Half of frontline workers want to quit, here’s how to retain them

Kylie Uvodich is Managing Director at safety cultureleads the US arm of the global technology company, helping work teams get better every day.

Frontline workers who have to physically show up to get work done have been under increased pressure since the pandemic began. Continuing labor shortage and the rising cost of living has only turned up the heat and fueled you burnout epidemic while employees do their best to shoulder the burden at home and at work.

That’s what new research from YouGov has found 73% of frontline workers say they have felt under increased pressure at home over the past 12 months, while 64% say they have felt under increased pressure at work.

When resources are already tight and staffing is tight, companies certainly do not want to consider mass attrition of their workforce. This new data reveals a real opportunity to better support frontline workers, but with competing demands for organizational attention — including Supply chain frustrationsskyrocketing costs and tight budgets – it’s difficult to know where to start.

5 ways to ma make the work and life of employees easier

• Eliminate bureaucracy with technology: With increasing challenges and pressures, the frontline must do more with less. Leveraging mobile tools and apps for frontline workers can help digitize processes and streamline manual and time-consuming tasks. Technology plays a crucial role in the daily lives of industries such as hospitality and retail, where much of the Employees are millennials. Daily checks, shift handovers and new product training can all be done remotely, with tools like iAuditorthat are easy to use and have tons of industry-specific templates to help you get started quickly.
• Acknowledge the financial burden and equip the frontline properly: Almost 4 out of 10 frontline workers had to do this spend your own money for occupational safety in the last 12 months. US employees spent an estimated $46.8 billion in the last 12 months. As household budgets come under increasing pressure, you should ask your employees (particularly in industries such as manufacturing and construction) to: a Checklist before starting or an aptitude self-assessment. These can help determine if they have the equipment needed and potential impact on the team. A simple action like this can help keep employees safe, reduce time lost to injuries, and improve employee productivity and engagement.
• Employee Engagement Index: Commitment is key to staying on the front lines. employees must feel heard when they raise concerns and ideas. Technology can also play a role here. Try mobile tools that employees can use to report issues and provide feedback on the go. A digital trail helps them trust they are being heard and shows them that appropriate action has been taken.
• Use mobile learning: Learning breeds engagement, and a continued focus on development is another great way to improve employee retention. Both hard and soft skills can be taught through bite-sized mobile learning. free, high quality resources like the course Where Karamo Brown by Queer Eye teaches employees how to make their workplaces more inclusive. Hard skills like that art of the bus tables, like lift heavy boxesand even the Fundamentals of forklift operation you can learn that too.
• Challenge your view of flexibility: Contrary to popular belief, there is flexibility for the frontline. Not every type of flexibility works for every role, but if you’re open to change, greater flexibility is almost always achievable. Leaders can evaluate daily rituals, tasks, and roles to question whether they could be done somewhere else, at a different time, or in a different way. Could administrative tasks, mandatory training or team meetings still be conducted remotely or at another location? Can you use — Apps like Shyft Allow employees to design their own rosters and swap shifts? Could some roles be combined and shared? Would flexible start and end times work? These are all things to consider and good examples of tailored flexibility for the frontline – another key to customer retention.

Our frontline workers continued to emerge as life as we knew journeyed into the unknown. Now, as we continue to forge the path for a post-pandemic world, this is our chance to champion it.