As a Compensation Manager, you recognize that the hourly workforce plays a vital role in your organization, and yet there are distinct challenges that can impact both employee satisfaction and overall productivity. To implement effective solutions, it’s essential to optimize your workforce management strategies.
Here, we explore the primary challenges you may encounter with the hourly workforce and recommend strategies to address these challenges.
4 challenges facing the hourly workforce
1. Work-Life Balance Achieving a healthy work-life balance is one of the most significant challenges for your hourly workers. Many of them juggle multiple responsibilities, including family obligations and education, and rigid scheduling can lead to stress and burnout. You may need to offer more flexible work arrangements to accommodate these diverse needs.
2. Resource Allocation You may often struggle with effectively allocating resources to maximize worker value and ensure that your hourly employees have the support they need to perform their jobs. Limited resources can hinder productivity and employee engagement, resulting in dissatisfaction and high turnover rates.
3. Skill Alignment As the workforce evolves, aligning employee skills with your business goals has become an increasingly important priority to ensure that your hourly workers are equipped to meet the demands of their roles. You might find that your organization lacks a clear understanding of the employee skills you value and how these skills might contribute to your overall objectives. This misalignment could lead to underutilization of hourly worker talent and missed growth opportunities.
4. Career Pathing and Internal Mobility Many of your hourly workers may feel trapped in their roles, with limited opportunities for career advancement or development. This lack of clear career pathing focused on internal mobility, allowing your hourly employees to explore new roles and develop their skills over time, can lead to disengagement and high turnover rates.
5 strategies for addressing hourly workforce challenges
You know which of these 4 hourly workforce challenges are most prevalent in your organization and what resources you have available. There are several strategies that you could use to address the challenges, but not all of them will be applicable to your unique hourly workforce. Below are some ideas to get you started.
1. Implementing Flexible Work Arrangements To support work-life balance, consider offering flexible work arrangements to hourly employees. Options for flexible work might include adjustable schedules, remote work opportunities, or compressed work weeks. Allowing your employees to have a say in their schedules provides a more accommodating work environment.
Tools you can use
Finding and paying hourly talent competitively can often be a challenge. Mercer Hourly Pay Database can give you an advantage – check it out today!
2. Enhancing Resource Allocation Focus on deploying resources efficiently to ensure that your hourly employees have the support they need to perform their jobs effectively. Resource allocation could be improved by conducting regular assessments of your workforce needs and identifying areas where additional support is required. This may involve investing in training programs, providing access to technology, or increasing staffing levels during peak times. These actions ensure that your hourly employees have the necessary tools to perform their jobs, which enhances productivity and job satisfaction.
3. Focusing on Skills Development Prioritize skills development initiatives within your organization. This can include offering training programs, mentorship opportunities, and access to online learning resources. By investing in the growth of your hourly workforce, you can ensure that employees are equipped to meet the demands of their roles and can contribute to your organization’s success.
4. Creating Clear Career Pathways To address the issue of career pathing, develop clear pathways for your hourly employees to achieve internal mobility. This can involve creating job descriptions that outline the skills and qualifications needed for advancement, as well as providing resources for hourly employees to explore new roles within your organization. By fostering a culture of growth and development, you can encourage your hourly workers to pursue new opportunities.
5. Promoting Communication and Recognition To ensure effective communication with your hourly workforce, prioritize open lines of communication with employees, encouraging feedback and addressing concerns promptly. Additionally, to recognize the contributions of your hourly employees, you may implement recognition programs that would boost morale, foster a sense of belonging, and celebrate employee achievements to create a more engaged and motivated hourly workforce.
Tools you can use
The latest issue of Inside Employees’ Minds focuses on the priorities, wants and needs of hourly employees, and how they differ from the broader workforce. Get your copy of the report today!
Moving forward
The challenges faced by your hourly workforce are significant, but with the right strategies in place, you can create a more supportive and productive work environment. By focusing on the unique challenges most meaningful to your organization and investing in your hourly workforce, you can enhance employee satisfaction and drive organizational success. As you navigate the complexities of workforce management, prioritizing the needs of your hourly workers will be key to achieving long-term growth and stability.
Mercer has colleagues poised to help you find the right solutions for you to develop an hourly strategy that aligns with your organizational objectives. Give us a call at 855-286-5302 or email surveys@mercer.com.
About the Author
David Kopsch, GRP, Senior Principal
David is a Senior Principal Consultant in Mercer’s Career Business located in Atlanta, Georgia. David assists clients in retail, manufacturing, and financial services on a variety of topics, including career framework, skills and jobs design, and total rewards strategy for developing a compelling employee experience. His experience includes business restructuring and transformation for global organizations, benefits valuation assessment, and organization design .