Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1464021
22 PalletCentral • March-April 2022 palletcentral.com Workforce By Phillip M. Perry The formula for increasing employee retention is based on being proactive in overall employee satisfaction. In other words, it is the little things that matter. W hen Maria Kehneman took over the role of Vice President of Human Resources at Pallet Service Corporation in 2018, one of her first moves was to hold one-on-one discussions with employees. "I wanted to assess what they liked about our company and what areas they felt we could do better on," she says. "I wanted to know what they were really thinking about their benefits, the way they were paid, and the way they were interacting with their managers." Kehneman's initiative illustrates the importance of being proactive in employee satisfaction. is is all the more important in this post-COVID world, in which the so-called "Great Resignation" is colliding with a pervasive skills gap. Employees are leaving their jobs for better-paying positions – or for early retirement – and employers are having a difficult time finding trained replacements. Little relief is anticipated. e United States' labor market is expected to remain tight for some time, according to a recent report in e Financial Times. "Companies are fighting harder for workers, and unit labor costs are rising sharply." e moral of the story is clear: It's more important than ever to make sure workers are happy in their current duties. Happiness Check Pallet companies are responding to the changing work environment by taking steps to ensure worker happiness. "Over the past few years, we've become more deliberate in fostering an environment that improves the lives of our employees," said Jeff Van Zeeland, Partner at Fox Valley Wood Products. "Our company was not doing a bad job in that area, but we felt there is always room for improvement. Part of the reason was the growing competition in the marketplace: It's getting more and more challenging to retain and recruit really good people. But we also took an inward look on who we were as a company, and we felt we wanted to do the right thing." So how do you find out if employees are really happy? One way is to ask them. In 2019, Kehneman decided to initiate a quarterly employee satisfaction survey as part of the company retention strategy. "e surveys are designed to collect feedback and actionable data about our employee experience," she says. "e idea is to give a voice to employees with the purpose of increasing their engagement and improving retention." e survey results are analyzed by the company leadership team and are used to develop strategies around benefits, communications, training, and employee working conditions. e survey provided important insights into employee needs, and the company was able to take steps to ensure worker satisfaction. "Employees told us the $16 an hour starting rate we were paying was not competitive, so we gave some careful consideration to what we could do and eventually decided to raise our starting wage and associated piece rates to be more competitive. All employees now start at $20 an hour," said Kehneman. e employees proved to be forward-looking in their personal planning as well, and they mentioned the lack of employer matching contributions in the 401K plan, said Kehneman. "We decided to add a matching 4% contribution which is very generous, especially in the conditions that the economy is in right now." EMPOWERING EMPLOYEE HAPPINESS