What does it take to retain a driver in Hyderabad?
On a Lighter Note!
If you have spent any length of time in India, you would understand that the roads, the rules, and the driving are not an adventure to be attempted lightly.
While I have driven all over the world, and in Indian cities, braving nightmarish traffic from Manhattan to Delhi, I tried to be realistic when I realized I had a 60-minute drive to work each way in a poorly designed traffic system when I landed a new role in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad is known for its Nizami lifestyle. A term used to denote a laid-back lifestyle harking back to the days of its opulent rulers, the ‘Nizams.’ The Nizams were known for their wealth and luxurious lifestyle. They eventually went bankrupt but no one remembers that!
Late morning hours in Hyderabad are the norm. Shops open later than most other cities in India. Like Europe, very few stores are open on Sundays. When a Hyderabadi says they will come tomorrow, they could mean the next day or anytime in the next few days. When they say some event took place the other day, it could mean the previous day or any time this past month. The language - unique to the city - is also referred to as ‘Hyderabadi’ and has terms to encapsulate both definitions of time.
Back to the drivers. So, to be more efficient and work for the 60 minutes in the car, I decided to hire a driver.
However, over the course of a year, I ended up hiring six different drivers.
Each driver would join on competitive terms of salary, hours, and the flexibility to leave most days earlier than the hours agreed.
Two to three months later, they would start to come intermittently. They would cite any excuse that worked: ‘high temperature,’ ‘high-fever,’ death in the family of various members at different times, ‘accidents,’ and ‘injuries.’
A driver showed up, with his dad, and bandaged arms and legs to prove he was injured, in recuperation, sought money from us and then never returned.
If you think, as I did at first, that these are genuine issues, then you need to leverage the local experts to understand how to tell when drivers or most help in India lie. Many lie, but not all. But to tell the honest from the lazy in Hyderabad needs a special skill acquired after years of dealing with the workforce, believing them, and being let down.
One lost my keys. When he filed a stolen report with the police, as this was mandatory for insurance and other paperwork formalities, at my behest, the police sent him back with a note in English to me, saying that the driver was lying about the keys. We believe he threw them away in a miff at my American software firm’s IT campus.
I had to place an order for new keys with the local Honda dealer. Honda dealerships in India, along with most other dealerships, tend to rely on part replacements to generate profits in the country.
They suggested that I needed to replace the entire key system in the Honda CRV to get new keys. It was estimated to cost $800.
I escalated to the CEO of Honda, Japan to get duplicates of my existing keys. Honda, Japan apologized and directed their dealer in Hyderabad to replace the keys with a new set for $50. It took weeks for these issues to be sorted out. All because one driver had a day of pique.
So hiring a driver with the right temperament is important to your peace of mind.
With the proliferation of IT jobs, the need for drivers has risen. The average salaries for drivers in India, based on the city, can range from $200-$400 per month for an 8-12 hour shift with perks. Annual bonuses, free meals, holiday and sick pay, intermittent support for their family needs - cash advances, school fees for their kids, etc.
Before attempting to equate their hourly wages with Western standards, it's important to recognize that drivers in India are relatively well-paid and hold a sought-after and status-oriented position in the labor market.
They are also a mercurial talent pool that is in high-demand and are notorious for job-hopping. They can vary in experience, expertise and inclination to remain in the job beyond a short period of time.
If you happen to find a good driver with the right attitude, temperament, honesty, and handyman skills, do whatever you can to retain him.
Note: In most of my experiences in India, I will use 'he' or 'him' to reflect the gender of the individuals involved. For example, there are very few female drivers available for hire for personal cars. In some cities like Bangalore, the government offers an airport 'pink cab' service driven by female taxi drivers for female passengers.
Interestingly, this gender disparity also holds true in Europe too, where most of the cab drivers happen to be male. In the US, a female cab driver may occasionally be found with the local taxi service.
Now, I'm curious about the global male-female percent split among cab drivers. Does anyone know the answer?