Organisations using shift workers have unique challenges when engaging and communicating with their teams. Schedules are always changing, and it's difficult to keep up with everyone. Nevertheless, building a highly engaged team of shift workers is possible, though the approach is different from one that is relevant to a regular 9–5 routine.
Engagement is one of the biggest drivers of business success. Employees who are invested in their organisation are often happier and more productive, especially shift workers.
We spoke to Chloe Sesta Jacobs, Global Head of People Experience at Deputy and Claire Young, HR Manager at Sonder, to get their insights and expertise on shift-based teams.
Shift workers often:
With all this in mind, we're going to offer advice on what you can do to improve shift worker culture in your organisation.
Chloe suggests eliminating a one-size-fits-all approach for comms. Instead, she recommends asking your people how they want to communicate and base your strategy on their responses.
“The team at Deputy loves Slack and uses it to communicate and create communities, though it’s important to acknowledge that it's not for everyone. We need to remember that getting the digital channel right, be it Slack, Teams, or other instant messaging tools, is vital to keeping everyone on the same page.”
"Traditional communication channels like company newsletters, team meetings, and all hands are really important and have their place. We used to have quarterly all hands and we’ve increased them to once a month because communication is more important than ever.”
"In addition to now holding monthly all hands meetings, the Deputy team are also doing live Q&A sessions to interact and connect with their teams. It’s best to repeat your most important points across every channel several times — and remind yourself when you think you’ve communicated enough, just do it one more time.”
Don’t forget the basics, says Chloe, “We need to remember that shift workers are also searching for meaning in their work, regardless of their position or industry. So having a strong company culture tied to values and a mission is an invaluable asset"
"Include your shift workers in decision-making and make an event of it. You can do lots of things for free online...but I think a lot of companies don't think they have the budget, but it’s just about getting everyone together.”
"Make an effort to talk to them during their shift, whether they're coming in early or finishing late. When you’re in the office, you expect to get responses during office hours, and you need to give them the same courtesy, especially if you're in a leadership role.”
"A team of shift workers dedicated a notice board section to recognition between team members. Whenever a team member wanted to thank a colleague for something they did, they’d stick it on the notice board, where it stayed for two weeks. As shifts and teams changed, they could look at this board and see what happened while they weren’t there."
Start by thinking of what currently acts, or could act, as your central comms hub. This could be break rooms, a company newsletter, or something as informal as a WhatsApp or Facebook group.
Once you’ve identified this, work towards standardising it and making it the go-to comms channel among your employees.
Claire’s advice for reaching out to team members who aren’t tech-savvy or prefer not to be online is to make them feel personally invited.
“I’ve always found that picking up the phone and having a conversation always helps. Taking time out of your day to talk to an employee shows you care and reinforces that connection to the business. A personal invitation can make a significant difference in a world where many things are automated.”
Here are three simple things you can do today to start engaging your shift workers.
These two questions are:
When we asked Chloe what engages her in her role, she said “I want autonomy, I want to feel trusted, I want to be able to get on with it, and all of those things are free. It involves more effort than spending money, but it’s really important. If you constantly emphasise your why, you’ll have a good company culture.” Claire also recommends making surveys mandatory every six to twelve months.
Every employee should attend all hands meetings, whether in person or on Zoom. Still, you should carefully consider the time and recognise that shift workers may find it challenging, if not impossible, to attend.
If they do take time out to attend, you should offer them time off in lieu, or share a recording or a summary of what was said. All hands meetings are also an excellent opportunity to showcase your shift working teams' achievements and reward positive behaviours and attitudes.
Did you know you can share company comms, updates, and more with the Perkbox app? Our customisable homepage feature allows you to share information in small visual cards. Think of it as a universal noticeboard that anyone can view and access. Each card supports a variety of attachments including video, PDF, and images.
Claire recommends two strategies for bringing your teams closer together.
"After a new hire has joined, it's good to rotate them through different shifts and teams so they get to know everyone. Putting names to faces will help new joiners find their feet and settle in more quickly than if they were to just speak with people over email."
“Sometimes you find people perform better in a different team or shift because it’s a better environment for them. It’s worth a shot, especially if you’ve got someone who isn’t engaged...like rotating new hires, this also builds more connections between teams.”
Just because people are working shifts, it doesn't mean that you can't introduce team building activities to keep up morale. When employees work unsociable hours, going out for team lunches is unrealistic unless people want to come in on their days off. However, you can introduce plenty of other activities to encourage team bonding.
The following team building activities can help your shift workers stay happy and healthy.
Night shift workers often see their friends and families less than those working daytime hours, so team-bonding activities are especially important for maintaining social wellbeing.
Perkbox is an all-in-one solution that aims to enrich your employees' experience. It includes thousands of discounts, deals and employee rewards. Its wellbeing library can be accessed 24/7 from the app. Making it ideal for shift workers without fixed schedules.
Employees can also appreciate each other whenever they want over the real-time recognition feed, plus managers can attach points to each recognition they send. These points can then be exchanged for rewards. The more points an employee has the bigger the reward they can claim.
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