Boosting Warehouse Retention: Slash Early Turnover with Assessments

One persistent challenge that warehouse managers face is the high turnover rate for entry-level positions. The revolving door of employees not only disrupts workflow but also incurs significant replacement costs due to recruitment, training, and lost productivity. However, solutions such as pre-employment assessments and job previews can help mitigate turnover and avoid these issues altogether.

The Problem: High Early Turnover in Warehouse Roles

Warehouse roles are often characterized by physically demanding tasks, irregular hours, extreme temperatures and other adverse working conditions. New hires are often unprepared for these unique challenges or unable to meet the demands of the job, leading to early turnover. This turnover then hits productivity, team morale, and ultimately, the bottom line. In 2023, the annual turnover for the warehouse industry was 52%, and the average replacement cost for each warehouse employee was $8,500.

It’s difficult for hiring managers to mitigate this— especially with traditional hiring processes. Resumes and interviews often fail to provide a comprehensive understanding of a candidate’s suitability for the role. Conventional processes also fail to accurately communicate the role’s expectations and challenges to the candidate, causing a mismatch between what candidates anticipate and the reality they encounter once on the job.

Both hiring managers and candidates need more information during the hiring process to ascertain who will be successful once they’re in the role.

The Solution: Pre-Employment Assessments and Job Previews

Pre-employment assessments offer a way to mitigate high turnover by providing hiring managers with valuable insights into a candidate’s suitability for warehouse roles. These assessments go beyond the information presented in resumes which allows hiring managers to make more informed decisions.

One of the key benefits of pre-employment assessments is their ability to evaluate candidates’ cognitive abilities, such as: problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and spatial reasoning. In a warehouse setting where efficiency and accuracy are essential, these cognitive abilities are crucial indicators of an individual’s potential to succeed.

Job previews complement pre-employment assessments by offering candidates a glimpse into the day-to-day realities of working in a warehouse. Through job previews, candidates can gain a better understanding of the daily reality of the role. This transparency helps manage candidates’ expectations and ensures that they are fully aware of what the job entails.

After seeing a job preview, candidates that are a poor fit will often self-select out of the hiring process. This improves the quality of hires while also speeding up the screening process. 

By leveraging pre-employment assessments and job previews, warehouse managers are able to make more strategic hiring decisions and reduce early turnover. Investing in assessment tools not only saves time and resources, but also contributes to long-term success by ensuring that each candidate is a great fit for the role.

Conclusion

Warehouse roles often have adverse working conditions and high turnover. However, hiring managers can address this turnover by leveraging tools such as pre-employment assessments and job previews. These tools offer a comprehensive solution: assessments ensure candidates can handle the job, and job previews help candidates understand exactly what they’re signing up for. By using these together, our clients in the Warehouse industry have been able to cut turnover rates from 44% to 11%.

Try our ROI calculator to see just how much your organization could save by reducing turnover.