Specialist logistics recruiter, Innovate Freight Talent, has shared its tips for employers on retaining talent - as organisations face the challenge of keeping employees satisfied in the modern workplace.
The pandemic brought many changes to workplaces, including hybrid working and flexible hours. It also saw the emergence of ‘quiet quitting’ – where workers only carry out minimal requirements of their job role but continue to stay at a company and collect their salary.
With an estimated 20- 40 per cent of an organisation’s workplace engaging in quiet-quitting in 2024 alone, and transport and logistics professionals the least happy workers among all sectors, Richard Litchfield believes it is more important than ever for businesses to take proactive steps to ensure their best workers don’t become disillusioned.
Knowing the costs and time that can be involved in securing the best person for a role, Richard understands just how important it is to keep them onboard and engaged: “Whilst it is tempting to dismiss quiet quitting as a social media trend, it has become a real problem that we are seeing businesses face. Not only can it create a difficult working environment for a team, but it can also impact productivity and profits.
“As the working world changes, organisations need to make sure they’re changing with it, as well as paying closer attention to a team’s morale.
“There are three simple things all businesses, from SMEs to big corporates, can do to ensure the people they employ want to commit to them: outlining clear progression pathways, offer training and development opportunities and being open with employees.
“If employees can’t see any route for progression, they’ll have nothing to aim towards and risk losing motivation. Simple things such as productive appraisals and regular one-to-one sessions can massively motivate a team.
“We need to encourage open and honest conversations between organisations and employees about where a member of staff could be in two, three or five years time. Avoiding open dialogue on this will, in the long run, likely lead to unmet expectations and complete apathy for the role.
“While we excel in matching talent and employers together, we want to continue to see more businesses and employees coming together – to avoid quiet quitting, which impacts the overall productivity of our industry.”
Innovate Freight Talent’s clients include both SMEs and large global organisations, hiring for road freight, logistics and air and sea. The recruiter is continuing to add to its ranks, as it expands its size and expertise across the UK, Europe and beyond.