5 Ways to Survive the Labor Drought
Savvy operators have already started to address their labor issues with the means they have available. How can businesses survive the labor drought and thrive?
1. Listen to the Frontline
Everybody wants to be heard—especially during trying times. While listening is simple on a case-by-case basis, most large organizations have traditionally focused solely on broadcasting info downward. Surveys and Polls are effective tools that capture the voice of your employees at scale.
Frequent pulse polls enable employers to quickly gauge the atmosphere and gather votes for team recognition. Dive deeper with comprehensive feedback to drive strategic changes that improve engagement and retention.
2. Ease Daily Frustrations
Every job comes with a host of frustrations—little things that just aren’t working. These quirks of equipment or unintuitive processes add up over time. The thing is, most issues have known fixes; employees just need an outlet to find and share best practices.
Targeted Communication channels enable peer-to-peer learning and ensure every single employee has the information they need through updated FAQs and real-time procedure updates.
3. Show a Clear Path to Growth
No one wants to stand still—especially not the modern workforce. Offer a clear path forward by leveraging mobile training in micro-form. Reward employees with leaderboards, digital badges, and gated access to premium open shifts.
Using micro-lessons during downtime ensures employees are well-trained and ready when it counts, while explicitly connecting training completion to promotion eligibility or wage increases.
4. Be Radically Flexible
The lack of scheduling flexibility is a leading reason for turnover. WorkJam research shows that 61% of frustrated employees cite scheduling as a reason for leaving. It is no longer feasible to expect employees to stick to a static schedule agreed upon months ago.
WorkJam’s Open Shift Marketplace enables employees to swap shifts and adjust availability while ensuring all transactions run through your existing labor rules and WFM system.
5. Ease the Financial Strain
Not every business can increase base wages, but you can improve economic well-being through wage timing. Same-day pay options allow employees to cash out a percentage of accrued wages between paychecks, addressing unplanned costs without interrupting the payroll cycle.
By offering earned wage access as part of an employee wellness program, you become an employer of choice while helping your team remain financially resilient.
About the author:
Steven Kramer
Chief Executive Officer
Steven is a technology entrepreneur with over 20 years of executive leadership experience in founding and scaling companies developing disruptive, enterprise-class technologies. In 1999, Steven co-founded iCongo, a leading global software provider for omni-channel retail and B2B commerce solutions, which merged with hybris Software in 2011 and became the largest independent provider of e-commerce solutions with 27 offices worldwide, 1000+ employees and more than 600 customers. Steven was part of the Executive Management team and Board Member at hybris. hybris Software was purchased by SAP in 2013. While working with companies on their omni-channel strategies, Steven identified a gap between traditional workforce management systems and how companies actually hire, schedule and manage their frontline employees. With this in mind, Steven co-founded WorkJam.
