Safety Today

Mentor Program leads to strong results

Houston – In an effort to improve safety and new driver retention rates, the Texoma team has implemented a Driver Mentor Program that pairs senior drivers with new hires to provide continuous on-the-job training when a new employee returns from the Florida Training Center. Developed about a year ago in partnership with Area safety, operations and human resources, the initiative is already paying dividends with safety metrics improving dramatically in a short time.

“Due to the booming local economy in Texoma, we continue to hire drivers to meet the needs of our customers,” said Marcel Dalby, collection operations director (South) for Texoma.

According to John O’Steen, Texoma Director of Collection Operations North, “The Florida Training Center does a fantastic job with training our new drivers and getting them prepared to safely operate our collection vehicles. However, we realized that we were missing an opportunity to reinforce what our new drivers learn in Florida once they get back to their site.”

He added, “Our Driver Mentors are trained and certified on all Waste Management Safety rules and policies and help reinforce what our new hires were taught while in Florida. Our Mentors are more than just safety trainers. Our Mentors are leaders in their sites. We have asked them to ensure that even after a new hire is released to drive solo, they stay in touch with them, help them to become comfortable as a new employee and help them feel the sense of family that we have here at WM. Our Mentors are doing exactly that and are really helping our new hires become career WM employees.”

Since its design and implementation in the fourth quarter of 2013, the program has dramatically reduced the number of injuries, accidents and incidents across the Area despite more employees being hired in the first quarter of 2014 versus 2013.

How mentor program works

Once a new hire returns from the Florida training center they are paired with a certified mentor for 90 days. During this time, the Mentor and new hire are together all day, every day. The mentor first drives the route and trains the new hire on all the on-the-job aspects of running a collection vehicle for WM. Then the new hire drives while the Mentor teaches and gives feedback.

The new hire and Driver Mentor meet weekly with their Route Manager to review progress and areas of improvement. It leaves a positive lasting impact on the new hires because they have a mentor they can rely on.

Driver Mentors are selected by their district managers and route managers upon their positive attitude, work ethic and safety record. They must have at least five years of driving experience and a clean driving record. Texoma Area Driver Trainers Jerry Eicker, John Long and Ray Reilly are responsible for training and certifying the Driver Mentors.

Chuck Haraf, Texoma Area Safety Manager, adds, “The Driver Mentor Program has really helped to get everyone on the same page as far as training given and received. Uniformity, consistency and reinforcement are the keys to improving our safety.”