This article comes from Entrepreneur.
Hourly workers play a significant role in today’s economy — from running operations at restaurants to transporting goods from one place to another, to getting people to their destinations.
Onboarding is a prime opportunity for employers to win the hearts and minds of new employees. It is important to have a well-structured onboarding process to provide employees with the information to succeed in their work and to also integrate them into the culture of the company.
As an employer, it is important to come up with a well-structured onboarding process to share the values, mission, and processes of the company and to ensure that each manager reinforces them. Hourly workers who experienced a robust onboarding process are more likely to stay with the company for a longer period of time and also exhibit higher productivity.
Many hourly workers may only have finished high school or community colleges and are often eager to learn new skills, obtain new knowledge and broaden their horizons.
Local businesses can offer mentoring sessions with managers, or provide opportunities for hourly workers to go to community classes on sales, marketing or communication skills.
Business owners and entrepreneurs should adopt scheduling software to increase efficiency and allow employees to readily select the time slots that may best fit their weekly schedule, increasing loyalty and engagement.
Hourly workers come from many different backgrounds and having a more inclusive work environment and hiring for a more diverse team will benefit the company significantly. In order to attract more talent and reduce turnover, it is important to work toward both inclusion and diversity to better engage hourly workers.
Coming up with programs and career initiatives focused on a wider range of people is also an effective talent strategy for companies as different demographics of workers may have a lower turnover rate, and hence be a better source of talent pipeline.
It is important for managers and owners to have periodic check-ins with their employees of all levels and backgrounds. Hourly workers increasingly seek engagement and having a clear line of communication is essential. Many hourly workers are not satisfied with their work because they do not feel supported or recognized in their workplace.
The more engaged workers are, the more committed they will, in turn reducing the turnover of hourly workers for companies.
Local businesses should have an employee of the month in place to increase competition, to motivate employees and to reward the ones who excel. Hourly workers want to have a clear path to progression and promotion, and there should be a clear career roadmap.
In the case of a restaurant, hourly workers should have the opportunity to progress from a server to team lead, to a manager, and to other functions within the company. Employers can further break down the different role hierarchies to allow more space for employees to progress in their work.
Companies can also tie annual bonuses to the performance of employees, and incentive schemes like this can greatly motivate hourly workers.
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