WorkStep’s strategy: our path to improving outcomes for 100M frontline workers (2/3)

As a quick refresher, at WorkStep, we’re coming out of 2021 during which we closed both a Series A and Series B, announcing just over $42M in capital raised. More importantly, we helped over 100k frontline workers improve their job.

WorkStep helps companies make better-fit hires and improve retention across their frontline workforce.

In this three part blog series, we’re unpacking:

• Why this an important problem space to address
• What value we’re delivering to our customers and
• How we execute as a business to deliver that value

In Part 1 of this three part series, we shared the why behind everything that we do:

1. Frontline workers are the engine that drives our economy
2. Frontline workforce retention is a rapidly worsening crisis
3. Through improving retention, workers have better jobs and live better lives

Building from this why, WorkStep is executing a four step strategy to bring our products to market and improve outcomes for over 100M frontline workers. Below, we outline the what at WorkStep.

Step 1: Help companies improve retention by making better-fit hires

The need for companies to acquire talent to deliver on demand from their customers is evergreen. Meeting these staffing targets starts with being able to attract and hire great-fit candidates.

For WorkStep, making retention-focused hiring (WorkStep HIRE) our first step gives us the opportunity to partner with many of the world’s largest employers (ex: Kroger, Saint Gobain, etc). Talent acquisition budgets are typically decided locally, which means we can run fast sales cycles, and add on new customers quickly.

Here is how WorkStep HIRE works:

1. WorkStep aggregates frontline talent. There are more than one million domestic supply chain workers in our network and growing.
2. That talent is then matched to opportunities based on skills & qualifications, as well as more nuanced job preferences.
3. Companies pay WorkStep for successful matches who are retained in their role.
4. WorkStep helps companies retain those hires via baked-in retention management tools.

Step 2: Help companies improve retention by listening to their workforce at scale

By extending those retention management tools beyond new hires, WorkStep is able to help companies improve satisfaction and retention across their full workforce.

The building blocks of WorkStep RETAIN are relatively straightforward:

1. Automate the process of continuously collecting feedback from a distributed hourly workforce at scale
2. Surface that feedback in real-time to the right leader when there is an issue that presents immediate turnover risk
3. Tie that feedback to worker outcomes to identify the underlying drivers of turnover
4. Measure the impact of company actions on workforce satisfaction and retention

89% of frontline employees are more likely to stay at their current employer if they feel their feedback is encouraged and heard. 61% don’t feel that leadership understands their day-to-day challenges.

By helping companies listen to the voice of their frontline workers, while using predictive analytics to focus attention on those sentiments impacting turnover, WorkStep RETAIN helps companies find their own path toward improving retention outcomes by as much as 30%. In the background, our software is learning increasingly more about what works and what doesn’t to drive satisfaction and retention across frontline teams.

Step 3: Help companies improve retention by suggesting effective actions

At this time, there are approximately 70k employees who are providing feedback, responding to initiatives, and ultimately choosing to keep or leave their job within the WorkStep platform.

Whenever a company makes a change (ex: changing recruitment processes, increasing base pay, adding manager 1:1s, hosting an appreciation pizza party), the WorkStep platform sees the impact of that change on workforce satisfaction and retention.

Based on this unique visibility, WorkStep is able to suggest best practices based on the challenge faced (ex: lack of visibility into career growth), the level at which the problem is being addressed (ex: at an individual facility), and the role type in which the challenge is occurring (ex: warehouse associates). These best practices are based on what actions and initiatives are actually working for peers facing similar challenges.

Step 4: Help companies improve retention by facilitating those actions

While some paths through which to improve workforce outcomes can be accomplished without a software-enabled system (ex: addressing a disgruntled employee’s concerns face-to-face), many of the more impactful investments are best tied back to outcomes at scale. For example:

1. Deploying a new skill development program
2. Implementing a pay-for-performance system
3. Adding new employer-sponsored benefits
4. Investing in frontline manager training
5. Introducing behavior-based screening to the hiring process

In each of these cases, WorkStep will be able to either facilitate the action directly or partner with the best-of-breed vendor who can help our customers reach the outcome they desire. This is all while, of course, measuring the impact of the initiative on workforce satisfaction and retention.

That’s it. Those four sequential steps put WorkStep in a unique position to improve outcomes for over 100M frontline workers. Right now, we’re between steps 2 and 3.

Of course, when it comes to execution, the devil is in the details. To successfully execute this strategy, we must follow our operating principles outlined in Part 3.

Want to learn more about our HIRE and RETAIN solutions? Schedule a demo today and see it for yourself.