Labor management: modern technology helps with staff recruitment and retention

The industry is diligently looking for solutions that can reduce staff shortages. 'Forget old-fashioned labor management,' we read on Manhattan Associates' website. The technology leader in supply chain and omnichannel commerce offers a labor management system with state-of-the-art technology that can help with staff shortages and recruitment. Curious about these opportunities, we spoke to Pieter Van den Broecke, EMEA Leader, Supply Chain Commerce Strategies at Manhattan Associates. "Technology ensures that you need fewer people because processes are more efficient. In addition, job satisfaction is increased which benefits staff retention. AND using modern tools makes your company more attractive to new staff."

Manhattan has already won several awards and was named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems in 2024, for the 16th time in a row. "This report also specifically names our labor management system, in which we apply techniques such as machine learning and gamification. We offer cloud solutions that ensure efficient supply chain execution with integration of WMS, transportation management, yard management, labor management and appointment scheduling."

User-friendly

As a cloudnative solution built solely on API microservices, the company is unique when it comes to WMS. "Because everything runs on the same platform, you can, for example, connect your supply chain planning to your labor capacity. Or make a connection between intelligent scheduling and task execution. And by designing the software to be extremely user-friendly and as graphic as possible, we reduce the familiarization period. Ideal if you temporarily bring in extra manpower during a peak moment."

Employee engagement

To begin, Van den Broecke wants to emphasize that the so-called soft skills in labor management are important and also formed the basis for the design of their system. "Our technology tries to make a positive contribution to the workforce. Not measuring and punishing, but measuring and rewarding. But also generate more job satisfaction and strengthen group spirit. By the way, I prefer to call it employee engagement rather than labor management, because this is more about emphasizing the human side than managing workers."

The software allows for extremely equitable productivity measurements. "After all, one task takes more time than another, and an experienced employee works faster than a beginner. Moreover, if an employee is faced with unrealistic goals, it demotivates and thus backfires. This is why you can set very detailed goals in our system. It is even possible to lower the objectives toward the end of a shift, as people get tired. Also, different work scenarios can be modeled to see which one works best."

Gamification

Gamification is the use of game techniques and game elements in order to create more engagement and positive motivation. Manhattan is leading the way in applying this technique. "We also approach this extremely positively. For example, it only measures at the team level. And an employee cannot see at the individual level what his colleague has performed. Moreover, by working at the team level, you increase the group feeling." As an example, Van den Broecke cites a customer case: "Between the execution of different tasks there is often a small break, the so-called gap time, because employees have to walk to another zone, for example. For this customer, gamification ensured that their gap time was reduced by ten percent after just one week. The reward can be as simple as a visual 'well done' on your device to a points system where staff can save up for a gift. Just whatever the organization wants."