10 Tips on Managing Your Hourly Workers
Whether you oversee two hourly workers or have a team of more than 30, it helps to have some management skills up your sleeve. Here are 10 tips to help you be the best manager you can be and get the most out of your hourly workers.
1. Have a clear scheduling system
It is impossible to manage hourly workers without a clear scheduling system. In order to do your job well as a manager, you should know how many workers you have at a given time and what jobs they need to fill. A platform like Wrkio that helps you manage schedules will also automatically prevent scheduling conflicts like one person being double booked for jobs.
Having this information not only keeps you organised, it allows you to respond to changes in your workers’ schedules. If someone cancels, you will be able to easily identify another person to fill in for them.
2.Communicate about shifts in advance
The beauty of hourly work is that it allows workers to engage in other activities, but only if they know their shifts ahead of time. When managing hourly workers, it is important to plan and communicate schedules well in advance.
Knowing schedules reduces cases of missed work, allows workers to plan for their days, allows them to have a work-life balance and quite importantly, allows workers to prepare for the work. If you call someone in 30 minutes before a job starts, it is easy to imagine how the quality of the output might be compromised.
3.Know your business
Hourly workers are paid based off of the number of hours they work. In some industries like the restaurant industry however, their wages are augmented by tips. On busy days tips will inevitably more.
In order to manage hourly workers well, you need to know the rhythms of the business. You should know when the busiest days are and when it is off peak and schedule workers accordingly. If some workers constantly get the Monday morning shift, while others are given the juicy Friday evening shifts, you may see a lack of motivation in some of your workers.
4.Embrace technology
Technological advancements to help you manage your hourly workers are being developed constantly. There are tools to help with every aspect of your business; from accounting to record keeping and scheduling.
Technology will save you time and money and make your business more efficient. It will help you determine your peaks and slowest times and so guide on how to deploy your workers.
5.Fit into workers’ schedules
When it comes to hourly work, it is best to fit into the workers’ schedules. Listen to the people you are working with and assign them schedules that work for them. Some people may find it convenient to work nights while for others, this may be out of the question. Where one worker can work week days, the next one may need to go to class during the week.
By giving workers the flexibility to choose, you will have a more committed work force. In addition to assign shifts to workers, Wrkio also allows you to post jobs online and let workers apply to the jobs on a shift basis. You are still in control as you need to approve those applications. But this gives workers greater flexibility in choosing job shifts that best fit in their lives.
6.Be a good manager
‘Good manager’ might be a ubiquitous term so think of what you might want from your manager and offer the same to your workers.
These are some of the qualities of a good manager; they are a good listener, they offer advice, they defend you when necessary, they give you a break when you need it, they look out for opportunities for you and are easy to approach when you are stuck or have made a mistake.
7.Motivate your workers
In order for someone to do be a successful hourly worker, they need to be great at self-motivating. They should have intrinsic motivators pushing them to do their job. This doesn’t mean that they cannot benefit from motivation from their manager.
According to research, motivation is an important factor for productivity and retention. This doesn’t apply to only full time workers.
To motivate your hourly workers, have a conversation with each to find out what their goals are, help them set targets and support them in getting there. In addition to having a more motivated team, these types of conversations will improve morale and retention.
8.Create a good working environment
Motivate hourly workers by creating a good working environment. This means having physical tools like work stations and personal lockers in place if possible. Ensure that the premises are clean, well ventilated and have basic amenities required for someone to work comfortably. It also means creating a culture that supports hourly workers.
In a good working environment, hourly workers will be on boarded well. They will be introduced to the team, they will have a chance to talk with their direct supervisor, and they may even be assigned a work buddy to help them assimilate into the workplace.
This will show hourly workers that they are not just a stand in or second class citizens in the business. Feeling like part of the team will improve morale and productivity.
9.Allow room for innovation
A big part of being a manager is giving people room to thrive. Hourly workers often come into a workplace that already has processes in place. They just fall into step with the system and do things the way they have always been done. This is not a bad thing. However, some workers may have idea that could make a difference to the business.
Encourage your hourly workers to share ideas and speak up. They may have a hack they picked up from another job that may revolutionize the way things are done.
10.Appreciate their efforts
If you run a busy restaurant, you may realise that a month has passed by and the extent of your communication with your hourly workers is instructions and trouble shooting. To avoid this, be deliberate about appreciating your workers.
A “thank you for a job well done” is something that you should turn into a practice. Give your best performers the verbal praise they deserve during team review meetings. Gift hampers and extra days off can go a long way too in letting your hourly employees know that you value their effort.
