How to Retain Hourly Employees

How to retain hourly employees. Research by Shiftboard uncovered what matters most to these workers to help you improve job satisfaction and reduce hourly worker turnover.

Half of hourly employees would take a pay cut for more control over their schedule or better health benefits, according to recent research by Shiftboard.

“There are nearly 82 million hourly workers in the U.S., and they make up more than half of the American workforce,” said Steve O’Brian, Vice President of Marketing at Shiftboard. “Nearly every sector of the U.S. economy is struggling to find and retain workers. Employers can leverage this report to better understand how to attract, motivate and retain hourly workers.”

Hourly Workers Want Work-Life Balance

Close to 80 percent of hourly workers agreed that work-life balance was necessary for job satisfaction. Almost 90 percent said it’s extremely important to have control over the days and times they are expected to work. Hourly workers aren’t looking to conform to a standard 40-hour work week, instead, they prefer to have the option to:

Work longer days to have more days off between scheduled shifts (89%)
Work a set number of hours without overtime being a requirement (78%)
Work more hours for more pay, as long as it’s not required (88%)

Exploring scheduling options that give hourly employees more control is a strategy that could potentially reduce turnover.

Pay Cuts for Better Health Benefits

More than half of hourly workers would be willing to take a reasonable pay cut for better health benefits. High out-of-pocket costs for healthcare have led to financial toxicity, which happens when Americans skip medications that could improve their quality of life because they can’t afford them. More than 40 percent of Americans don’t see a physician when they are sick or injured because of high healthcare costs.

Working with health benefits brokers to reduce out-of-pocket healthcare costs for hourly employees could be advantageous for employers aiming to boost retention for hourly employees.

Hourly Workers Want to Find Meaning in Work

Nearly 90 percent of hourly workers believe making a significant contribution to the success of their company is important to job satisfaction. More than 80 percent believe it’s important to receive joy from work and agree that feeling challenged at work is important for job satisfaction. An overwhelming majority of hourly workers believe having career growth opportunities is important for job satisfaction.

How to Retain Hourly Workers

“We’re finding that wages are only part of the equation. Employers need to look beyond obvious factors to effectively increase satisfaction and retention for today’s hourly employees,” said O’Brian.

Finding solutions that allow hourly workers more flexibility, developing more comprehensive health benefits, and communicating their value to the success of the company are three ways employers can improve retention for hourly employees.