Why Deskless Employees Are Leaving And How To Retain Them?

Field and deskless job vacancies are the toughest for human resource professionals to fill on time. Because of that, the deskless employee retention rate suffers in the long run. Hiring managers and recruiters find it difficult to reduce the attrition rate because often field job workers and deskless employees do not want to commit beyond 6 months to the organisation. That’s why we need to focus on why deskless employees are leaving more than ever. 

When we get the answer to that question, we can work on getting the right answers. For example, investing in smart, professional, and ever-growing recruitment, employee management, and employee training/development strategies.  

HR professionals use the best HRMS software in India. It helps them to work on the above-listed strategies. By doing so, they achieve the retention rate estimated from the sourcing and shortlisting stage. 

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Top 4 Reasons Why Deskless Employees Are Leaving Without Commitment In The Field Jobs (Despite Great Perks)

They want to earn more in less time

Often, field jobs come across as risky and do not have psychological safety for deskless and field workers. Therefore, they have the mindset to shift the company before it’s too late. That period for them is usually 6 months or even less. These are the front liners of every industry or sector. The external image of them depends on them. So they usually have higher demands and higher goals for themselves. They are not afraid to quit the organisation. They often build their personal brand. 

Solution:

So to attract and retain field job workers, the company has to offer them either multiple clients, incentives, or projects. 

“Keeping up with the interest of the field job employees or deskless workers is tough. We often are unable to find the right reason for them to leave or not even show interest in applying for the job, even after the company is paying them competitive perks or compensation. I strongly feel that we need to first write and publish the right and descriptive job description and publish it on the appropriate platform where deskless employees often apply for new jobs. Next, the follow-up game has to be strong and automated when it comes to attracting field job workers. We do not lock them easily when they show less interest. But when we know what they desire, it’s easier to shortlist and onboard them.”

-       Vamshi Medi (Human Resources Professional at COEPD/APT IT Solutions)

Vamshi Medi has more than 3 years of experience in the Human Resource vertical. He has a diverse portfolio as a Human Resource Professional. His skill set includes sourcing and screening candidates, job marketing, Applicant Tracking Systems, social media recruiting, and more. He currently works as a Human Resources Professional at COEPD / APT IT Solutions in Hyderabad, Telangana. He is into managing end-to-end job postings and recruitment offers activities to attract the best candidates possible, especially for field jobs. He is proficient in screening resumes and conducting interviews to lock in the suitable candidate for the right job position. 

They do not find the right perks in the firm

A young generation or Gen Z deskless or field job workers are more demanding of the perks they want when working for a brand. Not every organisation can be flexible in providing competitive perks and benefits. That’s where the organisation loses out on good talent. 

Solution:

So there needs to be a proper manpower planning module for HR professionals to know if they are ready to hire a deskless employee for a higher cost than usual. If they know this is the real reason why deskless employees are leaving, they can definitely onboard them smoothly and devise a better employee journey from thereon. 

They do not have the interest in tying up with the firm for a long term

Deskless employees or field job workers have a lot of responsibilities. Many of those are the only bread earners of their family. Others are living alone or have a lot of family members to take care of. They cannot afford to work in 9-5 jobs when their real-life situations are not stable at all. That is why they do not want to commit to an organisation for 6 months or more. 

Solution:

The organisation needs to prepare for a smart solution in this case that can handle the ongoing data of new hires. uKnowva HRMS is one such example here where it helps to streamline the daily attendance, recruitment, workflow management, timesheets, projects, holidays, and more for field job workers. 

They can use the biometric system on their mobile to lock their attendance for the day. Everyone nowadays has a smartphone. It is an affordable device to have when you’re working in a smart Indian economy. So, uKnowva runs on every other smartphone. It is highly compatible and operational in even the most basic smartphones today. 

They do not feel connected to the vision of the company

One of the triggers for deskless employees to leave or for field workers to decrease their interest in the company is the vision and the culture it boasts. Deskless workers often stick around more when someone they know recommends the job to them. They can then instantly build trust in the firm or the job. It shows that if their contact knows the firm and the work there, they can be stable there for the long run. 

Solution:

Organisations must run an employee referral program even for tier-2 and tier-3 cities’ field job workers. In these field jobs, references matter a lot. These references show a sense of belonging and community. So it is easy for the field job worker to transition to the new firm. They feel less awkward to introduce themselves. 

The Bottom Line

We need to provide deskless workers or field job workers with a sense of belonging to attract them to the culture of the firm. It means the organisation must have a strong and culturally impactful social media presence. Other than that, the organisation must strengthen its employee references policies, manpower planning modules, applicant tracking system, and recruitment strategies for workers who will definitely leave after 6-12 months. The growth trajectory of these workers should be limited but impactful. 

Having uKnowva HRMS software in India helps to cater to those needs. Once we understand why deskless employees are leaving from the points above, uKnowva’s HRMS software helps to build a culture where field job workers can come and grow a community of their own without having a psychological fear of instability in their livelihood or income. 

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FAQs

How is employee turnover different from employee attrition rate?

Employee turnover tells you the ratio of employees leaving the organisation in a given period, either by getting replaced or not. It takes into account the total number of employees left or being fired. Employee attrition is only taking into account the number of employees who leave or are made to leave without an immediate replacement. 

How can we control deskless employees' attrition rate in the long run?

We need to understand that deskless and field job workers will always have a higher attrition rate because of the revolving door effect. They live an unstable or highly asynchronous life. They do not fit well in the 9-5 schedule. Thus, the firm planning to hire such workers needs to first understand why deskless employees are leaving. Then, they need to strategise their onboarding to offboarding according to their estimated employee journey. 

What is the best way to attract more deskless workers to your organisation?

Have a strong HR policy in place. Know the reason why deskless employees are leaving. Work on it consistently. Provide the right tools to your field job workers along with the tracker and refund or replacement policy. Make them understand the terms in their mother tongue. Build a community and culture of sense of belonging for those workers while onboarding them. Make the onboarding and daily updating easier, like mobile-enabled for them. Run a stronger employee referral policy to cut down the efforts on background verification. Otherwise, use smart apps like Repute for quicker and more authentic background checks when implementing it while using uKnowva human resource management software in India. 

See Also

Tips To Purposely Reduce Employee Attrition In Your Firm

How To Reduce Employee Attrition With HR Analytics?

Employee Retention: How To Keep Employees Engaged In 2023?

10 Tips To Reduce Turnover & Improve Hiring With HRMS

How Can You Retain Happy Employees With uKnowva HRMS?

What Are The Famous 3 Cs of Employee Retention & Engagement Strategies?

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