One of the most iconic film sequences from the last century shows Rocky training for his fight with Apollo Creed. Some of Rocky’s training includes running past burning trash cans, punching the air while holding bricks, and hitting frozen pig carcasses in a walk-in freezer.  Finally, a chorus swells, and Rocky runs up the steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, making man’s most ancient, fake-it-till-you-make-it power pose, the “classic contrapposto”.

Similar to Rocky, your contingent workers learn and grow from the experience they receive in your warehouses or on your production line.  With an all-time-high national turnover rate, ensuring such experience stays in your warehouse is essential to remaining profitable.  One of the biggest issues facing companies that use outsourced labor is the problem of the “training ground.” It goes something like this…

A contingent worker starts working in your warehouse or factory and a training montage like Rocky’s ensues.  The worker learns to operate a forklift, follow safety regulations, and how to be productive, while an inaudible chorus sings “Gettin’ strong now!” in the background.  They also learn more foundational skills, like how to show up to work on time, how to come in prepared for work, and how to avoid distractions to maximize efficiency.  Just like Rocky, they get more and more capable, slowly building strength.  All the while, you watch over them from the floor, like an approving Mickey Goldmill, crossing out the days until the big fight with Apollo Creed.  What you don’t know (or probably do know from experience), is that by the time that contingent worker is ready for the fight, they’ll be working for one of your competitors.

Why does this happen?

In the past, from 2008 to 2015, employers simply had to put up a sign saying, “HELP WANTED” and they would receive hordes of resumes and applications.  Since then, the job market has changed, and now employers have to compete for labor.  You need to make your company more desirable than others.  Otherwise you become a “training ground.”  You take someone in and teach them how to use a forklift at twelve dollars an hour.  Then, they go across the street and do the same work for sixteen.  Now you have to retrain a new person, and the cycle continues.

Many staffing agencies are in denial about the way the market has changed.  It’s 2020, and the time when you could pay people eight dollars an hour has passed.  In order to justify a higher wage, you need higher productivity.  That’s where Smart Solutions comes in.

Smart Solutions makes your operating model more efficient, getting cost per unit down so that you have more room to be competitive in the market.  You’re increasing pay rate, but you’re also increasing productivity.  Over time, more of your workforce will go through that training montage and stay in your warehouse.  You’ll have more Rockies doing the “classic contrapposto” on the steps and fewer Rockies punching the air with bricks.  You’ll be using fewer people to get more work done.

One solution to high turnover rates is to offer more competitive wages to your contingent workers.  Smart Solutions reduces the hidden costs in your operating model so that you can afford to pay those competitive wages, allowing you to develop a loyal, skilled workforce that can make you even more profitable.

Click here to read how Smart Solutions helps operations keep the workers they’ve trained and much more, on your way to profit and growth.