The operation of a warehouse calls for a reliable workforce. It is necessary to have a flexible workforce due to the seasonal fluctuations in the industry, an excellent response to specific projects and any procurement processes.
This flexibility does not just mean an increased staff; you need reliable and efficient staff.
There are a lot of challenges that managers face when it comes to attracting, recruiting, and retaining the workforce for warehouses. This holds for lower as well as middle levels of warehouse employees. Warehouse managers need to be innovative in their approach to overcoming these challenges.
1. Use More Than Money to Attract and Retain Workers
The BLS Economic News Release, January 9, 2018, reveals that up to the last working day of November 2017, quits/attrition increased by 25,000 in just one month in transportation, warehousing, and utilities. An increasing number of people are leaving jobs in this sector.
Here is what you must consider when trying to attract and retain warehouse employees:
- Market salary
- Attractive incentives include productivity bonuses, paid time off, game tickets, team-building trips, etc.
- A clean and safe workplace
- Healthcare benefits
- Access to training and skill upgrading programs
- Open communication
- Appreciation/recognition for a job well done
- Constructive feedback through a performance management process
- A well-defined career path
2. A New Approach for a Constantly Changing Workforce
The face of the workforce is constantly changing. In this case, what you need is innovative warehouse management. The warehouse manager may need to fashion ways to adapt to this drastic change, like the workforce. Generation X (those born between 1965 to 1981) is getting older.
So, here is what you may consider doing – and in fact, a considerable number of businesses are already doing this:
- Organize school visits to educate the youth about warehousing, especially the working conditions, and bust the myths that these are squalid places.
- Introduce apprentice schemes, primarily through campus placements. That way, you get future warehouse employees who are trained and tech-ready.
- Consider hiring agency workers if those fit into your high-demand seasonal plan or to cover the absence of regular workers.
- Make your work hours flexible or annualized. That is likely to attract a lot of young labour.
3. Mold Hours to the Employees’ Advantage and Yours
The classic three-hour shift is not as popular as before, as “always-on” businesses, primarily e-commerce, demand 24-hour processes. Many businesses have thus adopted a 12-hour shift/4-workday pattern to process around the clock.
The fact is that these two models demand a high level of warehouse management. In both these cases, you will need to ensure the transportation arrangement for employees, appropriate break times, and substitute workers in case of absence, to name a few.
An indeed more helpful model is annualized hours. Annualized hours give you maximum flexibility and advantage. You pay the same amount to the staff every month, but the hours vary according to the amount of work each day.
This way, your warehouse workers will work longer shifts during high-activity periods. But, for the periods that see low activity, you can send them home as soon as the work is done.