Striving for excellence and giving recognition in coach and bus

Coach and bus operators should make the most of opportunities to give recognition where it’s due, writes Simon Ingham, Edwards Coaches Commercial Manager

In the coach and bus industry, striving for excellence means more than keeping vehicles on the road — it’s about giving recognition to and rewarding the people who make services exceptional.

It’s a value I first learned through my school’s motto, “Ymdrechu am ragoriaeth” (“Striving for excellence”), which has stayed with me throughout my career.

Striving for excellence is a common goal across the coach and bus industry – acquiring the best vehicles your money can buy, delivering the best possible customer service, or working towards Earned Recognition status, for example.

Collectively, we don’t tend to settle for mediocrity but exceed the basics in the interest of safety, brand and customer loyalty.

Celebrating and rewarding successes was important in school when we achieved success. Are we good at celebrating successes as an industry, though? I’m not just talking externally, but internally too.

Internally, do we reward drivers enough for obtaining heartwarming commendations? Do long-servers gain the recognition they deserve on retirement? Do we recognise the back-office teams for their input in keeping the wheels turning?

A simple ‘well done’ or a ‘thank you’ go a long way

Recognition can be delivered in many ways – for example, via certification and “employee of the month” type forms of praise, monetary bonuses, free perks, staff barbeques, and additional holiday entitlements.

However, we cannot forget that praise through a simple “well done” or a “thank you” goes a long way.

Feeling valued is an important factor to be mindful of and has a tangible impact on staff retention and resulting employee turnover rates.

Externally, it is without doubt that the routeone Awards is a highlight on the industry calendar for many. It’s pleasing that its success has been recognised in the recent Awards Awards in the Best Longstanding Awards Event and Best Development of an Existing Awards Event categories.

The routeone Awards is well known for its rigorous, independent judging process and astonishing ability to bring together around 900 industry professionals, and I’m humbled to be shortlisted for the forthcoming awards this November.

There are of course other UK-wide events, such as the British Travel Awards and UK Coach Rally, where operators can showcase their best in fleet.

There are also the National Express NEOP Awards for partner operators that deliver services on the intercity scheduled coach network and other events held by similar organisations who contract packages of work to operators.

But how else do we and can we celebrate successes and achievements as an industry? How can we showcase what we do? Will this help us get more noticed as an attractive industry for professional employment and assist in filling vacancy gaps?

You will have seen that Edwards Coaches staged an open day to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its formation by George Edwards in 1925.

It was a day on which to showcase who we are and celebrate the achievement of longevity with members of the public – not just from the local community but from further afield, too.

It was a chance to say thank you for the support of loyal customers, suppliers and partners over the years of operation, many of whom will be attended the event.

We’ve been overwhelmed with messages of support, including the business being referred to as a “much-loved institution of Wales”. It took months of organising, but the pay-off was huge.

So, let’s keep striving for excellence. Let’s think of innovative ways to recognise and reward successes – not just the big wins but the smaller achievements, too.

Let’s celebrate internally within our own businesses and the wider transport industry, but also externally to help elevate what we do to greater heights.