Why Casual and Part-Time Workers are Critical

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Clayton Pyne shares why offering fl exibility and staying connected to your casual workers is key to retaining staff and delivering a consistently memorable customer experience

If COVID-19 has taught the leisure industry one thing, it’s the importance of a casual workforce.

The workers who can rapidly scale up (or down) based on operating conditions and demand, they are the staff that perform functions as varied as greeting members or guests, addressing customer queries, showing fans to their seats in venues, lifeguarding duties and personal training.

They can be a positive face of your business building a connection with the public, or not.

A 2021 Humanforce survey found that 82% of casual workers have direct contact with customers and the public, making them the first human contact that customers often have with a business or brand. Equally revealing, the survey found that 79% of workers said their workplace happiness directly impacts the level of customer service they can deliver.

International travel restrictions and a lack of available staff have resulted in businesses across the leisure industry struggling to fill casual roles throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Seek there are currently 20,000 casual jobs on its site, 55% more than in 2020 and 22% more than in 2019.

So, in this competitive labour market, what do employers need to offer casual and part-time workers to create a motivated and engaged workforce?

Businesses can no longer assume that simply offering higher wages will attract workers. Casual and part-time workers often rate flexibility as their top priority, with many employees citing the flexibility to choose their work hours and shifts as their number one consideration when looking for work. To attract top-quality staff, employers need to understand that casual work often sits work alongside important life and family commitments.

While the headlines tell us that there is currently an overabundance of work available, more detailed research shows that the local, flexible workforce cannot secure work when they want it each week: •61% of workers experienced multiple instances of being unable to swap shifts with a co-worker over the last 15 months. •For workers who needed to swap shifts, 30% reported they had to find someone to cover their shift, with 63% having to call or text message managers and fellow workers to swap shifts. •Only 18% of respondents currently work for employers that automate shift-swapping via online or mobile apps - with a further 44% of people saying that such a system would be important in their workplace in the future.

In a tight labour market, businesses need to position themselves as an employer of choice by having systems that simplify their workers’ lives. Advanced workplace management solutions can facilitate a flexible work environment for employees through automating shift management, onboarding, training, and leave management.

Businesses were forced to work hard during lockdown to keep workers informed and engaged. Staff shortages have put casual staff in the box seat; they are demanding more autonomy to make decisions and take control of their own work life. Successful leisure and hospitality operators now must balance operational efficiencies with allowing people to accept the shifts they want, when they want, and the freedom to pick and choose.

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Smart rostering and workforce analytics facilitate this as businesses can set accurate parameters around your staffing requirements and then allow people to shift swap, bid for shifts, accept/decline shifts, set their availability, all while knowing that your roster will be filled.

Workforce analytics also allows employers to identify issues and inefficiencies quickly and better understand issues when they arise. For example, if everyone on a shift starts late, it might not be that everyone hates working that shift or for that manager, but that the start time doesn’t align with the bus timetable. Identifying an issue quickly and communicating with staff members means it can be addressed and resolved for the benefit of everyone.

Utilising non-intrusive systems that workers can access to manage their work at their own convenience helps create positive connections with workers. For example, workers can check their shifts on a Sunday night without having to look at the noticeboard in the lunchroom. They can also swap their shift with a colleague if they become sick in the middle of the night without having to phone around in the morning.

But flexibility is only the first part of the solution. It must be offered in conjunction with financial stability, which encompasses more than just a fair wage. Job ads that promote financial wellbeing programs are filled within an average of 22 days, compared with jobs listed by similar companies that didn’t provide a financial wellbeing program took an average of 30 days to fill.

Financial wellbeing solutions, like those offering workers early access to wages, are becoming prerequisites for organisations to attract, retain and support staff. These solutions enable casual and part-time workers to access pay as they earn it, to cover bills and expenses as needed. They also allow workers to track their earnings in real time, check their financial fitness and participate in 1-1 live-chat financial coaching.

The physical and mental health challenges casual workers face have been exacerbated through the pandemic by their irregular work patterns and lack of job security. It is more important than ever for employers to stay connected to all casual workers (including those temporarily stood down), arrange regular check-ins on their wellbeing and provide support where possible. Simple ‘shift rating’ tools can help staff still employed flag issues and personal stresses to their managers in a digital and non-intrusive way.

Other ways that automated workforce management solutions allow businesses to stay close to their workers are by: •Shining a spotlight on individuals who have done something above and beyond or something they have done to help a colleague. This could be through platform notifications and on-site via noticeboards or even on company social media platforms. •Ensuring staff are equipped with the right resources (both training and development as well as any physical items) to do their job effectively, whether they’re on-site or working remotely, making sure their team is resourced efficiently. •Regular check-ins on wellbeing and how employees are tracking to targets. It may be hard to see and set long term targets given the changing workplace, so breaking them down into short-term goals may help the business achieve its longerterm objectives by keeping staff engaged and connected to their short-mid-term objectives. •Employee journey mapping – understand the employee experience from the start of their role/hiring to the end. Through learning about an employee’s valuable moments on the job and their interactions they have with the manager, critical work milestones or incidents can be handled appropriately. Workers are more likely to disengage if they haven’t got appropriate tools and technologies to manage their deskless working lives. Casual and part-time workers will undoubtedly play a vital role in the rebuilding process that leisure businesses are currently undertaking. Every customer is precious, and just one negative human interaction can make or break customer loyalty. It is up to employers to do all they can to create a motivated and engaged workforce. Clayton Pyne is Chief Executive of Humanforce. For more information on how your business can build an engaged workforce, visit https://humanforce.com/