How Can I Increase Hourly Workers Engagement and Retention?

Engaging hourly workers is harder than engaging salaried ones mainly because the nature of their employment makes it more difficult to create strong relationships with them. They constantly work rotating shifts and, most often than not, work at more than one location. As such, their managers and other HR professionals are not always able to communicate with them regularly. 

However, motivating and engaging them increases their job satisfaction. And when they're more satisfied with their job, they will naturally become more productive and motivated to go above and beyond their assigned tasks to truly contribute to your company. This is precisely the reason why you should put in some effort to boost their engagement. 

All of these can lead to higher retention and increase your company’s ROI. So, what should you do to achieve these ideals? How can you effectively reduce your turnover rate and create a strong team of engaged hourly workers? Here are some of the more important steps you can start with.

Increase Employee Recognition 

A lot of hourly workers are not satisfied with their job because they don't feel supported and recognized in their workplaces. According to the Randstad Employee Brand Research (REBR) 2018, 27% of employees say that a lack of recognition is what drives them away from an employer.

Fortunately, many HR leaders are increasingly realizing that - which is why many of them are introducing employee recognition programs into their organizations. According to the 2018 SHRM/Globoforce Employee Recognition Report, 84% of HR leaders say that their employee recognition program helps with employee engagement, while 89% of HR executives feel that their program improves the employee experience. 

If you don't have your own employee recognition program, consider at least training your managers to support your hourly workers by treating them fairly and providing them with constructive and actionable feedback. Try to encourage your managers to empathize with their employees and do their best to make them feel valued by always acknowledging their effort. Such respect and recognition can go a long way as it’ll lead to much better job satisfaction and engagement. 

Improve Your Scheduling Process 

One of the most important factors for engaging hourly workers is their work schedule. Hourly workers need flexibility, but they often don't get it. Your employees would want to know when exactly they are going to work in advance. That is, all the days and times they will need to show up for work. 

This, however, is not a common practice among a great number of employers and a lot of them tend to phone their hourly workers outside work hours at the last minute to ask them to switch their shifts and promptly come to work. Needless to say, this is not at all engaging. Instead, it can get very infuriating and drive away even the most loyal employees. 

Your hourly workers have their lives and responsibilities outside the job, so don't strip them of their free time. Instead of compromising their work-life balance, help them maintain it and let them know about their upcoming shifts in advance. 

Offer Opportunities for Professional Development 

Professional development is another factor that a huge number of employees are looking for when searching for a job. They want their job to be a stepping stone in their career. In other words, they don't want to stay at square one for years, not growing professionally nor moving towards other meaningful job opportunities. 

According to a new study conducted by Bridge, 86% of millennials say that offering career training and development would keep them from leaving their current job position. Thus, don't let your hourly workers see their job as a temporary solution before they move to where they actually want to be. Show them that there are plenty of future growth opportunities at your company and help them build strong careers. Provide training courses and career mentorships, and help them learn and grow professionally every step of the way.

Introduce Healthy Competition 

While there are hourly workers who simply want to eventually switch to a place where they would start receiving a fixed salary, there are always those who may not think about leaving their current job to build a career. 

So, besides offering career development opportunities and improving employee recognition and scheduling, you can introduce some friendly competition into your workplace. According to research conducted by Anthony Nyberg, a research director at the Center for Executive Succession, pay-for-performance bonuses can greatly boost employee engagement and performance, and even generate a 213% ROI. 

Therefore, motivate your hourly workers with regular bonuses based on their performance instead of giving them an annual raise, for instance. Bonuses will encourage them to work harder and make them feel happier about their job, which leads to higher engagement and retention. 

Make Your Workplace More Enjoyable 

It's common to see many hourly workers prefer a job that doesn't pay well but makes them feel satisfied with a job that pays very well but doesn't exactly fulfill them. As such, try making your workplace a fun and enjoyable environment that every employee will love. 

Provide them with a well-equipped break room with snacks and some entertainment options, where they can have fun and recharge their batteries. Brighten the workplace, continually provide exciting team-building activities, and introduce anything else that will bring all the workers and managers closer together so that they genuinely look forward to coming to work. 

All of this will significantly increase engagement, motivation, and retention, and it will bridge gaps in communication, helping all employees create meaningful relationships with one another. They will eventually become a strong team that will work closely together towards achieving your organization's goals and objectives. 

As you can certainly see, engaging hourly workers doesn't seem so impossible now, does it? It can be a daunting task, but all the effort does pay off in the long run. Consider following all of these steps, but don't stop there. Be sure to explore other ideas as well as there's always room for improvement. After all, there's a whole world of new opportunities to boost your engagement and retain your hourly workers. 

As technology advances, hiring processes are becoming increasingly automated to make it easier for managers. If you are looking for ways to streamline your hiring process, Workstream is here for you. We help you hire better through smart screening and automated scheduling so that you don't have to go through the tedious task of shortlisting candidates and liaising with them to schedule an interview. Book a demo with us today to find out how else we can help improve your hiring needs!