Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/540088
Q: Are there things that motivate employ- ees that surprise you or you didn't expect? A: Not that I didn't expect this, but an employee whether a manager or profes- sional driver wants to "feel a part of some- thing." When they feel they contributed to the success of the company it is a great feeling, and you want to keep that feeling going. That is part of the magic at Cardinal — everyone feels that they contributed to its success, and we believe that they did. Q: How important is a career path to your employees? A: Absolutely critical; everyone wants to be on that winning team and feel they helped with the success and growth of the com- pany. When you have growth like Cardinal has had, we need to have internal succes- sion plans, as well as plans for future growth. When we hire an individual, we are hiring an individual that can perform at least two levels higher, because the growth will come. Q: How would an employee describe your company's culture? A: We pride ourselves on being a large com- pany with a small company feel. Culture is extremely important to our organization, and this starts with our executive group and fi lters throughout the organization. We have been fortunate that we have main- tained this culture for the 18 years Cardinal has been in existence. To be quite frank, we are and act like a family. Q: The trucking industry is plagued by turnover. Do you have any theories or see any long-term solutions? A: We have always seen this driver shortage coming, and since day one we have always said, "whoever has the best drivers wins." So we started this company with that in mind, and our extremely low turn- over and growth are proof that concept is correct. It's not all about pay; it's about quality of life. Cardinal tries to provide a balance between those two. I wish I had a crystal ball, but absent that we need to maintain our low turnover and only hire the most qualifi ed folks we can. Our stellar reputation is our true win. Q: How do you measure employee motiva- tion and engagement? A: We take a hands-on approach and we get direct feedback from front line managers and supervisors. This information is directly channeled to senior leadership to ensure we have motivated and challenged employees. Q: Do you track your turnover? A: Obviously, turnover measurements are used as well as surveys multiple times per year. But the grassroots approach of gain- ing direct feedback works very well. Q: What is your driver turnover rate? A: We have a much lower turnover rate than the industry average and are very proud of that, especially in today's unique driver market. This is a direct result of being involved with the drivers and understand- ing their needs. Q: How do you motivate employees to do their best for the company? A: There is no "magic bullet" for this. It takes a plethora of programs to motivate employees, especially when we have operations that are nationwide, and each is unique to our customers. We take a tai- lored approach by coupling corporate pro- grams alone with individual operating locations programs. Q: Is there something you would like to do to increase motivation if you had the opportunity? A: In a perfect world, I would love to be able to talk to every employee several times per year and share my excitement about Cardinal and its future, but obviously time does not allow that. So, we do the next best thing and motivate our managers and front line managers so they can communi- cate with our fi eld employees. 2 0 1 5 V 2 | BULLDOG | 2 3 ABOUT CARDINAL LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT COMPANY Cardinal Logistics Management Company is a privately held third-party logistics provider serving the United States and Canada. Cardinal and its affi liates offer an integrated service platform to customers including dedicated, irregular route truckload, full-service truckload brokerage, warehouse-based logistics and managed transportation services. Cardinal, headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, is one of the largest for-hire providers of dedi- cated refrigerated transportation in the United States. For more information, visit www.cardlog.com. David Wilkinson gives an encouraging word to Cardinal driver Jared Wank. Photos by Kirk Zutell