How to Improve Employee Retention in Warehouses and Industrial Facilities

If your business is struggling to hire and retain warehouse employees as the busy holiday season looms large, you're not alone. Warehouses everywhere have been struggling to fill positions, and when they can, it often comes at a high cost. Additionally, high employee turnover can hurt your bottom line—after all, it takes time and resources to onboard and train employees.
So how can you reduce employee turnover and retain your best warehouse employees? Try these four tips to attract and retain employees in your warehouse or industrial facility for the holiday season and beyond.

1. Offer an attractive wage and benefits

It almost goes without saying, but it's worth touching on: pay is the number-one most important factor for warehouse job seekers and workers. However, while pay might be the most important factor, it's not the only important factor.
Warehouse workers also place high value on job security, company culture and healthcare. Offering a comprehensive benefits package and engaging workplace could be the determining factor in retaining your best employees.

2. Don't Neglect Company Culture and Training

Did you know roughly 10,000 baby boomers retire each day? With this aging workforce, warehouses must turn to younger generations to fill positions. However, younger generations have often been less interested and hard to retain in warehouse jobs due to what's often perceived as a poorly-defined career path. However, by providing additional training, an engaging company culture that makes employees feel valued, and career advancement opportunities, you can better retain employees while keeping them engaged and motivated.
As mentioned above, company culture is important. Investing time in cultivating a positive and enjoyable company culture can help attract and retain younger workers.

3. Consider Both Full and Part-Time Employees

With the advent of remote work for other industries, the importance of flexibility in a work schedule has been made abundantly clear. Offering multiple different shifts and part-time work can boost your ability not only to retain employees, but to attract them as well.
Part-time work can attract students, parents, semi-retirees, and other individuals who may not be available for an eight-hour shift, but are highly motivated, reliable, and have desire or need for work.

4. Offer Flexible PTO

While it doesn't directly benefit your bottom line, providing employees with the resources to be flexible can save you money and hassle in the long run. Strict leave policies that lead to termination can come back to bite you, as everyone is susceptible to emergencies that can’t be planned for. ​

5. Ask Your Employees What They Want

While the four tips above can help you retain talent, there’s going to be circumstances that aren't addressed by any of them. Having discussions with your employees about their wants and needs can help build trust and morale, which are also crucial to employee retention.
Having these conversations early is important, as it will lay the groundwork and set expectations for your employees' tenure.

Find warehouse workers in your area today

If a warehouse is a machine, then its workers are the gears. Without taking care of them, the whole thing grinds to a halt. Finding the right employees is half the battle, and Summit Staffing can help you win it.
For over 30 years, our offices throughout the Midwest have drawn from a vast pool of qualified candidates to help businesses succeed, and we can help yours too. If you're ready to find qualified permanent hires or temporary workers for the holiday season, sign up for our talent network today. Need more information? Contact us today