Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG) shares with MHD the challenges and opportunities brought on by COVID-19 – and offers practical advice on how organisations can prepare for more change ahead.
For employers and employees in the logistics and distribution field, the COVID-19 pandemic has created some of the most significant challenges the industry has ever experienced – ranging from keeping employees safe with digital alerts and safety notifications, to the need to make real-time, better-informed decisions with data to ensure customer satisfaction and employee experience.
How the pandemic has expedited digital transformation
The pandemic has collapsed into mere months a process of adopting e-commerce that otherwise would have taken years, creating enormous challenges for distribution companies trying to keep up with demand.
The accelerated growth of online fulfillment and onsite order pickup or delivery is testing distribution centres like never before. To meet productivity goals, employee engagement and retention have become increasingly crucial, with organisations requiring more advanced technologies to help them better manage employee retention, productivity, and labour cost optimisation.
The competition for talented labour is more competitive than ever, which is why UKG has seen a significant pivot by distribution companies, as they become more focused on their workforces and how they can become employers of choice.
Even with underemployment levels higher than usual, the war for talent still exists in the logistics and distribution industry, which means hiring and retaining top talent is still a major concern.
What’s important for many organisations to understand is that by focusing on and using a workforce management (WFM) and human capital management (HCM) platform to improve employee experience – through employee work-life balance, employee self-service, and employee reward programs – they can also create significant operational value.
The pandemic has highlighted the immense need for flexibility in logistics and distribution operations, as the uncertainty of the short- and long-term future means Australian organisations must be flexible and quick to adapt.
To better understand how you can achieve the goal of being an employer of choice, it’s important to grasp what employees desire, as well as the challenges in meeting these goals.
Employee work-life balance:
• Provide accessibility to request shift swaps and paid time off requests from the safety and comfort of home, and on the go with mobile apps
• Recognise and make the most of each employee’s desire for hours – including overtime
• Allow employees to set schedule preferences
• Use shifts that create opportunities for increased overtime acceptance
• Use a blend of static and variable shifts to engage a broader employee population.
Employee self-service:
• Allow employees to set schedule preferences and use AI to make shift recommendations based on employer work history preferences
• Reduce time supervisors spend at desks doing low-value work, and ensure they are on the floor mentoring staff
• Provide access to Shift Bidding (for static schedule workers)
• Attest to time
• Attest to health or safety questions
It’s essential to attract and retain best-fit employees and manage them more cost-effectively so that transportation and distribution facilities can accurately allocate labour to demand – helping optimise labour costs, improving employee engagement and productivity, improving workforce agility, and driving stronger bottom-line results.
One proven way to accelerate your organisation’s digital transformation with a truly connected global workforce experience is by moving beyond traditional definitions of HCM and WFM – and look to combine transformative technology with deeper workforce capabilities.
The importance of having the right technology
Taking advantage of advanced WFM and HCM technology is critical to delivering on your customers’ needs and being seen as an employer of choice.
Companies should utilise workforce and HCM tools, including mobile technologies, to achieve productivity gains and an enhanced employee experience. They should also leverage real-time analytics to support informed decision making, and use AI and machine learning technologies to optimise scheduling for demand and worker preferences. For the logistics and distribution industry, the future of work is now and the need to improve employee engagement, safety, and labour optimisation is more important than ever.
For more information on UKG, click here.