Strategies to Reduce Employee Turnover In a Warehouse

The warehousing industry is among the top four industries with the highest worker turnover rate at 37%, with the average turnover rate at only 3.6%. Fortunately, there have been countless studies on the importance of employee retention over the years. Still, a lot of companies don’t put it into practice. 

Check out this article to learn a few proactive approaches you can take to decrease your high turnover rates. 

Invest in training programs and courses

A study showed that the larger the warehouse, the higher the turnover rate. From the get-go, any lack of attention paid to training new employees revealed a big impact and potential drawbacks on their engagement. Significant time and resources should be spent when onboarding new employees. Efforts from leaders to emphasize that they are part of a team, and not disposable workers, will help with employee satisfaction.

Personal training and development opportunities should also be made to all employees. A lot of employers will find training courses expensive and a waste of time and money. However, the return on investment from these programs makes the cost and time a worthwhile investment. Employees will feel appreciated and more confident in their doing their jobs.

Commit to work-life integration

Companies should work with their human resources department to ensure that their policies support work-life balance. Let employees take vacations and holidays; do not intrude when they are off duty. Leaders should understand that the long hours, physical toll, and repetitive tasks can cause even the hardest-working employee to get stressed and exhausted. When employees start to feel overwhelmed, that is when a decrease in productivity and an increase in staff turnover start.

Give regular reviews and raises

The average salaries for warehousing employees have not increased a lot for the past 12 years. Leaders should understand that a spiral of issues leading to absenteeism and eventually attrition can start from financial vulnerability. Not surprisingly, in another survey conducted by ProLogistix, pay figures show as one of the main deciding factors or priorities for employees when choosing a job. The same survey showed that 58% of the workers moved jobs for an increase of only $1 to $1.99 per hour. In other words, rather than freezing wages, companies should start thinking about giving some increase so that their workers will not leave for better pay opportunities elsewhere.

Over time, improving employee retention can help increase productivity and lower costs associated with running your warehouse. If you can start putting some of these practices into place, you could see a change in no time.

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