In today’s dynamic work environment, managing and engaging an hourly workforce poses significant challenges for organizations in labor-intensive industries. Traditionally, workforce management solutions were never about the workforce. The solutions were solely focused on compliance and efficiency of labor utilization. Hourly workers were not treated as integral contributors to success, and their needs and preferences weren’t considered.

This outdated approach overlooks engagement, motivation, and efficiency, leading to high turnover rates and suboptimal customer experiences. In the recent State of the Hourly Workforce Report, more than 62% of hourly workers said they planned to quit their jobs in the next 12 months, and of those who plan to quit, 64% plan to leave their current industry. More than 96% of hourly employees said they would quit their current jobs to get more schedule flexibility and control. Legacy workforce management solutions were not built to address the changes posed by today’s workforce, and they lack the ability to deliver the transformative potential of Legion’s innovative approach to workforce management.

The Legacy Challenges

Organizations heavily reliant on hourly workers often struggle to effectively engage and manage this essential group. Labor, typically one of the top two expenses, requires management and strategic engagement to ensure organizational success.

Legacy workforce management systems fail to acknowledge the individuality and preferences of hourly workers, leading to dissatisfaction and disengagement. The lack of effective communication channels further exacerbates this issue, leaving employees feeling disconnected and undervalued.

Legion’s Mission and Approach

At Legion, our mission is to transform hourly jobs into good jobs for both hourly employees and employers. We believe in a holistic approach to workforce management that delivers value to employers and employees through transparency, unbiased processes, and intelligent automation to improve decision-making and execution. Our AI-powered platform is designed to address the challenges of modern organizations and meet the needs of today’s hourly workers by offering flexibility, engagement, and efficiency at scale.

Empowering Employees with Scheduling Flexibility

One of Legion’s core features is granting employees unprecedented control over their schedules. By allowing workers to specify availability, preferred working hours, locations, and shift lengths, we empower them to achieve a work-life balance that suits their needs. Importantly, this is done without sacrificing an employer’s ability to stay compliant and optimize the utilization of their workforce.

This flexibility has significantly improved employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Balancing employee skills and preferences with organizational needs represents a groundbreaking shift in workforce management, ensuring that the workforce is happier, more productive, and aligned with the company’s operational goals.

Financial Wellness through Legion InstantPay

Our Earned Wage Access solution, Legion InstantPay, is crucial in enhancing employee engagement and financial wellness. By instantly giving employees access to earned wages, we help them manage unexpected financial needs without waiting.

This feature supports employees in times of need and encourages them to pick up open shifts to gain access to additional income, benefiting both the employees and the organization through increased flexibility and efficiency.

An impressive indicator of its effectiveness is the reduction of tardiness by up to 66% among employers who have adopted Legion InstantPay. This reduction in tardiness underscores the effectiveness of providing instant access to earned wages in promoting responsible work behavior and increasing operational efficiency.

By tying access to earned wages to approved timesheets and leveraging intelligent automation for real-time timesheet approval, Legion InstantPay is a powerful incentive for punctuality and reliability, significantly enhancing workforce efficiency for our customers.

Automating Performance Measurement and Rewards

Legion’s platform automates the tracking and rewarding of employee performance using a comprehensive set of metrics. By measuring punctuality, availability updates, and shift engagement, we offer a transparent and unbiased method to recognize and reward top performers.

Importantly, Legion’s system can incorporate external data into the measurement process. This means that factors like an employee’s Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), or Sales Per Hour (SPH) can be included, providing a more holistic view of performance. This approach goes beyond traditional attendance-based rewards, considering the total impact of an employee on the organization.

By tying performance metrics directly to scheduling and rewards, Legion ensures that high-performing employees have access to preferred shifts, thus recognizing and incentivizing excellence in a fair and motivating way.

Fostering Communication

Effective communication is imperative to employee engagement. Legion provides a robust set of tools to facilitate direct communication between the organization and its employees, among managers and their teams, and between employees. Our platform ensures privacy, auditability, and appropriate restrictions (such as being clock-aware), enhancing overall communication without needing external social media platforms or group texts.

A significant indicator of our platform’s effectiveness is that 88% of our customers’ employees are actively using the Legion Mobile App on a weekly basis, a key indicator of our platform’s adoption. This high level of engagement demonstrates active utilization of the tools provided to employees to manage their schedules, communicate with their peers and managers, and stay informed, thereby fostering a connected, informed, and engaged workforce.

Conclusion

Managing and engaging hourly workers is complex but not insurmountable. Organizations can significantly improve their workforce management outcomes by adopting a holistic approach that values employee input, financial wellness, performance-based rewards, and effective communication.

Legion WFM is at the forefront of this transformation, offering solutions that optimize labor efficiency and enhance employee engagement. Together, we can turn hourly jobs into good jobs, fostering a more motivated, efficient, and engaged workforce for the future.

To see Legion WFM in action, book a demo today.