership, not for those who sell well. This will help in two ways. First, it may help keep your top sellers in the ranks of selling where they belong and in many cases earning better money for themselves depending on your pay and commission structure. Second, it will help you find the right person to lead. Leaders have different qualities than sellers although sometimes the two do meet. Use tools to assess your sales team to discover their hidden talents so you are grooming the right people for the right job.
3. Selling Sounds odd, but it is true. Sales Managers don’t sell, they lead. Make sure you don’t get caught up in selling as a) It takes sales away from your team and b) It takes you away from your job.
4. Forget Your Responsibilities
Core
Job
Description
&
In general, a Sales Manager should only do the following: • Train and develop the team • Hold the team accountable for goals • Coach and motivate • Hire and fire
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Being a Sales Manager is not always easy. Finding ways to help your team succeed is a job that requires dedication and constant attention to detail. If you are going to be a successful sales manager, you must avoid making mistakes sales managers make like the ones listed above.
Article by Doug Dvorak seen on www.business2community.com www.greenazine.com
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Making An Effective Cold Call
The Elements of Making an Effective Cold Call Let’s face it, most folks don’t enjoy making cold calls, but as any salesperson or business owner knows, they are one of the most effective ways of reaching your decision makers. Whether you’re the founder of a company picking up the phone or you’re training a new sales team member — planning a cold call can be a dreaded task. Making an effective cold call takes time and effort but if done right, the payoff can be well worth the work.
Making An Effective Cold Call Requires Planning Call the Correct Companies First thing you need to do is decide which types of companies you want to target. Many folks that I speak to tell me that “any company” can use our services. While that may “technically” true, that “any company” may use your services, you really want to hone in on what types of companies really need your services, versus can use your services. For example, we’re a marketing company, one might think that “any company” would need our services, but this isn’t true. When we build our lists, we think of the types of companies that are marketing intensive like a B2B software provider who is more likely to have nice marketing budget, then let’s say a distributor. Really give thought as to your best candidates, and put your resources there.
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Call the Right People Just because someone is the “decision maker”, doesn’t mean that’s who your first outreach should be with. Think in terms of process owner. Who would most benefit from your solution? If it’s a small business, the owner is ultimately the decision maker, but reaching them is tough, and furthermore, they will probably send you to the person in charge of that process area. If you are pitching SEO, you need to get the person in charge of marketing involved. Eventually the owner will need to be brought in, but they have a million other responsibilities. Instead, again focus on the person responsible for the functional area you want to target.
Write Your Script Now this is make or break part. Most folks do this incorrectly. Always remember that a cold call is an interruption, so be respectful of the prospects time. Also, don’t be salesy. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but your “first” call with the prospect should really be learning about their needs. Unlike writing sales collateral, you only have a few seconds to easily explain what you do so you have to be to the point. If you can’t do that in 2 sentences, you need to refocus. Keep the call brief, while ultimately focusing on the prospects needs. When we develop our
scripts, we keep them very short, and to the point. They are not heavy on selling, rather on probing for pain. We ask the decision makers questions such as “Is your team developing enough leads?” or “Is the quality of the leads where they need to be?”, and this is a big one. “Is your company looking to expand their lead generation efforts?” If we get a “yes” to that, we know we are in good shape, and this is a good candidate to nurture. You can apply these examples to any script that your company develops. Don’t waste your time selling something that someone doesn’t need, instead make that first call a discovery call, and only if there is a legitimate business need for your service, should you pursue further. This will help prevent you from wasting time and effort on deals that won’t close, and allow you to focus on the solid prospects.
If you invest the time upfront to ensure you are calling the correct companies and draft a tothe-point script you can have a great success rate in securing new customers from a cold call. Remember to stick to the point and don’t get discouraged if you get some ‘no’s’ or even no responses. Everything can take time, and making an effective cold calls is no exception.
Article by Al Davidson seen on www.smallbiztrends.com READ THE ORIGINAL
ARTICLE ONLINE
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Can Wearables Make Obsolete?
Can wearables make hour rules obsolete?
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urs-of-service
For many in the industry, the high-profile crash in New Jersey in 2014 involving a Walmart truck – killing one person and seriously injuring actor/comedian Tracy Morgan – showed the shortcomings of Hours of Service rules. Although the driver was on duty 13-½ hours of his 14hour workday – still legal - he had been awake more than 28 hours at the time of the crash, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The trucker commuted 800-miles to his terminal the day before. “Hours of service (HOS) rules cannot address what drivers do on their own time,” said NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart. The NTSB called for fatigue management as an answer to rigid HOS time periods. What’s important, NTSB noted, is not how long drivers are on the road, or what they do on their own time, but whether or not they are too tired to drive. We talked with Sean Kerklaan CEO of Fatigue Science in Vancouver, British Columbia, whose sleep apnea spurred him to find fatigue management solutions for himself and others. We also spoke with Dan DePalma, General Manager – Northern Operations, Kamloops (B.C.) Corporate Operations of Arrow Transportation Systems, Inc., a 350-truck fleet whose drivers are using fatiguemonitoring wearables from Fatigue Science. Following are edited comments from both of them.
First, Sean Kerklaan. What got you interested in fatigue management? I was 21 years old, fairly healthy, fit, not overweight, and it my snoring was killing my relationship. I woke up every morning www.greenazine.com
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feeling horrible. It took a year to get into an overnight sleep study called a polysomnography or PSG. When I saw the doctor about six months later he said “You have sleep apnea. Buy this CPAP machine.” I tried it for a year but couldn’t tolerate it. It took me a long time to see the doctor again and he said, “Get a dental appliance.” I could not tolerate that either. I went back to see the doctor and he said, “Actually when we look at your original polysomnography, it shows that 97 percent of your apnea occurred when you were lying on your back. When on your side, you don’t have apnea.” I was frustrated as hell that the doctor didn’t tell me that on day-one or even the lab tech the night I left the sleep center. All they had to say was “Go home and sleep on your side.” There’s no risk in telling somebody to sleep on their side, but instead it took two and a half years and over $5,000.
What did you do next? I invented a prototype product with some tennis balls and duct tape that prevents you from sleeping on your back. It’s an inflatable device, kind of like wearing a bra on your back, that keeps you from sleeping on your back. I will always have sleep apnea, but I don’t suffer from it because I sleep only on my side.
What’s the idea behind your company’s Readiband wearable product? You go into a polysomnography, and the doctor tells you that you had four hours of sleep or 82 disruptions. Who cares? How do you actually quantify what that means to you other than it
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is bad for your health? Our approach is that we can quantify and give you a meaningful understanding of how yesterday’s sleep is going to impact your ability to drive safely today. Let’s empower the driver to be selfaware of his condition so instead of drinking three more coffees and two more Red Bulls, he can take a 30 or 45-minute nap at this point in his shift and be safe to drive. If we empower them with that information, I believe that drivers will make much smarter decisions. Today they’re flying blind.
Will drivers believe the data that says they’re too tired to drive? My own experience is that I’m never tired. I’m always like, “I can keep going. I can stay up. I can do more things.” Then I started wearing our technology and realized that I was able to quantify that I’m as tired as if I had a blood alcohol of 0.08. It changed my whole approach to believing [wrongly] that I’m tough, that I can just have a bit more caffeine, and I can finish this drive. Will all drivers change? Many of them probably will never change, but if they’re empowered with the information that if they take a nap at this point instead of at the end of the shift, for instance, many of them will be much safer. I don’t think drivers want to put themselves in danger. They all want to get home to their families.
How does the wearable work? You strap it on your wrist, and don’t take it off. You wear it and forget it. It’s has Bluetooth and syncs seamlessly to your phone. You don’t need to do anything. You don’t need
I tell our drivers that we can’t tuck everybody in at night. We can only do our due diligence to make sure that we’re doing all the right things. We educate drivers on how to drive; we educate them on a lot of things over the course of their day. to touch any buttons. It knows where you are, when you sat down to watch Netflix yesterday for an hour, when you read a book and when you slept. Our wearable can track how long you slept and how many sleep disruptions you had throughout the night. The next morning it can measure and model how many quality hours you actually got. After three days of data – we require 72 hours of information– it can tell you how you’re going to perform. From the wearer’s perspective, they don’t see much data in the first three days. They can see how they’re sleeping, but they won’t see what’s called the SAFTE score. [SAFTE is a biomathematical fatigue model developed by the US Army and validated by the US Department
of Transportation.] The wearer can see, for example, that they’re at peak performance now and in four and a half hours from now they’re going to start diminishing. Their reaction times will slow. The driver can now plan his or her day. It’s not punitive. It’s not, “You can’t work today.” It’s more about empowering people with information so they can understand how they can be better, do more. If you’re sitting at a desk, peak performance probably doesn’t really matter from a safety point of view, but if you’re driving a big truck, it does matter.
explain what we were doing and what the ultimate goal was. We felt that we were having too many incidents and you always think they’re fatiguerelated and we were trying to find any data that would allow us to try to determine if it really was fatiguerelated or not. At the beginning there was a little skepticism from drivers but we assured them that it was their information and kept completely confidential within the fatigue group. We made sure that they understood that. We have good relations, a good rapport with our workforce so they trusted us.
Talking with Dan DePalma of Arrow.
What did you learn?
How many drivers were involved in your fleet’s wearables project? On average we’ve done about 50 drivers a year so we’ve done roughly 200 bands over a four-year period. They were all volunteers.
What were your goals? We wanted to get some idea of how drivers were with sleep and fatigue and to see what we could learn. The first goal was to educate our workforce, to learn a little bit, make sure they understood a little more about themselves and get some aggregate data that we can share with the fatigue group. We wanted to give them some feedback in terms of the value of [fatigue management] and what it means in terms of reaction time and how effective they are in their job.
What were the drivers’ reactions? They were interested. At the beginning it was brand new and we had to
We learned that they didn’t sleep as little as we thought they did. They still could use a little bit more sleep and they could be a little more consistent with their start times when possible because that’s a big part of [not being fatigued.] We also learned that on average ten to twenty percent of our drivers had some sort of sleeping disorder. We took a lot of pride in that because it was a way to give back to our workforce and say, “Look, I think you need some help.”
Were you able to see any improvement in accidents or mishaps based on what you got back? Absolutely. We saw our incident rates drop dramatically. [He did not offer a number.] It’s not all attributed to the bands. There are a lot of things that go together when you’re looking at safety. But I believe this was definitely one of them. Making the workforce aware of how fatigue can relate to reaction times is a positive factor.
The fact that you and your workforce are aware that fatigue could be an issue means that drivers are less likely to come up with some excuse when they hit a ditch. It made [the issue of fatigue] more transparent. When people know that your awareness is focused on something, they tend to maybe do a little bit better with it.
Where do you go from here? We’ve got our own onboard technology in our trucks, our own telematics solution. We built it ourselves. We’ve got new customers for it and I’ve always been really keen and so is our fatigue group to see how we can align the two products into one. How can we tie a telematics solution that actually measures and tracks fatigue? Needless to say it’s going to be tricky. I tell our drivers that we can’t tuck everybody in at night. We can only do our due diligence to make sure that we’re doing all the right things. We educate drivers on how to drive; we educate them on a lot of things over the course of their day. Why not educate them on fatigue? It’s an educational tool to help drivers, not to punish them, not to infringe upon their rights. At the end of the day, if you want to help your people and fatigue is a problem, then I think you need to tackle it.
Article by Larry Kahaner seen on www.fleetowner.com
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GREENAZINE DIGITAL PUBLISHING
360.840.0779 chris@riddell.co PO Box 307 Lopez Island, WA 98261
May 9, 2016 Mary Presley P.O. Box 320266 Alexandria, VA 22320 Dear Mary, We have appreciated the opportunity to provide newsletters for the associations you work with over the last years. We have been thrilled to help add value and aid you in creating something that was able to deliver meaningful information to your members. Unfortunately, we will no longer be able to offer this service as of the close of business on June 30th, 2016. While the publications were a great tool, we were unsuccessful in creating enough revenue to support them through advertising sales. As you know, it was our mission to keep the cost of these publications at zero to the associations, and to support them with advertising sales to those companies who had a desire to speak to your members. While there was some interest, there was not enough to warrant the continuation of this effort. Again, we appreciate the opportunity we have had to assist you and look forward to Ăžnding new ways to help support your organizations moving forward. Your existing Greenazine publications will continue to be hosted and available online until June 30, 2017. Sincerely yours,
Christian Riddell
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In regards to the Motorcoach Marketing program, we love it. So far, we have made the 1000 postcards, and we did some full page handouts. We just got a stand up banner. When I get some time, I’ll be making new rack cards for both offices. We made 500 church theme postcards and 500 in the safety theme. We sent out the church cards through a local mailing company to every church within 50 miles. So far, we have had a great response and 4-5 people booked trips from it. I plan on using the safety ones soon by sending them to our new customers. All of our staff and drivers love the modern design and the finished products. Only one of my staff has watched the videos so far, but we will be working on that next month. So far I’m very happy with the service. It works well and looks great!
Chris Knittel
Owner/General Manager New Mexico Texas Coaches, LLC
We Help Operators Sell More Charters To More People. Easier. Faster. Far More Effective. MotorcoachMarketing.org www.greenazine.com
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Motorcoach Industry At A Glance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ABA Foundation: Motorcoach Census Shows a Healthy and Vibrant Motorcoach Industry Washington DC (April 19, 2016) -- According to a recent study released by the American Bus Association Foundation, the U.S and Canadian motorcoach industry continues to be one of the most reliable, cost effective and environmentally efficient modes of transportation. Total passenger trips remained strong at 604 million as compared to 762 million (international and domestic) enplanements1 on domestic air carriers and 30.9 million passengers for Amtrak2. The Motorcoach Census details the size and activity of the motorcoach transportation service industry in the United States and Canada for 2014. The study shows that the industry continues to serve a broad range of customers, from students to seniors, and 18 www.greenazine.com moves people with great fuel efficiency. The industry provides charter, tour, and sightseeing services, which are of vital importance to the travel and leisure industries, and
Washington DC (April 19, 2016) -- According to a recent study released by the American Bus Association Foundation, the U.S and Canadian motorcoach industry continues to be one of the most reliable, cost effective and environmentally efficient modes of transportation. Total passenger trips remained strong at 604 million as compared to 762 million (international and domestic) enplanements1 on domestic air carriers and 30.9 million passengers for Amtrak2. The Motorcoach Census details the size and activity of the motorcoach transportation service industry in the United States and Canada for 2014. The study shows that the industry continues to serve a broad range of customers, from students to seniors, and moves people with great fuel efficiency. The industry provides charter, tour, and sightseeing services, which are of vital importance to the travel and leisure industries, and intercity and commuter services, which are essential components of the passenger transportation systems in both the United States and Canada. In 2014, the industry created a total of 128,300 jobs in 2014; 71,900 full-time and 56,400 part-time. The report including full methodology is available online at http://www.buses.org/abafoundation/research-summary/size-and-scope. Selected Highlights: Data Type US Carriers US Motorcoaches
2012
2013
%change
2014
% change
3,648
3,471
-4.9%
3,300
-4.1%
36,017
32,811
-8.9%
32,825
0.0%
Airlines for America at http://airlines.org/data/annual-results-u-s-airlines-2/ Amtrak FY 2014 at http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amtrak-ridership-and-revenues-continuestrong-growth-in-fy-2014-110157878.html 1 2
Passenger Trips
626,988,900
605,084, 000
-3.5%
603,918,000
-0.2%
Passenger trips per motorcoach
15,600
16,400
5.1%
16,500
0.6%
Passenger miles per gallon of fuel
220.8
207.8
-5.9%
199.4
-4.0%
Demographics 2012
2013
% Change
2014
% Change
Students
25.2%
21.0%
-16.7%
22.0%
5.0%
Senior
26.2%
28.3%
-7.9%
26.6%
-5.9%
All Other
48.5%
50.7%
4.5%
51.3%
1.2%
Data Type
www.greenazine.com The decline in the size of companies is attributed to mergers and acquisitions, companies going out of business, and companies discontinuing motorcoach service. The increase in
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Demographics 2012
2013
% Change
2014
% Change
Students
25.2%
21.0%
-16.7%
22.0%
5.0%
Senior
26.2%
28.3%
-7.9%
26.6%
-5.9%
All Other
48.5%
50.7%
4.5%
51.3%
1.2%
Data Type
The decline in the size of companies is attributed to mergers and acquisitions, companies going out of business, and companies discontinuing motorcoach service. The increase in students ridership is likely due to the fact that the motorcoach industry serves student passengers at a price point which allowed students in the U.S. and Canada to visit important historical and cultural sites that might have been out of reach without an affordable and reliable transportation option. The motorcoach industry continues to be a small business success story with over 94% of the industry operating fewer than 25 buses. Motorcoach Fleet Size
Carriers Number
Motorcoaches
Percent
Number
Percent
100 or more
23
0.6%
8,799
24.1%
50 to 99
50
1.4%
3,278
9.0%
25 to 49
155
4.3%
5,378
14.7%
10 to 24
439
12.1%
6,724
18.4%
1 to 9
2,961
81.6%
12,342
33.8%
Industry Total
3,628
100.0%
36,520
100.0%
About the ABA Foundation The American Bus Association Foundation (ABAF) is the scholarship and research arm of the motorcoach, tour and travel industry. The largest non-profit in motorcoach group travel, the ABAF distributes $60,000 a year in scholarships to industry families and invests in research to demonstrate the important role motorcoach transportation plays in society.
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You Are Fired
Why “you’re fired” is someth boss should be saying
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thing every Firing people has a bad rap in business. But sometimes, firing someone is the greatest gift you could give the individual impacted, as well as the remaining team members and yourself. Leading well requires having the right people in the right roles at the right times, which means not just hiring smart, but firing smart as well. So how do you fire smart when most decent leaders dread this essential task?
Have the right mindset If you get paid to make tough and timely calls while casting the best team you can, you need to accept the following truth about firing: Your employee has behaved their way to the outcome they are experiencing. Whether the circumstances are clear and require swift termination – i.e. an egregious violation of company policy – or the far more difficult circumstance, in which you are proactively choosing to upgrade talent, the employee’s behavior has influenced the outcome. The latter scenario is far more difficult for most leaders to address because it can seem inhumane to fire someone who perhaps was a good performer, but is no longer performing, or to terminate a “B player” to make room for an “A player.” This is precisely why leaders should be saying, “You’re fired.” If you avoid doing what needs to be done, you are also avoiding the painful reality that your inactivity will cause your top performers to lose respect for you. No one wants to work with mediocre teammates. It’s unfair to everyone else on your team for you NOT to fire people who aren’t contributing at the level they should be.
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Be smart – don’t give HR an excuse to block your decision Many leaders use the lame excuse that they would have fired Joe or Sally long ago if only HR hadn’t prevented them from doing so. But when you dig deeper, typically, the leader hasn’t had the required truth-telling conversations with the underperforming employee along the way. Even if they have, they have failed to note it so that they can prove it. Don’t make this mistake. Documenting performance conversations need not be onerous. Use Post It notes or a notes app on your phone – doesn’t matter. Just make sure to capture the issue, your message to the employee (and their response), the date/location of discussion. In today’s litigious society, it pays to be smart about this. If the performance doesn’t improve in a reasonable amount of time, pull out your notes, summarize for your boss or HR and have the conversation with the employee.
Acknowledge that firing someone stinks When it is time to have the dreaded conversation, remember that for most leaders, it never gets easier. It’s incredibly upsetting to sit across from another human being and deliver the ultimate rejection. This is normal, and it makes you human. But don’t use these uncomfortable feelings as an excuse not to take action. As a leader, you are paid to be courageous. You are paid to do the hard stuff. Don’t avoid, deny or postpone releasing someone from a role in which they aren’t successful because you feel guilty. Often, even though it’s incredibly tough to be fired, ultimately there’s relief. Most people know when they are failing, and most people want to please their boss. When they know they can’t, or that it just isn’t working, it can be liberating to be freed from that position.
Be kind, clear and courageous However, the employee is likely going to take the news poorly. As a leader, it’s imperative for you to think beforehand about how you are going to terminate
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them (where the discussion takes place, what you’ll say, what support they’ll have afterwards, how the employee’s departure will be communicated to the team, etc.). It’ll be bad enough for the employee to go home and tell their family they’ve lost their job. It will be immensely worse if you botch the process by being heavy-handed, pompous, insensitive, overly chummy, completely absent (having HR deliver the news instead), or treating them like a criminal and frogmarching them out of the building (unless, of course, they are a criminal – in which case, take their badge and get them out). Ask yourself how you would want to be treated if your roles were reversed, and behave accordingly.
Just do it Firing smart requires you to be willing to actually do it. We accept tough decisions in our sports teams – players get traded, contracts aren’t renewed, etc. Yet in business, there’s lethargy and general unwillingness to courageously take action on what is generally obvious to everyone. People know when teammates aren’t cutting it. There’s no better feeling than that of leading a team of terrific, high-performing people who respect one another. You have the ability to make that happen. And you, more than anyone else, benefit the most from having a strong team. Your life is easier. You get better results. You are less stressed and more fulfilled. And far more likely to advance in your career. Bottom line? It’s time you said, “You’re fired.” It’s a sign of great leadership.
Article by Mindy Mackenzie seen on www.upstart.bizjournals.com
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25
New Health Form Detailing
FMCSA Requires Use of New Health Form Detailing More Thorough Medical Histories 26 www.greenazine.com
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A new version of the commercial vehicle driver medical examination report form requires truckers to provide more thorough medical histories and answer more questions. Examiners say the new form, required as of April 20, could generate more exemption requests to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from drivers who have disqualifying conditions. “There really are a lot of changes to the form, and there are underlying changes that are game changers that drivers don’t even know about,” said Michael Megehee, an FMCSA-certified medical examiner and president of TeamCME, a nationwide network of medical examiners. For example, Megehee said one of the changes is that the form makes clear drivers must list their complete medical histories, rather than just illnesses or injuries the past five years. In addition, several questions probe more deeply for signs of obstructive sleep apnea, a focus of FMCSA due to its potential relationship with fatigue, said Brian Morris, associate medical director for AllOne Health. “There are pros and cons to the new form,” said Morris, also a member of FMCSA’s medical review board. “The intent of the form, based on what I see, is to get a more thorough medical history from the drivers than ever before.” Morris added, “It’s a way of keeping people honest. The history is more important than the actual exam, in my opinion.” FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne said that there have been no changes to medical regulations, and the revised form is simpler and more efficient than the old form. The revised medical examination report form “reflects current medical terminology and examination components and is an encompassing, ‘self-contained’ document” that will be electronically transmitted to state agencies and
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provide cost savings to motor carriers, drivers, medical examiners, the states and to FMCSA,” DeBruyne told Transport Topics. The form seeks answers to 32 questions about medical conditions or problems, compared with 26 on the now-defunct form, adding such questions as whether drivers have, or ever have had, cancer, broken bones or high cholesterol. Many questions are asked in a more open-ended manner, intended to encourage discussion with the examiner. For example, the form asks if a driver has eye problems or ear and/or hearing problems. The old form is more specific, asking if a driver has eye disorders or impaired vision or ear disorders, loss of hearing or balance. The new form also adds such questions as, “Have you ever spent a night in the hospital? Have you ever had a sleep test? Do you currently drink alcohol?” It also requires that examiners take drivers’ blood pressure in a sitting position, not allowing it to be taken lying down. Blood pressure readings tend to register lower when taken from a reclining position. Morris said some of the common complaints he’s heard about the form from fellow medical examiners are over the new “not sure” response, a lack of spec-?ific numbers on what constitutes high blood pressure, no requirement to calculate a body mass index number and not enough room on the form for a driver’s medical history. Megehee said one of the major changes that drivers might not appreciate is a requirement for a follow-up exam if there is a 90-day medical certificate due to high blood pressure — the most common problem that examiners diagnose. “If he comes back the next day and his blood pressure is now acceptable and you issue a new card, you have to perform a full, complete new
exam on that day,” MeGehee said. “That means two exams, and I’m going to guess that drivers aren’t going to get that second exam for free.” However, the new form allows physicians to issue a “determination pending” exam report if they are uncertain whether to disqualify a driver. In that case, the driver would be allowed to drive until his current medical card expires. “This allows the medical examiner to delay, by up to 45 days, the decision on whether to issue a card,” Megehee said. Morris said he has been using the new form for a few months, but has received few, if any, complaints from drivers that it is too burdensome.
Article by Eric Miller seen on www.ttnews.com
A new version of the commercial vehicle driver medical examination report form requires truckers to provide more thorough medical histories and answer more questions.
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29
LGBT Rights
EEOC Acts Again on LG
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GBT Rights The EEOC has again taken the reins on LGBT rights by issuing some “Bathroom” guidance, giving employers a further strong indication of where the agency is leaning when it comes to enforcement of LGBT rights in the workplace. In the guidance, the EEOC makes clear again its position that Title VII prohibits discrimination against employees who are transgender – a term the guidance explains covers any person whose “gender identity or expression is different from the sex assigned to them at birth.” The EEOC highlights the Macy v. Dept of Justice case, (April 2012) when the EEOC first ruled that denying an employee “equal access to a common restroom – corresponding to that employee’s gender identity – is a form of sex discrimination.” The employer cannot condition use of that bathroom on proof that the employee had surgery or a medical procedure. The employer cannot get around this requirement by offering the employee access to a single sex or private bathroom. Also, the guidance expressly states that differences between state and federal law cannot be used as a basis to discriminate against LGBT workers. In answering the question as to how an employer can “accommodate” the beliefs of other employees, who may not be comfortable with this, the agency is very clear: “Supervisory or co-worker confusion or anxiety cannot justify discriminatory terms and conditions of employment. Title VII prohibits discrimination based on sex, www.greenazine.com
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whether motivated by hostility, by a desire to protect people of a certain gender, by gender stereotypes, or by the desire to accommodate other people’s prejudices or discomfort”. What is your takeaway? This is clearly a priority for the EEOC, and you do not want to get in the agency’s crosshairs on this important issue. You must educate your managers. Make them aware that the company will not condone poor treatment of gay or lesbian employees, and that they must be sensitive to the needs of transgender employees. If an employee identifies as transgender, make sure that a manager brings this to the attention of senior management and Human Resources, so that the company can consider carefully how it is going to respond. Enlist outside legal assistance, as needed. More importantly, open a line of communication with the employee. No one can offer pat answers as to how to handle this sensitive issue, but having an open dialogue with the employee (and his/her manager) will lead to a better outcome. If an employee is transitioning, again communication with that employee and his/her peers is key. How does the employee want to announce the transition? How does the employee want to be addressed? Will there be a name change? How should other workers be informed? The EEOC is now crystal clear on this bathroom issue: the transgender employee must be given access to the restroom of their chosen gender. It does not matter if there has been surgery. Again, communication with the employee and candid discussions with other staff will be crucial in getting through this potentially difficult issue. Most employees today, given our times, are much more open and accepting of colleagues with different lifestyles. Thus, with some frank discussion and open lines of communication, most will be accepting of LGBT colleagues. The EEOC and many courts have made clear that employees who are not accepting, under federal law, are engaging in discrimination.
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The EEOC has again taken the reins on LGBT rights by issuing some “Bathroom” guidance, giving employers a further strong indication of where the agency is leaning when it comes to enforcement of LGBT rights in the workplace. As an employer, a company cannot ‘tolerate’ discrimination against the LGBT community, any more than it would ‘tolerate’ discrimination based on gender or race or any other protected group.
Article By Barbara E. Hoey seen on www.labordaysblog.com
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33
Safety Standard
New U.S. DOT proposed safety standard establishes additional safety for motorcoach and large bus occupants The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today proposed a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that will help reduce fatalities and injuries in motorcoach and large bus crashes by mitigating occupant ejection. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) specifies a new impactor test on the glazing material of side and rear windows and glass panels on the roof of motorcoaches and large buses. The test simulates an unbelted occupant impacting a window on the opposite side of the bus during a bus rollover crash. The proposal would drive the installation of advanced glazing and improved emergency exit latches in motorcoaches and large buses.
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Preventing occupant ejection is a high priority for the DOT and NHTSA, as noted in the DOT Motorcoach Safety Action Plan. NHTSA has taken a multifaceted approach to addressing this safety problem. In 2013, the agency issued a final rule requiring seat belts at all seating positions in motorcoaches to mitigate occupant ejection and improve crash protection. In 2014, NHTSA issued an NPRM for improved rollover structural integrity that would also ensure window glazing does not pop out of its mounting and emergency exits do not open inadvertently during a rollover crash. NHTSA is now proposing performance requirements for preventing the windows and roof panels themselves from becoming ejection portals due to occupant loading during a rollover crash.
NHTSA is also proposing to improve emergency exits in motorcoaches and large buses by requiring that emergency exit latches remain operable after the proposed impact tests and by limiting the protrusions of emergency exit latches into emergency exit window openings to ensure they do not unduly hinder emergency egress.
Article seen on www.nhtsa.gov
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37
Employee Performance Reviews
How to Give Better Employee Performance Reviews
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Conducting regular performance reviews is an important and constructive way to evaluate the contributions an employee is making to the company. But the traditional practice of sitting down once or twice a year to discuss what an employee has done well and needs to improve on simply isn’t cutting it anymore. In a recent study, employee engagement company TINYpulse polled over 1,000 professionals to find out what they thought about their reviews. The results showed that employees are generally dissatisfied with traditional performance reviews: 37 percent said they think the process is outdated, and 42 percent said they think managers leave important elements out of their review due to bias. Nearly a quarter of respondents even said they “feared” their performance review, especially those in the millennial generation. “Traditional annual performance reviews are inadequate,” said Matt Hulett, chief product officer of TINYpulse. “They’re biased towards recent work, goals aren’t communicated clearly, there’s misalignment in objectives between organizations and employees, and quite simply, the whole process just takes too long. With more and more ... workers wanting change, the time for a performance review system upgrade is now.” In a recent article for The Washington Post, Cliff Stevenson, a senior recent analyst for the Institute for Corporate Productivity, said that, to date, nearly 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies have done away with annual employee performance reviews. Many large companies — such as The Gap, Adobe, Costco, GE and Microsoft, to name a few — have scrapped their traditional review programs in favor of systems that incorporate newer technology and immediate feedback to employees after assignments while still maintaining documentation of performance. Here are some suggestions to follow their lead in revamping your company’s employee review process.
1. Embrace technology. There is an increasing trend
in the development and use of employee engagement apps, such as TINYpulse, Impraise and Workday. These apps give employees and managers a chance to
communicate regarding assignments daily, tracking progress, providing feedback and incorporating other business aspects so that each member of the team is on track and on the same page.
2. Institute performance-related pay increases.
Sixty-four percent of the people polled by TINYpulse wanted pay increases tied to their performance reviews. Consider quarterly bonuses or increases to positively reinforce good work as well as the employee’s confidence that you value him or her as both an individual and a contributor.
3. Make reviews more frequent. With immediate
feedback provided on social media sites like Facebook, people are increasingly used to hearing the good and bad on our thoughts and actions in real time. TINYpulse found that employees are in favor of more frequent reviews, so consider conducting evaluations at key milestones, such as at the end of a major project, or quarterly. These meetings do not have to be long, but they should highlight the highs and lows of the project or time frame. Such reviews give managers a chance to stay engaged with their direct reports, and also provide an opportunity for continuous improvement by receiving feedback from the employee on what could be improved for the next cycle. “If you put this new generation in the box of the performance management we’ve used the last 30 years, you lose them,” Accenture CEO Pierre Nanterme told The Washington Post. “People want to know on an ongoing basis, ‘Am I doing right? Am I moving in the right direction? Do you think I’m progressing?’ Nobody’s going to wait for an annual cycle to get that feedback.”
Initiating informal performance reviews When giving informal feedback, managers should avoid general comments, such as “nice work” or “good job,” said Brigette McInnis-Day, executive vice president of human resources at SAP. Instead, they should cite specific examples, such as “Great job leading that meeting,” so the employee knows exactly what behaviors to repeat or change in the future, she said.
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Another way to provide ongoing feedback to employees is by collecting and sharing a “crowdsourced” review from other staff members, said Eric Mosley, CEO and co-founder of employee recognition and rewards solution Globoforce. The results of the TINYpulse survey support that suggestion, finding that more than a quarter of respondents would like to have coworkers involved in the review process.
•
Quality and quantity of work: accuracy, thoroughness, productivity and goal attainment
•
Communication and interpersonal skills: teamwork, cooperation, listening, persuasion and empathy
•
Planning, administration and organization: goal setting, prioritizing and profit orientation
“Managers should crowdsource reviews about an employee’s work from their entire staff, so they can get a complete and accurate picture of an employee’s performance throughout the entire year,” Mosley said. “It provides constant feedback to both individuals and their managers, while informing the community at large of progress. It harnesses the wisdom of the crowds to give accurate and specific feedback on individual performance, and it will harness the power of data analysis to connect performance to profits. More than anything, it continuously drives company behavior toward a deliberate, strategic culture.”
•
Leadership: accessibility, responsiveness, decisiveness, collaboration and delegating
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Job knowledge and expertise: knowledge base, training, mentoring, modeling and researching
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Attitude: dedication, loyalty, reliability, flexibility, initiative, energy and volunteering
•
Ethics: diversity, sustainability, honesty, integrity, fairness and professionalism
•
Creative thinking: innovation, receptiveness, problem solving and originality
•
Self-development and growth: learning, education, advancement, skill building and career planning
Written evaluations: Why words matter Written feedback is an important component of performance evaluations, but many managers find it difficult to complete this task effectively. If positive comments aren’t phrased well, they can sound trite and insincere, and any suggestions for improvement might sound too critical. Richard Grote, author of “How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals” (Harvard Business Review Press, 2011), said that instead of using terms such as “good” or “excellent” in a review, employers should opt for more measurement-oriented language. In an interview with HRCareers.com, Grote noted that action words — such as “excels,” “exhibits,” “demonstrates,” “grasps,” “generates,” “manages,” “possesses,” “communicates,” “monitors,” “directs” and “achieves” — are more meaningful. Ken Lloyd, author of “Performance Appraisals & Phrases for Dummies” (For Dummies, 2009), offered a range of words and phrases managers could use for each type of employee responsibility:
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Performance review samples and templates Examples and templates of performance evaluations can be found on the following websites: Business Balls Drexel University Entrepreneur.com Microsoft
Article by Marci Martin seen on www.businessnewsdaily.com
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41
Uber, Lyft Vow To Stop Driving
Uber, Lyft Vow To Stop Driv After Voters Keep Regulatio
After voters in Austin, Texas, rejected a proposal for loosened regulations on ride-hailing apps, both Uber and Lyft have announced they will be “pausing” operations in the city. In late 2015, Austin’s City Council approved an ordinance requiring companies like Uber and Lyft to be regulated
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like taxis. That meant, among other things, drivers would have to be fingerprinted as part of a background check. Uber and Lyft, in response, pushed a ballot proposal asking voters to choose between that city ordinance and a looser statewide law. NPR’s John Burnett reports that the two companies
ving In Austin ons
Since the decision, both companies have said they intend to follow through on their threats, Austin-based member station KUT reports. Lyft told KUT they “want to stay in the city,” but Austin’s rules “don’t allow true ridesharing to operate.” “Because of this, we have to take a stand for a long-term path forward that lets ridesharing continue to grow across the country, and will pause operations in Austin on Monday, May 9th,” Lyft said. “Disappointment does not begin to describe how we feel about shutting down operations in Austin,” said Uber’s Austin general manager, Chris Nakutis, KUT reports. Austin Councilmember Ann Kitchen, who spearheaded the effort to increase regulation of ride-hailing companies, told KUT that nobody wants Uber and Lyft to withdraw from Austin. “We’re not asking them to leave,” she said. “The voters have spoken and they want these requirements.” Last year, Uber and Lyft withdrew from San Antonio over a similar requirement that drivers be fingerprinted. The companies returned months later under a program that made fingerprinting voluntary. Meanwhile, Houston also has rules requiring drivers for ride-hailing apps to be fingerprinted. Uber has previously threatened to withdraw from Houston over that ordinance. According to Culturemap Houston, the city’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, responded, “If it comes down to public safety on one hand and Uber staying on the other, I don’t think it is even close.” Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles are considering similar regulations on ride-hailing apps, The Associated Press reports.
Article by CAMILA DOMONOSKE seen on www.npr.org dropped $8 million to promote their stance on Proposal 1 — a record for Austin ballot proposals. “Despite spending what amounted to $200 on each vote in their favor, Uber and Lyft lost by 44 to 56,” John says. Before the vote on Saturday, Uber and Lyft had threatened to pull out of Austin, a market John describes as “lucrative.”
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