Workforce management trends, will the last employee out the door please turn off the lights.

Many are calling it the “Great Resignation,” with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announcing that over 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August, and that comes on top of record-breaking resignations over the previous months. It is affecting every industry across the U.S, and it is something we have never seen before.

There are many reasons people decide to leave their jobs, with one of the most common reasons being a tight labor market where the next role is just around the corner. This current workforce management trend however is more complex. COVID and family pressures created by closed schools, the closing and reopening of businesses, fear of the virus, and years of stagnant pay have had a cumulative effect on the current workforce.

It’s all contributed to a significant increase in resignations, with 2.9% of Americans having just quit their jobs, and it’s affecting nearly every business in the country. Here are some ways that you can limit the exposure for your organization and retain more of your workforce.

 

Pay attention to workforce management trends including feelings of dis-engagement.

We have discussed for several years how disconnected non-desk workers are from their companies, with Gallup showing only 26% of workers feeling like their opinion matters and only 30% of the workforce feeling engaged at their job. That leaves over 60% of employees feeling disengaged. Not only does this create less productivity amongst this workforce, but it also increases the risk of these same workers quitting.

Workforce management trends show there has never been a greater need for creating connections and engagement with your employees. Most workers want to feel connected to the company they work for, and have a shared sense of purpose and culture.

 

Create a highway of communication isn’t a workforce management trend, it is a workplace management necessity.

Access to information and the ability to be heard is central to engagement. In today’s mobile world, if employees are not given the option to communicate with their managers and co-workers in the way that they prefer to, it might feel as if their opinion means less, or doesn’t matter at all. Not all communication should be seen as equivalent, either. If not structured in a way that ensures consistent relevance of content, gives everyone a voice, and at the same time reduces noise, then communication can be extremely disruptive, confusing, and unhelpful.

Achieving workforce management balance is nearly impossible without the use of smart technology. An intelligent tech engine can manage communication through assignment of permissions so that when employees get promoted or leave an organization, their connections across the company are continuously updated and reconfigured. If not automated, this task requires thousands of hours of human involvement to manage the hundreds and even thousands of micro-changes to the operational landscape that happen on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

With non-desk workers working at a construction site, on a factory floor, at a senior living residence, or serving customers, having a way to communicate with them on their mobile devices is a simple way to reach out, engage and share your company culture. These employees don’t work behind a computer and receive corporate messaging and they don’t gather around the water cooler and discuss company news.

Connecting with them on a device they are comfortable with and use all day long is a logical and easy way of building this connection. Communicating to them on mobile devices will allow you to provide updates on company news, training, surveys, forms, messaging, and share your culture.

 

Most workforce management problems start with poor communication.

To build connections, one must communicate effectively, and consistently maintain that level of efficacy. If your workforce feels unconnected and disengaged, it is likely a result of effective communication having broken down or never having been there in the first place. By creating and maintaining a feeling of inclusion, everyone can feel more connected to the company’s success, the project they are working on, and the organization’s leadership.

If you empower your employees to speak up when there is an issue, you will create an atmosphere of contribution, where your workforce is more productive, efficient, and more likely to be retained. So, communication builds engagement, which in turn builds connection.

Workforce management, we are all in this together, or we’re not.

We define WorkTrust as something that employees feel when they are part of an organization where they belong and are connected to something bigger than themselves. They believe the company values their contribution and that they are integral to the success of not just the company but one another. When you have WorkTrust, there is a live connection between every employee, whether they work at a computer or manufacturing line.

Development of WorkTrust is one critical way in which you can have a positive impact on workforce management, your employees, and keep them from becoming part of the “Great Resignation”.

If you are interested in a proven platform to connect with and engage your non-desk and frontline workforce visit workrede.com or click here to schedule a free demo.