What is the best way to retain casual employees?
Hi Guys,
Due to the nature of our business we have a number of casual driver employees that we can only offer 20hours a week work. The turnover rate is reasonably high due to the inability to provide more hours regularly. I am currently working on reforming the culture of the business to enhance the reasons for staying but with the cost of living ever increasing in the area and being in a mining associated town money is a big focus.
Firstly, does anyone have any advice on casual retention success? Secondly, I have written a few press releases and started approaching businesses in the region to see if they are finding a similar issue of;
- limited hours to provide employees; and/or
- high staff numbers required for short stints due to the nature of work duties.
The goal is to find businesses willing to work together to accommodate employees to increase the daily hours of work. The are of course issues like higher tax on the second job and limits to shift flexibility but the positives outweigh the negatives I feel. From various interviews I have conducted I have found there is a general feeling of angst coming from a high demand for temp and contract workers. This has led to workders finding it harder to secure personal loans such as mortgages and can develop a mentality of reduced performance as workers know there is no other reward for performance or loyalty than standard remuneration. Has anyone had any experience with this kind of issue or can anyone provide some feedback on the initiative I am wanting to start?
Well Dane, It's not an unusual problem nowadays and one that we suffer from, time to time in the cleaning industry. We probably use less casuals but suffer from the problem of three people doing one full time job. I'm not sure that the benefits really outweigh the consequences! Our experience is no matter how much effort you put into getting buy in on the culture and the direction of the business your staff just want more work and right now. And, for the moment in mining areas it's there. Our strategy is to push on through the rotating staff door and grow the business until we have enough hours for our key positions. Easy to say, a bit slow to do but we have wasted so much on recruiting,training and hand holding just to watch people walk. Most employees do not see the world as an entrenepreur does. They simply want a pay cheque. Yeh, I know I'm generalising but generalisations always hold a grain of truth.
Hi Tim. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I'll keep plugging at it. If I have a successful epiphany I'll let you know.
