HIRING EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE AND INVESTING IN OUR EMPLOYEES
Our customers trust us to ensure their products are delivered on time, their fleets are safe and well-maintained, and their logistics operations run safely and efficiently. When the world initially faced the health and logistics challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic, our customers trusted us to ensure proper health measures were in place to protect employees and customers. We invested in safety equipment, supplies, and training. Our well-prepared workforce responded with professionalism, operational excellence, and the highest levels of customer service.
At Ryder, we are committed to creating a supportive, diverse, and collaborative work environment. These traits support a capable workforce able to meet and find solutions for the challenges our customers face. We believe a diverse workforce brings a broader range of experiences and generates a greater variety of innovative ideas and perspectives, which are necessary to help our business succeed.
We also strive to provide a safe, challenging, and rewarding culture and to ensure employees receive the benefits and training they need to grow and excel in their fields. By embracing diverse experiences and cultivating a supportive environment, we continue to develop a workforce with the industry’s brightest logistics engineers, most experienced technicians, highest-performing warehouse workers, safest drivers, and qualified support staff. Our employees’ collaboration and diversity fuel the innovative solutions and operational excellence which have been the bedrock of our success.
Recognized as an Employer of Excellence
In 2019-2020, Ryder was recognized as one of America’s Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek, a Top Company for Women to Work For by Women in Trucking, and one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE. The Company also earned a Military Friendly Employer recognition for the second consecutive year, and was listed on Monster/Military.com’s Companies to Watch in recognition of our veteran hiring program.
DRIVING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE CULTURE
Our business is only as good as the operations employees and support staff that keep it running. We are committed to hiring extraordinary people and engaging them through challenging and rewarding opportunities. The consistent recognition by some of the most prestigious business publications reflects our portfolio of premier logistics and transportation solutions and serves as a testament to our thousands of dedicated employees who embody Ryder’s customer-centric values. Throughout Ryder, our people are committed to moving business forward as efficiently as possible. To enable their success, we ensure that our employees receive the diverse experience, compensation, independence, and advancement opportunities they need to grow.
Our Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) leads our initiatives to promote effective talent recruiting, development, and engagement. Our Human Resources (HR) and recruiting teams work closely to identify talent needs and strategies, as well as to manage diversity initiatives. Annually, the CHRO presents employee diversity statistics and initiatives to the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee.
We aim to build a corporate culture that places a premium on equality, while at the same time:
- Respects our employees and customers;
- Puts thought and care into how we serve our employees and communities;
- Delivers personalized services that inspire employees to reach their full potential;
- Welcomes new perspectives and ideas; and
- Encourages collaboration and innovative thinking.
We will continue to consider the feedback from our employees and identify new opportunities to attract, develop, and engage our talent. To drive our performance and evaluate our approach, we have implemented the following goals:
- Develop and engage top-quality talent by ensuring that at least 90% of key talent has completed a leadership development activity by 2023.
- Provide leadership development for all Black and women leaders through Ryder’s Black Leadership Forum and Ryder’s Women Leadership.
Read more about our approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion below.
Training and Development
We employ the top talent in our industry, and we provide our employees with opportunities to build their skills, stay abreast of the latest industry trends and best practices, and grow in their careers. Our employee development program starts day one through onboarding and focuses on three key areas: supporting our people, our business, and our culture. We are committed to identifying and developing the talent necessary for our long-term success.
We strive to create a high-performance culture that embraces diverse perspectives and experiences, and training further cultivates this environment. To promote individual development and provide personal feedback regularly, we offer formal performance reviews for all permanent employees. We provide a variety of resources to help our employees build and develop their skills, including online development resources as well as individual development opportunities and projects for key talent.
Whether at the office, in the field, or on the road, we continue to provide opportunities for training and development for all employees. Our drivers are paired with Certified Driver Trainers during onboarding and are given position- and customer-specific training. Managers conduct regular safety behavioral observations throughout the organization every day, and remedial training and coaching takes place on the spot. Proactive injury and crash prevention and remedial training are also delivered regularly online to each employee through a highly interactive lesson platform.
Our technicians receive both online and in-person training to enable them to continuously improve their technical skills. The Maintenance Learning and Development Team partners with many Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to ensure our technicians possess the knowledge and skills necessary to fulfill our Maintenance Promise for our customers every day. Ryder seeks out collaborative efforts and performs pilot sessions of new instructor-led training courses to deliver continuous improvement opportunities.
Additionally, we have leadership development resources for our future leaders as they continue to develop their skills. We strive to nurture leadership skills among our workforce and support up-and-coming leaders. We offer multiple leadership development opportunities, such as expanded roles, coaching programs, and a customized senior leadership competency program. Development courses include Coaching and Leadership Essentials, Targeted Competency Workshops, Executive Coaching, and New Sales Leader Training. Our management trainee programs provide early-career individuals with the opportunity to direct their careers from the start. As Ryder grows, we also recognize the value of increasing diversity and representation among our company’s leaders. For this reason, Ryder has programs to specifically encourage and promote the recruitment and development of diverse talent while ensuring necessary exposure throughout the company.
We continue to evaluate our executive leadership programs, which are focused on areas critical to the development and success of talent across the enterprise. In these programs, participants connect with executive leaders by participating in virtual sessions and assessments that cover leadership topics. We have a robust talent and succession planning process and have established programs to support the development of our talent pipeline for critical roles in our organization. Annually, we conduct a thorough review with the Leadership Team focusing on high-performing and high-potential talent, diverse talent, and succession for our critical roles. Additionally, we track high-potential development candidates at the director level and above, and maintain quantitative, internal targets related to leadership succession planning and employee development. These metrics are incorporated into our Chief Executive Officer’s performance goals, and we report company performance annually to the Leadership Team. In 2019 and 2020, we achieved our targets for key employment development and succession planning. Our forums, leadership competency programs, and manager offerings continue to influence our overall talent retention as we aim to further enhance our talent management.
Employee Engagement
The well-being of our employees directly contributes to Ryder’s success, and their level of engagement impacts their ability to bring their best selves to work. A large portion of employee engagement is communication. One of the primary methods we utilize to communicate at Ryder is our internal communications platform, R World. A web- and app-based platform, R World provides employees with real-time opportunities to read and respond to company news and updates.
Additionally, we strive to promote employee satisfaction, health, and engagement by providing learning opportunities, wellness resources, and feedback mechanisms. One of the best ways to continuously improve our culture is to listen to employee feedback. By engaging our workforce and strengthening our agility, we are better positioned to meet our strategic goals. We use multiple channels to measure and increase employee engagement, including:
- Providing employees with new technologies and tools that improve the employee experience;
- Enhancing our online learning management system to drive more self-development; and
- Leveraging pulse surveys to quickly assess engagement and drive actions in real time, targeting specific employee populations.
In 2018-2019, we conducted a two-part Technician Pulse Survey with all Ryder technician groups. The surveys yielded a primary theme to address on-the-job recognition for the work our technicians do. As part of the action plan, Ryder instituted a technician recognition strategy, which included submitting technician success stories to R World, having monthly technician recognition within business unit newsletters, building in technician success callouts on meeting agendas, and sharing a job aid with managers for on–the-job recognition ideas. Additionally, in 2020, we deployed a driver interview-based survey to evaluate engagement across themes such as manager relationships, rewards and recognition, on-the-job resources, and company value by location. This will continue through 2021 in order to derive results for action planning.
A Brand New Workday
In 2019, Ryder announced its intention to migrate to the Workday platform as part of our mission to continuously improve and bring unprecedented efficiencies to our HR and Finance functions. In July 2020, Workday was implemented for HR and Expenses. We anticipate Workday Financials will go live in April 2021. Workday will further enhance our HR and Finance functions through access to and utilization of critical business data, regardless of segment or location.
We selected a single platform after an extensive search to meet our needs and provide the necessary flexibility and scalability for future growth. Ryder was able to modernize applications, streamline systems, and consolidate data over 10 disparate applications into a single, user-friendly platform. Workday provides the best organizational fit by featuring the most comprehensive processes, modules, and future product roadmap that aligns with Ryder’s global business strategy.
Designed for security, control, and business innovation needs, Workday further drives consistencies and transparency throughout Ryder while reducing business risk of aging systems. The standardized processes and operating model encourage collaboration, avoid silos, and improve governance. Additionally, our employees now have easier access to updated business information, personal information, and financial data, along with necessary job trainings and leadership trainings. Workday continues to improve accessibility and foster more positive interactions between employees and our business segments. Providing a one-stop shop, this system empowers our employees by giving greater control and access to data that they need to do their jobs and serve our customers.
Highlight Story: Driver of the Year Award
Truck driving is at the core of our DNA. It’s where we started, and it’s still at the center of everything we do.
We employ more than 10,000 professional drivers, and we hold them to the most rigorous standards of safety, professionalism, and customer commitment. The drivers who most embody these qualities achieve one of our oldest and most prestigious recognitions–Ryder Driver of the Year–and are inducted into the Ryder Hall of Fame.
Nominees are evaluated by a committee that includes customers, executives, safety experts, and fellow professional drivers. The selected recipients are chosen for demonstrating exemplary safety performance, customer service, and citizenship throughout their careers and home life. Many recipients have also logged several million miles on the road without an accident or incident.
2019 Drivers of the Year: Robert Cole from DTS is the longest-serving driver on the Houston Plating account with almost a half century of experience and more than three million miles logged. Arthur Taylor from SCS joined Ryder nearly 20 years ago, and his total miles logged are up to 7.3 million without a single preventable incident to his name.
2020 Drivers of the Year: Clifton Niles from DTS is a Certified Driver Trainer with nearly 50 years of experience on the road and four million safe miles behind the wheel. Howard Davenport from SCS has 1.5 million safe miles behind him and sets an example on and off the road as an Army veteran, volunteer, and mentor.
From top row, left to right: Robert Cole and Authur Taylor, bottom row, left to right: Clifton Niles and Howard Davenport
Highlight Story: Ryder Top Tech
Our technicians must stay at the forefront of vehicle technology to keep up with rapid changes in our industry and to remain competitive. We encourage a culture of continuous training and improvement among our technicians to help maintain safe and reliable equipment and our status of having the industry’s best uptimes. Technicians across the company are invited to compete in Ryder’s Top Technician (Top Tech) Recognition Program through multiple rounds of written and practical tests to evaluate their maintenance knowledge. The top scorers go on location to compete against each other in a series of difficult maintenance challenges to determine who is named Ryder’s Top Technician. Top Tech highlights the value Ryder places on its technicians, the importance of technical training for ensuring quality maintenance, and our commitment to exemplary customer service for Ryder’s commercial lease and maintenance customers.
In 2019, eight technicians competed at Top Tech in Indianapolis, IN, and Ken Bilyea of our London, Ontario, location was titled Ryder’s 2019 Top Technician.
In 2020, due to travel and in-person event restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, we canceled the Top Tech competition for the first time in the program’s 19-year history. We look forward to continuing the competition in 2021.
In 2019, eight technicians competed in Indianapolis, IN, and Ken Bilyea of our London, Ontario, location was titled Ryder’s 2019 Top Technician.
Health and Wellness
We invest in our employees by offering comprehensive health, welfare, and retirement programs for our full-time employees, along with wellness programs and well-being initiatives. These programs include medical, prescription, dental, and vision benefits; life and disability insurance; a 401(k) retirement savings plan, including an annual company match; behavioral health and Employee Assistance Program services; and community outreach programs, such as United Way and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami. We also provide transition assistance programs, including outplacement program support with resume writing, skill writing, and coaching on interview skills, for select employees who have been subject to a bona fide workforce reduction and who meet certain criteria. For more information, see our Careers Page.
We work with our major health care partners to provide employees with the tools and resources needed to easily learn about their health plan services. These include mobile apps, benefit videos, and comprehensive web portals, which offer information on health plan basics, provider search tools, and how to use the network to minimize the cost of care. We offer a suite of health promotion services, including seasonal flu shots, mobile mammograms, smoking cessation, health fairs, personalized health coaching, and chronic care management, among others. Our digital health platform also features online and mobile solutions that help employees manage their health and wellbeing.
BUILDING A CULTURE OF INCLUSION AND EQUALITY
Our vision is to create a collaborative work environment that supports and values individual contributors and their perspectives. The diverse backgrounds and experiences of our workforce help us better understand and respond to our customers’ needs, leading to increased profitability and long-term value. Increasing diversity also strengthens our ability to attract and retain top talent in an industry that has not historically been very diverse. Our focus on Supporting Women, Military & Veteran Recruiting and Supporting Black Talent have been important ways in which we strive to increase our access to the best talent. To further promote diversity in our workforce, we participate in annual career expositions and conferences, and we continued to do so virtually in 2020. In addition, our equal employment opportunity and affirmative action policies and programs are designed to ensure that all qualified applicants and employees are treated without regard to such factors as race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other reason prohibited by law. Our suppliers, vendors, and subcontractors are informed of our adherence to such policies through our Employment Information Report Notice to Suppliers and our Supplier Terms and Conditions, both of which are available on our website.
Diversity Governance & Training
Our Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Council, comprised of cross-functional leaders, guides our achievement of three key goals: remaining an employer that attracts diverse talent, developing the diverse talent we already have, and driving innovation and growth through diversity of thought. The DE&I Council’s role is to:
- Partner with the CHRO to recommend and develop DE&I initiatives in support of our mission, vision, and values;
- Model diverse and inclusive behaviors and champion the same in the organization
- Assess and continuously improve execution of D&I initiatives
- Drive accountability for programs and results; and
- Capture the voice of diverse employees
Upon hire, every Ryder employee takes our mandatory course, “The Inclusion Journey: Delivering on the Potential of a Diverse Workforce,” reinforcing our philosophy of equality in the workforce and providing employees with the skills and awareness to work effectively with people who have different backgrounds, ethnicities, and values than their own. To supplement this training, supervisors and managers engage in an additional workshop, “Continuing the Journey,” which provides insights into managing a diverse workforce. We will continue to promote and prioritize initiatives that result in our employees feeling valued, respected, and included.
The Gift of Education
In 2020, we announced a multiyear gift of $250,000 to the Howard University School of Business to support the Center for Excellence in Supply Chain Management, as well as scholarships for supply chain management majors, paid internships at Ryder, and the development of a data analytics curriculum and programming for the supply chain management program. Our partnership with Howard University started in 2003 and is one of our longest relationships with any university. We wanted to celebrate the long-standing partnership by supporting Howard University’s work in training the next generation of supply chain leaders and increasing diversity in the industry. This effort became even more critical given the financial impact COVID-19 has had on vulnerable populations of students who might be at risk or face barriers to completing their education. Six Howard University students will receive the 2020 Ryder Scholarship for excellence in supply chain management.
Supporting Women
To mitigate the historic gap in female representation in our industry, Ryder’s Women Leadership (RWL), created in 2011, supports the development of women leaders through networking events, career development programs, and collaborative activities. RWL hosted multiple programs in 2019 and 2020 supporting career progression, leadership skills development, and team-building for women leaders. Additionally, in 2019, our colleagues in Mexico hosted our third international RWL. We partnered with Women Executive Leadership of Miami and Leadercast of Atlanta to host events specifically focused on executive presence and leadership.
Due to the disruption in our world and industry in 2020 from COVID-19, RWL also hosted a virtual event called “Balancing the New World & Developing New Competencies” in order to guide women leaders on leading through change and instability. We continue to enhance the capabilities of our RWL programs to reach more women in remote locations, including in field operations, via virtual outreach technologies. By encouraging career development and leadership presence, we have enabled our women leaders to:
- Exude confidence with every interaction
- Demonstrate courage to speak up and share ideas and convictions; and
- Deliver clear and confident messages
Ryder is represented on the Board of The Women in Trucking Association, a non-profit organization that works to encourage the employment of women in the trucking industry, promote their accomplishments, and minimize obstacles they may face. Through this partnership, we have identified better strategies for attracting, retaining, and promoting more women, which has also helped us address the driver shortage. Additionally, we partner with the Commonwealth Institute and the Society of Women Engineers to further expand our capabilities in support of women.
At the same time, we are working to make trucking safer for women. Since 2015, we have provided our lease customers with a female-friendly ergonomic package for commercial vehicles, including 15 unique specifications that make the vehicle more ergonomically friendly for female drivers. Our aim is to attract more women to the industry while making vehicles safer and easier to operate for a broader range of drivers.
Supporting Black Talent
Ryder recognizes the value of investing in the development of leadership skills in our existing workforce and increasing diversity and representation among our company’s leaders. For these reasons, Ryder has programs to foster the development of Black talent and increase resources for networking and exposure. To expand our targeted offerings, Ryder conducted a focus group in 2020 with Black leaders throughout Ryder in order to identify opportunities, which revealed a need to focus on development, mentorship, and exposure. Findings from the focus group allowed us to leverage our partnership with McKinsey and their Black Leadership Academy program, which was created to increase leadership and strategic development as well as provide networking opportunities for growing Black leaders. Our Black officers attended the program in 2020 and we have a cohort of Black directors enrolled to attend in 2021. The results from the focus group also equipped us to create a Black Leadership Forum in order to drive development and sponsorship of Black leaders. In addition to supporting the growth and visibility of our current Black talent, Ryder has enhanced recruiting processes by expanding partnerships and internship programs with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to further diversify the hiring pool with Black interns and recent graduates. We continue to look for opportunities to recruit, retain, and develop our Black talent.
Military & Veteran Recruiting
We are grateful for the men and women who make the extraordinary commitment to serve our nation, and we recognize the value that skilled veterans bring to our team. This is why we continue to consider the military as a key talent pool for new hires. Ryder is a corporate partner of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes programs, an effort to connect veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses with meaningful employment opportunities.
Veteran
Hires 435
Veteran
Hires 10000
Hiring Our Heroes provides opportunities to engage with the military at hiring events across the United States, enabling us to recruit the best and brightest of our nation’s service members. Ryder became a corporate sponsor of Hiring Our Heroes’ Fellowship Program in 2014, offering a 12-week unpaid internship that provides Fellows—senior non-commissioned and junior to mid-grade officers—with experience in the civilian workforce while they transition out of the military. The program provides the opportunity to sharpen their skills for future employment, and gives Ryder extended exposure to each candidate. Through these partnerships, we have hired 10,000 veterans since 2011 (as of December 31, 2020), updating the percentage of veterans in our workforce to over 9%. We also renewed our commitment to participate on the Veterans Employment Advisory Council in 2021, an initiative that focuses on enhancing collaboration between public and private sectors to improve career opportunities for veterans.
The Ryder Diesel Technician Training Program offers training for new veterans to become diesel technicians at military installations throughout the United States at five U.S. bases, and we plan to expand the training to two additional bases in 2021. Participating service members begin their training four months before transitioning out of the military, enabling them to begin careers at Ryder before completing their term of service. Through the Diesel Technician Training Program, 165 transitioning service members have taken jobs at Ryder.
To further support our veterans, we provide a military hiring landing page that serves to help veterans match their skills with open positions at Ryder. We also pair current Ryder employees who are military veterans with new veteran employees via our Veteran Buddy Program, helping to ease the transition from military to civilian life. In August 2020, Ryder was designated a 2021 Military Friendly Employer for Veteran and Military hiring and support for the second consecutive year.
Supplier Diversity
The diversity of our employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities in which we operate is a competitive advantage. We are always searching for new suppliers that will widen the variety and quality of our supplier network. We support the diversity of our suppliers via our Small Business and Supplier Diversity Program, which provides more opportunities for companies certified by the Small Business Administration to work with Ryder. This program enables us to further grow our relationships with local communities, meet customer expectations, and strengthen and expand our supplier base. We are committed to integrating supplier diversity into our business strategies, making thoughtful efforts to include diverse suppliers in sourcing activities, and improving spending levels as appropriate with diverse suppliers. Goals are established annually, and we are working with our dealer network and OEMs to improve the program.
Diversity Performance
To further advance our ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, we conduct internal benchmarking to evaluate segments of our workforce. For example, we compare relevant demographic data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) with our internal workforce data to better understand our diversity representation against national averages. Among select industry job functions in the United States, we consistently meet or exceed the BLS representation for diversity and women in the workforce.
Another way we measure the inclusivity of our culture is through the Corporate Equality Index (CEI) rating, conducted by the Human Rights Campaign. CEI scores are calculated based on a company’s policies, resources, and education to support LGBTQ workers. Ryder voluntarily participates in the annual CEI survey, along with over 1,000 other companies, to share how we promote an LGBTQ-inclusive workplace. Ryder received a CEI score of 80—out of a possible 100—on both the 2020 and 2021 CEI, reflective of the 2019 and 2020 calendar years. Our latest score was four points higher than the Fortune 500 average. We will continue to leverage the benchmark to inform our workplace policies.
As we continue to focus our efforts to promote diversity going forward, we also commit to transparency with regard to our workforce demographics, including the diversity representation of our workforce and new hires as shown below.
Ryder Year-Over-Year Diversity Representation
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall Diversity Representation* |
47% |
50% |
52% |
53% |
54% |
Diverse Hires |
54% |
59% |
63% |
61% |
63% |
*Defined as gender and ethnicity
Ryder 2020 U.S. Employee Diversity
Diversity Indicator (Gender)
|
Percent of Total U.S. Workforce
|
---|---|
Female |
19% |
Male |
81% |
Diversity Indicator (Age)
|
Percent of Total U.S. Workforce
|
---|---|
<23 |
4% |
24-39 |
37% |
>40 |
59% |
Diversity Indicator (Race/ Ethnicity)
|
Percent of Total U.S. Workforce
|
---|---|
Asian |
2% |
Black |
22% |
Hispanic/Latino |
18% |
Multi-racial |
2% |
White |
55% |