I was recently speaking to a fleet manager who was in the throes of justifying the value of his department’s contribution to the organisation.

This is not unusual and I’ve had conversations like this many times before. The difficulty for anyone in this situation is that often it feels like a rear-guard situation where the fleet manager needs to create a justification in defence of a pre-determined outcome. This situation leads to high stress levels, disenfranchised staff and quite possibly not the best outcome.

In my view, the best approach to this situation is to be proactive. As fleet managers, we need to ensure our service delivery is competitive, we need to be in a mindset of continuous improvement and we need to have the data to demonstrate our contribution. Importantly, we need to be able to demonstrate that the activities of the fleet department are intrinsically linked to organisational objectives.

Critically, we need to routinely engage with senior management through reporting and involvement in organisational initiatives. By doing so we can develop an underlying understanding of the fleet department’s value and contribution. Regular engagement will also build a rapport and develop senior management confidence that the fleet is being managed well.

Rob Wilson
Manager, IPWEA FLEET