Press Releases

CHARLESTON, S.C. (March 29, 2016) – Today PeopleMatter announced the results of its research into employee engagement in the service industry, as part of its How Hourly Workforces Work survey. Based on the responses of nearly 1,000 service industry professionals, the results reveal the challenges employers face in engaging their hourly workers and the strategies that help them motivate and drive performance among their teams.

“Keeping employees engaged, motivated and performing at their best is key to driving retention in an industry often characterized by high turnover,” said Jay Nathan, senior vice president of Customer Success at PeopleMatter. “Working to increase engagement also helps managers identify and develop future leaders, while resulting in greater customer satisfaction. As our survey shows, companies that leverage a workforce management system can see large gains in engagement and, therefore, improve employee retention and achieve significant cost savings.”

For the last four years, PeopleMatter’s research organization, The PeopleMatter Institute (PMI), has sought to provide the service industry’s most comprehensive analysis of the trends and challenges impacting industry employers and the solutions that can help them manage their hourly employees. One of the biggest pain points impacting these companies is the challenge of engaging their teams. Through this survey of 974 individuals representing a wide variety of sectors, business sizes and roles in the service industry, PeopleMatter uncovered the biggest concerns facing service industry employers in regard to engagement and what they are doing to solve this problem.

Key findings of the research include:
Challenges to business success: Overall, 79 percent of survey respondents cited keeping their hourly employees engaged and motivated as their biggest engagement-related challenge. This is followed by identifying and developing future managers (77 percent) and comparing performance data across locations and people (76 percent).
Incentives for improving engagement: The survey found the most effective methods for keeping employees engaged and motivated are wage increases, providing outside goods or services (like an iPad or event tickets) and offering opportunities for career advancement. Moreover, adding just one additional incentive can increase engagement by 34 percent.
The value of tracking performance: The ability to record and track employee performance can lead to higher engagement, lower turnover and greater overall efficiency. It also leads to higher customer satisfaction; 71 percent of companies using a workforce management system to track performance are satisfied with the customer service their employees provide.
Impact of performance feedback: The frequency of performance-related feedback has a clear influence on employee turnover. Moving from inconsistent feedback to quarterly performance reviews can help employers control turnover rates and costs by 247 percent.
Improving turnover: Three out of five companies using a workforce management system to track and manage employee performance in a standardized way report turnover below 25 percent. Meanwhile, organizations with varied or inconsistent performance processes are 994 percent more likely to report hourly turnover greater than 75 percent.
In addition to this survey research, PeopleMatter will explore the issue of employee engagement in depth during its Collaborate ’16 conference, taking place May 4 – 6, 2016 in Charleston, S.C. During this event, attendees will learn from industry experts, brands and thought leaders about the most pressing issues facing the service industry today – including employee engagement – and the best practices and new products to help them improve.

Through a robust agenda of keynotes and educational sessions, Collaborate ’16 will explore how service industry employers can enhance engagement and reduce turnover. Such sessions include: Being an Employer of Choice, Finding Your People Story, The Hidden Costs of Unfilled Positions That Go Well Beyond Overtime, and Bottom Line Happiness Through Positive Employee Relations.

Additional information about Collaborate ’16, including the full session agenda, can be accessed at: https://www.peoplematter.com/collaborate-16.


About PeopleMatter
PeopleMatter is a powerful and complete workforce management platform designed to fit the specific needs of service-industry brands. Our complete set of mobile, workforce solutions and business analytics tools connect processes, employees and customers in entirely new ways. Automating and optimizing people processes since 2009, PeopleMatter helps more than 47,000 service-industry locations thrive through better efficiency, engagement and customer satisfaction. PeopleMatter is headquartered in Charleston, S.C. and on online at Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook.