Venture Annual Drivers Banquet

Post Date - Nov 1, 2021

To commemorate the success and dedication of just a few of Venture’s most ambitious drivers, we hosted the first ever Venture Annual Driver Banquet in September.

What does appreciation look like in my career? Where do I feel I am successful? How is my hard work being recognized?

Drivers sacrifice time with their families, weekend nights, long hours at a customer’s location and continue to feel underappreciated for their work. We listened to drivers consistently ask the three questions above and decided it was time for a massive change. It is a long road to change the culture of a company; it begins with putting your story aside to listen to someone else’s. We needed to understand why drivers feel underappreciated and how we can fix it.

Too often people think “stuff” makes the difference between feeling appreciated and underappreciated. If you give someone a free T-shirt, it is assumed you feel grateful for them (as it is assumed for many gifts given to others). Stuff is nice and people like it, but without a memory attached to it – the message falls short. The Venture team decided it was time to create an event where drivers feel loved, appreciated, and recognized for their impeccable work. Thus, the Venture Annual Drivers Banquet was born.

Less than thirty Venture drivers from all over the United States in all different roles were invited to attend an award ceremony in their honor. The drivers with the highest safety scores qualified for each category of award. Awards such as Venture Gold Falcon Award recognized a fantastic Venture driver for their impeccable safety score, tenure, attitude, and overall drive to drive. The event was hosted at Vision Loft in Indianapolis, IN where Venture’s CEO, executives, driver managers, and driver plus ones were invited to eat great food, meet one another, and share in their success. Venture is tired of the “Us” and “Them” point of view. Together we make an efficient and successful team worth celebrating. The Venture Annual Driver’s Banquet fostered an environment to learn about people’s kids, spouses, hardships, backgrounds, and all the other things that make up a person. Drivers are not robots. Venture drivers are exceptional people who love to make people laugh, share a story, and motivate others to do the same.

In case you didn’t hear the word “appreciate” enough – we appreciate you for everything you sacrifice, for all your successes, and your tenacity in the face of failure. Thank you, drivers, we would love to honor you next year at the next Venture Annual Drivers Banquet.