How to Engage Hourly Employees: 5 Proven Ways

Hourly workers fill some of the most essential and demanding roles in modern society. Yet, they routinely receive significantly less attention than salaried employees. 

Overlooking hourly workers has costly and far-reaching consequences. 

There are 11 million jobs unfulfilled in the US today, and most of them are for hourly “deskless” jobs in healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, and other hourly industries. 

Organizations across the US are struggling to recruit and retain hourly workers. Offering financial incentives, such as raising wages from 7% to 10%, has not been proven effective in attracting and keeping deskless workers. 

So, what’s the solution? 

Research shows that improving engagement levels is key to retaining hourly employees. 

In fact, better engagement can lower employee turnover by up to 65% — not to mention that it also increases profitability by 22% and productivity by 21%. 

Secchi is a performance management software that streamlines cumbersome processes and performance data to make it easy for HR professionals and leaders to engage and retain hourly workers. Book a demo today to discover what Secchi can do for your organization. 

How to Engage Hourly Employees for Better Productivity, Company Culture, and Bottom Line

Who Are Hourly Employees? 

Not all essential workers are hourly workers. 

Hourly workers must perform their labor in person and can’t work from home. 

This puts them at a higher risk of exposure since their work depends on face-to-face interactions. Nurses, cashiers in grocery stores, retail and restaurants, and truck drivers are just some examples of hourly workers. 

Research suggests that in the near future organizations across the US will face a significant shortage of hourly workers.

• 45% of hourly workers are planning on leaving their field in the next year.
  
• Over 100,000 nurses left the field in 2021 and 22% of hourly nurses are planning to do the same in 2023. To keep up with the demand, the US will need more than 200,000 new nurses each year until 2026.
  
• The American Trucking Association reports a current shortage of 63,000 truck drivers and anticipates a shortage of 175,000 truck drivers by 2026.

Improving the engagement levels of your hourly workforce can be an effective way to decrease employee turnover. However, engaging hourly workers comes with its unique set of obstacles. 

The Challenge of Engaging Hourly Staff 

Hourly workers often switch work locations and don’t have set working hours, which makes it hard to effectively communicate with them and track their performance. 

As a result, 75% of hourly workers feel that they’re out of the loop, 58% are burned out, and an increasing number of hourly employees cite a bad relationship with their manager as their reason for quitting.  

Traditional engagement strategies, such as goal-setting and promotions, are not as relevant to hourly workers as they are to salaried employees. 

To effectively engage your hourly workforce, HR professionals and leaders must go beyond tracking discipline and take a comprehensive data-driven approach to performance management. 

Secchi simplifies performance management for hourly and hourly teams and allows them to engage, connect, review, and improve for better productivity and lower turnover rates. 

5 Proven Ways to Engage Hourly Employees 

1. Use the Hawthorne Effect 

The Hawthorne Effect is the theory that people will change their behavior simply because they know that they’re being observed. 

The original studies were designed by the National Research Council in the late 1920s and early 1930s and analyzed the effect of shop-floor lighting on worker productivity. 

The studies showed that it was not the changes in working conditions (ie: lighting) that increased productivity levels. It was the fact that the workers knew that someone cared about their working conditions enough to conduct research on them. 

Showing your employees that you’re paying attention to them can increase productivity and engagement levels. 

This is especially true when it comes to hourly workers, who often feel underappreciated and unsupported. 

Using a digital tool like Secchi shows your hourly workforce that you value their work and employee experience, which makes them more likely to engage. 

2. Adopt an Open Communication Policy 

Many hourly workers feel that they don’t have a voice and lack opportunities to provide feedback. 

Improving your internal communications system to make it easier for your hourly workforce to touch base with their managers can make your employees feel more connected to your organization as a whole. 

Companies that prioritize effective communication can increase employee retention by 4.5x, which makes communication an invaluable growth opportunity in the age of Great Resignation. 

3. Facilitate Connections Between Employees 

Improving connections between your workers is as important as helping them communicate more effectively with their managers. 

Creating a work environment that encourages co-workers to support each other improves company culture and makes employees less likely to look for another job. 

Hourly workers especially often feel isolated from their peers due to the nature of their constantly-changing environment. Facilitating relationships between them can make them feel more connected to their work and increase job satisfaction. 

Secchi removes communication barriers and engages all employees, facilitating engagement and promoting self-accountability. 

Using Secchi also helps to reduce co-worker resentment because it smooths the edges between top-performing talent and low-engaged employees. 

4. Don’t Forget About Employee Recognition 

Employee recognition increases engagement levels and improves turnover rates. 

In fact, 63% of routinely recognized employees report wanting to stay in their current role instead of looking for another job. 

Providing recognition, whether in the form of gift cards, bonuses, or genuine thank-you’s, makes your hourly employees feel appreciated and indicates to them that their work matters. 

 Knowing that they’re recognized and valued makes hourly workers more likely to engage and perform better, improving company culture and your bottom line. 

5. Offer Professional Development Opportunities

There is a common misconception that hourly and hourly workers are only interested in their paychecks. 

In reality, a lack of growth opportunities can make hourly employees feel “stuck” and lack ways to improve their skills. 

While traditional professional opportunities, such as promotions, may not be as applicable to “deskless workers,” there are still ways you can help your hourly workforce develop and grow. 

Manager in-training programs, upskill and reskill opportunities, and other educational benefits not only make your hourly employees more engaged, but also aid your organization’s success. 

Secchi: A Streamlined Software to Improve Your Hourly Employee Engagement 

Implementing a high-quality digital tool into your performance management process helps HR professionals and leaders streamline communication, hold team members accountable, and make informed decisions. 

Secchi is a performance management software designed to remove barriers and cumbersome steps to employee engagement. 

Built by HR veterans, Secchi increases productivity and improves retention in just a few simple clicks. 
Book a demo today to start engaging your hourly workforce with Secchi.