Have you ever tried to hire yourself? Like, really tried. You go through the application, all the paperwork, and you jump through all the hoops.
I recently navigated the onboarding process that would probably be typical of a truck driver: all 10 pages of it – a process that started on January 10, and 17 days later, was pending a drug screening that I had to drive 21 miles to take, despite there being two places locally that perform drug screenings. I'm sure there's a reason for that. I'm sure I don't know what it is.
I get my DOT medical renewed at one of these places every two years – a MedCert that was accepted as valid by the company – and this facility performs drug screenings for all local government, the construction companies, and just about every other safety sensitive business that I can think of around here.
I'm old school and a firm believer that if you want something bad enough, you'll do whatever it takes to get it. I hopped through every hoop until reaching the end, but I couldn't help but wonder why this process wasn't easier. It didn't have to be this long.
I fully understand many of these hoops are necessary evils created by insurance companies in response to jackpot justice crashes and/or government regulation, but onboarding is really a fleet's first chance to make a good impression. If it's difficult (or not easy), then it's bad. There is no middle ground. It's good or it's not.
Maybe half of my required information was actually information specific to that company that could have been pre-populated, and it was information that I did not know. "What's the address there?" "What do you want as my start date?"
There are numerous platforms that automate paperwork, eliminating the need for prospective drivers to input redundant information dozens of times. I had to input my name six times across a nine-page document. I input my CDL number three times (on consecutive pages), despite having provided a copy of it on one of those pages.
You don't have to spend a lot of money on a fancy online custom form that auto-populates redundant information. There are parameters in Adobe and Google Workspace that allow you to do that. If you're still super-old school and use pen and paper, any blanks that say "Company" should be already filled in by your people.
You won't convince me that the generic off-the-shelf paperwork you can buy from countless services were developed by people who actually had to fill them out.
Mundane Zoom meetings are the only thing worse than mundane paperwork. Thankfully, the ongoing emergence of cutting-edge technology in this industry has helped removed some of it – Electronic logs, eBOLs and eDVIRs, for example. You don't physically have to touch and move around pieces of paper, yet the same types of critical information is transmitted more easily, more reliably and faster.
Even if you use a custom online form, have you ever filled it out? Try to hire yourself. If you give up, or want to, just imagine how many would-be applicants have thrown up their hands and walked away before clicking submit. I'm sure these platforms capture partials, so your human resources team can reach out and continue the process, but it doesn't change the fact that the applicant has already said "to hell with this place" at least once before ever joining your team.
I see a lot of LinkedIn posts from recruiting and hiring managers across many industries that talk about the importance of orientation, follow up and follow through, and being open and communicative, but I don't know if I've ever seen one that stresses the importance of simplifying the very first thing all employees touch: the application process.
It doesn't have to be easy, but it should be simple.
