Mitigate Frontline Employee Turnover With Respect, Support & Flexibility

Employers of frontline workers are experiencing high turnover rates — and many don’t understand why their employees are leaving.

Many organizations resorted to retention initiatives like signing or holiday bonuses and shorter workdays. Yet more than 34 million people in the U.S. still quit their jobs last year, indicating these quick fixes may not be enough to engage employees. To attract and retain talent, employers need to provide employees with what they really want — respect, support and flexibility.

For some workers, leaving for nothing is the best option

Nearly 3% of workers in the U.S. left their jobs in December 2021 alone. Even more concerningly, 36% of workers who have left their jobs in the past 12 months did so without another job lined up. While burnout isn’t a new phenomenon, it’s becoming a more pressing issue amid the pandemic as employees hold their workplace managers to a much higher standard.

Not feeling valued by their employer or manager and not feeling a sense of belonging at work were among the top reasons why employees quit their jobs last year. Additionally, career mobility and employee well-being have been top of mind in recent years, yet many companies are failing to adequately invest in these areas.

In part, this explains why financial perks alone aren’t enough to attract and retain employees. Frontline workers want more than just a bigger paycheck: They want their organization to care about them. The question is how can employers in these struggling industries effectively support their employees?

How can enterprises boost employee retention?

One way to empower your frontline workers is by implementing a digital workplace — an engagement and productivity suite that combines task management, communication, learning, and scheduling. Let’s take a closer look at how this technology can help you attract and retain top talent and increase your bottom line:

1. Value employees’ opinions. Give your employees a voice.  It makes them feel supported and decreases their likelihood of experiencing burnout. By creating a single point of communication, frontline employees know where to go to stay informed and participate in your company culture. Segmentation helps ensure that the user experience is relevant and engaging. The open feedback loop helps close the gap on what’s missing from their employee experience. The best way to elevate employee voices is to eliminate friction in daily communication workflows.

2. Provide opportunities for internal mobility. As employers struggle to find talent, upskilling and reskilling are top of mind — and internal mobility benefits employers and employees. Workers at enterprises with high internal mobility are more likely to stay at their organizations longer, which reduces onboarding and recruiting costs for employers. Internal mobility also helps employees learn new skills and advance their careers more quickly. With mobile learning, employees can complete training in the flow of the workday, at their own pace. Engage with frontline workers in a way that is native to them, with video content and snackable quizzes.

3. Give employees control. The inability to work remotely is contributing to burnout for many frontline workers in industries like retail, food service, and distribution. Fortunately, flexibility doesn’t just mean ‘work from home.’ A digital workplace goes beyond mobile WFM tools — including, but going beyond mobile shift management to easily swap or pick up shifts. Utilizing an open shift marketplace, employees can pick up shifts at neighboring locations, giving employees more control over their economic well-being. As frontline employees gain flexibility, shift coverage increases.

Attract and retain frontline workers with a different lens on benefits

You can no longer win over employees with higher wages alone. Expectations for employers are on the rise, and workers are demanding an engaging employee experience with flexibility, support, and respect. As you vie for new employees — and try to retain current talent — consider offering benefits that will help them flourish long term.

Will Eadie is chief revenue officer at WorkJam.