59% Hourly Employees Cite Lack of Schedule Empowerment the Top Reason for Quitting

Organizations should invest in automation and modern communication tools to free up managers so that they can spend more time coaching their teams, says Legion study.

Besides flexibility and fair pay, employee experience plays an important role in retaining them, especially hourly employees. Legion recently conducted a study and released the Hour by Hour: Attracting and Retaining Hourly Employees and Their ManagersOpens a new window report. The study tried to understand workplace desires and concerns of hourly employees and learn how organizations can improve experiences to retain and attract critical employees. One major finding of the study was that organizations should provide employees more input into their schedules, schedule flexibility, and better communication tools to attract and retain them. The following are a few more findings in detail.

Also read: Fair Pay Perception and Transparency Have Strong Correlation With Employee Churn: Payscale Study

1. Lack of Schedule Empowerment Is a Top Reason Why Hourly Employees Quit Their Jobs

The study found that 83% of hourly staff and their managers are as stressed or more this year compared to 2020. As such, many of them are reassessing where and how they want to work. Hence, organizations will have to go beyond offering just living wages to attract and retain these workers. They need to provide additional perks. About 82% of respondents said they were likely or very likely to stay in an organization that gives benefits employees value.

One way to retain hourly employees is to empower them by giving more input on their schedules, schedule flexibility, and better communication tools. According to 59% of respondents, lack of schedule empowerment was a top reason hourly employees quit a job, other than pay. This means schedule empowerment is a priority for hourly employees.

Top reasons for hourly employees to quit a job (other than pay)

Source: Legion StudyOpens a new window

Employees also feel it is necessary to have schedule flexibility so that they can meet personal obligations. Another major reason for quitting was poor communication with managers. Considering about 60% of hourly employees are millennials and Gen-Z employees, communication methods play a significant role. Further, employees also like to get paid on time or early so that they do not have to borrow money.

Also read: How To Engage Your Non-Desk Workforce and Reduce Operational Risk at the Same Time

2. Companies Should Invest in Automation and Modern Communication Tools To Free up Managers

Like employees, managers, too, are stressed, albeit for different reasons. They feel increased pressure with staffing, turnover, overseeing new ways for customer engagement, budgets, and compliance. Outdated processes exacerbate these issues, forcing managers to spend too much time on administrative tasks. Yet, many managers currently rely on manual, paper-based processes, or primitive software to create schedules. These processes make it tough for them to match employee preferences and availability with business requirements, ensure compliance with policies, create fair schedules, and stick to labor budgets. About 35% of managers using manual processes spend 3-10+ hours in a week creating and managing schedules and employee attendance.

The study found that 36% of managers want to spend less time on administrative tasks like scheduling. Further, 42% value tools that make it easier to communicate with their teams.

What managers value beyond pay raise

Source: Legion StudyOpens a new window

When asked what takes the most time and effort when creating schedules, 35% of managers said managing call-outs and no-shows. About 29% said approving employee-initiated shift swaps and schedule changes is time-consuming, while 18% cited approving employee punches and timesheets took more effort. Almost 73% of employees call or text their managers to notify them about unexpected changes in schedule, often after to explain the reason.

So, how could managers use the extra time available by reducing the hours spent on administrative tasks? About 49% said they would use it for coaching and developing their teams, and 27% would use it to interact with customers. About 20% said they would get their time off back.

Actions Organizations Should Take To Retain Talent

Organizations can take several steps to create a better employee experience and retain talent. However, three tasks stand out as a priority.

3. Extend digital transformation efforts to make scheduling more efficient for non-desk employees

To survive and thrive during the pandemic, many organizations invested in digital transformation to improve customer experience. However, technology implementation should not be limited to customers or even desk workers. Hourly employees and managers, too, need modern technology to manage their activities and improve their efficiency. Workforce management tools deliver greater value to employees. These tools can make it simpler for managers to create and manage schedules. Workers, too, can easily check their schedules, pick an open shift or swap shifts, or communicate shift changes to their managers.

4. Provide technology to improve communication

 According to Jordan Ekers, co-founder & COO, Nudge Rewards, organizations should leverage smartphone technology to improve real-time communication, offer structured channels for employees to share their ideas and feedback, and improve knowledge and skills. Several mobile applications are available in the market that can improve employee communication while complying with policies and regulations.

Also read:Deskless Workers Want, and Deserve, Better Technology

5. Implement smart automation to improve efficiency

One thing apparent in the study was that manual processes are time-consuming, inefficient, and risky. Hence, organizations should automate specific processes and tasks to improve efficiencies, flexibility, and autonomy. Managers can use the time saved by improving efficiencies to coach their teams.

In times when employees have more choices than companies, and the latter are struggling to attract and retain talent, providing excellent employee experience has become critical. One of the best ways to improve employee experience is to understand and address their concerns and needs. Doing so will not only help organizations retain employees but also achieve their bottom-line goals.

What is your organization doing to retain hourly employees? Do share with us on LinkedInOpens a new window , FacebookOpens a new window , and TwitterOpens a new window .