Your fleet runs like clockwork. You understand every routine, schedule, and process. You know the lifecycle of your fleet vehicles, have mastered the training requirements for your drivers, and manage the necessary supplies for the services your fleet provides. Being a great fleet manager is like being a great monarch. You sit at the top of your little kingdom and everything runs smoothly thanks to your comprehensive oversight.
However, no job lasts forever. There may come a time when you are ready to retire, take another job, or require a leave of absence — and then what?
Who will keep your fleet running like clockwork when you are not providing the guidance you learned in a lifetime of fleet management experience? The answer to keeping your fleet running smoothly is fleet manager succession planning.
What is a Succession Plan
A succession plan is an outline of what to do when the current fleet manager is temporarily or permanently out of the chair. Whether you retire or just need a few weeks to battle a long illness, you want your fleet to be able to run itself and for the next in line for the "throne" to have all the tools and training they need to keep your fleet performing at its best.
A succession plan, therefore, is a combination of records, tools, instructions, and successor training to ensure you can pass on your position as fleet manager smoothly when the time comes.
Document Everything
- Paperwork
- Policies
- Processes
- Responsibilities
- Schedules
- Records
Make sure everything is documented. This includes all the necessary paperwork like licenses, insurance and lease documentation, fleet policies, a list of team responsibilities, maintenance schedules, and so on. Your fleet management successor should be able to look up everything they need in a well-organized file system so that nothing critical slips through the cracks.
Leave Instructions
In terms of processes and routines, leave clearly written instructions. Explain how and why processes are completed the way that works best for your fleet. Write out how routines work for each shift, team, and maintenance calendar. Don't just leave documents; leave guides that a successor could follow even if they must step up unexpectedly, without ample time to prepare to adopt your role.
Train Your Successor: Build a Talent Pipeline
Prepare others within your fleet to take over some or all of your job when called upon. Ideally, you should be cultivating a second-in-command who can act as your successor. However, you should also be cultivating talent throughout your fleet, ensuring that there is leadership among your drivers, mechanics, dispatch, and administrators so that each section of your fleet management structure can self-govern for a while, even if the top chair is empty.
Any one of those leaders may also have the qualities to become your second-in-command and successor when it comes time for promotions in the future.
This means focusing on professional development training, nurturing leadership qualities, and giving team members opportunities to take on more responsibility over smaller units.
Establish Clear Lines of Communication
Every order may go through your office right now, but your fleet should also be able to communicate and work together without direct supervision. Clear lines of communication ensure that your future successor will be kept in the loop and that your fleet may be able to work independently if you are out of the office for a few days on vacation or sick leave.
Set Up Your Fleet Management Succession Plan
Every fleet manager should have a succession plan to ensure the fleet they have worked so hard to build and support does not collapse the moment they are not in command. From temporary leave to permanent retirement, succession planning strengthens the internal leadership structure of your fleet and allows you to make plans for the distant future.
Wilmar Inc. can help you visualize what you need for fleet building and fleet succession with expert fleet management services.
