Survey: Attracting and retaining the right people ranks as top concern for warehouse productivity

A recent survey commissioned by ProGlove, a global provider of wearable scanner solutions, has revealed that 74% of warehouse leadership are concerned about maintaining productivity levels in the warehouse.

Given the current macro-economic climate, and global supply-chain challenges, maximizing productivity has never been so important, ProGlove explained. The research found that one of the major barriers identified to maintain productivity was people, with 76% of warehouse floor workers state having the right people was the top priority in maintaining or improving productivity.

Forty-two percent of floor workers surveyed highlighted staff exhaustion and fatigue as significant challenges in the warehouse. With the labor market experiencing continuing shortages, there is a clear and present need for organizations to prioritize worker well being and build efficiency around them, not despite of them, ProGlove added.

Many organizations overlook their workforce and instead focus on automation, cost cutting, and KPIs while neglecting the people directly impacted by these schemes, ProGlove added. According to the survey, other prerequisites for sustained success include improving processes and workflows (72%) and optimizing space and layout (66%). While these can create efficiency gains, having a well-equipped and highly motivated workforce is critical in improving warehouse productivity.

Ilhan Kolko, CPO of ProGlove, commented, “The findings in our survey lay bare the pressing need to embrace human-centric technology products, to deliver better working conditions, higher productivity, and improved customer service. Facilitating human-machine collaboration in the warehouse, through wearable tech, will not only enhance workers, but it will also keep them safer and happier.”

Human-centered productivity means creating efficiency by retaining workers and giving them the tools to augment them in their field, ProGlove concluded. Placing people at the center of productivity improvement insulates your business from labor shortages by ensuring you have a well-equipped and satisfied workforce.

The right tools can help, the research suggests. When asked about ways to reduce picking errors, 55% agreed an operation could reduce picking errors by providing better worker guidance with immediate feedback. The full survey report is available here.