Building an HR tech stack for the hourly workforce

Introduction

Hourly workers make up a staggering 80% of the global workforce. These dedicated employees are the backbone of our economy, playing critical roles in industries like retail, hospitality, food and beverage, and manufacturing. Yet, when it comes to how they're hired, managed, and paid, employers aren't always equipped with the right technology to take care of their teams.

80%

of the global workforce is comprised of hourly workers

The challenge? Many businesses are still using the same standard solutions designed for office workers—tools that simply don't offer the flexibility, ease, and self-service options that an hourly workforce needs. Even more concerning is the fact that some businesses continue to rely on outdated paperwork and manual processes to manage their teams.

What is an HR tech stack?

To increase your operational efficiency, you need to build a collection of tools (or acquire an all-in-one solution) that helps you digitally manage HR tasks. An HR tech stack helps automate many of the tasks that were once performed manually by human resources teams—such as hiring, onboarding, shift scheduling, time clock management, payroll, and performance evaluation.

When it comes to building the right HR tech stack for your business, it's all about prioritizing the features that will make the biggest impact. Start by considering how you currently handle everyday HR tasks, such as how people apply to your open roles or how you pay your hourly workers, and think about how new technology can enhance these processes.

By investing in the right tools, you'll not only boost your productivity and save costs but also create a more empowering environment for your hourly workforce.

Recruiting and hiring

Among hourly workers with less than 12 months on the job, 52% are either actively or passively looking for a change. Making sure your recruiting and hiring process is quick, intuitive, and more accessible can better attract those job seekers. This is where an HR tech stack comes into play.

52%

of hourly workers are looking for a job change

The job search tactics of hourly workers can differ greatly from their white-collar counterparts. They’re less risk averse and willing to leave a job without having another one lined up. Working outside an office, they rely almost entirely on their phones as their main form of communication.

With the right HR tech, your business can attract more applicants, perform background checks, streamline the orientation process, and get them all up to speed—ready to work from day one.

When building your HR tech stack, include these tools to cover your hiring and recruiting needs:

Applicant tracking systems (ATS)
By offering unique ways to source applicants, an ATS is the backbone of your HR tech stack. It helps manage your overall recruiting and hiring process. Look for a platform like Workstream that can organize and screen job applications, allow applicants to schedule their own interviews, and send automated messages to applicants directly from the platform.
Job posting platforms
This type of HR tool helps simplify the process of posting your hourly positions to the job boards and sites you already use to recruit workers like Indeed, Monster, JobTarget, and ZipRecruiter.
Background check services
Whether part of an ATS or its own HR tool, this service allows you to check for criminal histories, driving records, and education/work histories of job seekers, coordinate drug screenings, and more. When integrated with your ATS, background check solutions like Checkr send background check requests automatically to applicants, moving them along in the hiring process if the results satisfy your specific requirements.
Onboarding
When you’re ready to turn an applicant into a new hire, onboarding and training tools are essential to providing a smooth experience from day one on. Modern onboarding tools will send offer letters to applicants via text, notify them when it’s time to complete their new hire paperwork, and make it easy to fill out forms and sign documents from their phones.

Time and attendance

Gone are the days of time clocks and handwritten schedules—today's hourly workplaces need modern solutions to keep up with the fast-paces demands. Time-tracking tools are no longer just a convenience; they're essential for creating order and ensuring smooth operations.

For workers, a dependable time-tracking system offers peace of mind. They can easily confirm or request updates to their timesheet, ensuring their paychecks are accurate and that they're being fairly compensated for their time. It gives managers visibility into who's starting, ending, or covering shifts as planned, helping them keep the business appropriately staffed to meet demand, manage labor cost expectations, and run payroll accurately.

For managers, reviewing, correcting, and approving timesheets can feel like a full-time job. It's time-consuming and can lead to errors that cost your business, especially when payroll mistakes or overtime issues arise. A reliable time-tracking system helps streamline this process, making it easier to spot and fix discrepancies before they become costly problems. Plus, it provides a clear and accurate record of breaks and overtime, helping you stay compliant with labor laws and avoid any legal headaches.

Shift Scheduling

No matter how good an organization or manager is at shift scheduling, it’s impossible to plan for all the unexpected situations or life events that get in the way. Employees get sick. Cars break down. Half your staff buys tickets to the same concert on the same night.

When those little things prevent shifts from running smoothly, does your staff manager have to get involved to fill gaps in your schedule, or can hourly workers simply swap shifts among themselves?

With the right tools in your HR tech stack, you can empower your hourly workers to swap shifts when it’s necessary, overcome scheduling conflicts, and help your business stay staffed without the stress.

When setting up your HR tech stack, turn to app-based software for your shift scheduling needs:

Time-tracking software
Built with hourly work in mind, time-tracking software can automate all three components of time-tracking: time entry, approvals, and reporting. Instead of hourly workers manually clocking their time in and time out, it can be done electronically using software-based systems—providing convenience while also reducing inaccuracies. Besides timesheet approval and payroll processing, time tracking tools also help you better understand performance, labor cost budget, and compensation.
Shift management tools
Whether managing shifts at fixed locations or overseeing employees offsite, these types of software solutions enable everyone to stay current on shift details, schedule changes, and status updates. Hourly workers can swap shifts using an app, rather than having back-and-forth conversations via text messages or phone calls—all while managers still retain authority to approve or deny shift swaps.
Scheduling tools
For effective communication between workers at all levels at your workplace, it's critical to create and post schedules as far in advance as possible. Which is why any tech stack would benefit from the ability to inform employees about their shifts, let them confirm their availability, request time off, and let the managers adjust shifts accordingly.

Payroll and benefits administration

When it comes to your HR tech stack, payroll might just be the most important piece, especially if you're managing an hourly workforce. The complexities of hourly payroll—like fluctuating hours, different roles, various locations, and overtime—mean it's crucial to have a system designed to handle these challenges. Errors in payroll can be incredible costly, not just financially, but in terms of compliance and employee trust.

For many hourly workers, payday is anything but predictable. They rarely get paid the same amount each time, thanks to the different hours they work, if they work different positions in the same pay period, how many locations they work at, and whether they've clocked in any overtime. This variability is the norm in hourly work, but it adds a layer of complexity to payroll that can't be ignored.

Compliance is another critical factor. Making a mistake in how you handle lunch breaks, overtime, or tipping doesn't just lead to unhappy employees—it can lead to costly legal issues. Labor laws are strict, and staying on top of them is non-negotiable. Every aspect of payroll must align with these laws to avoid penalties and ensure your business is on the right side of the law.

Correcting all this information every payroll run is not only time-consuming but also puts you at risk for errors, especially if you're copying and pasting data from one tool to another. That's why the most beneficial payroll solution for an hourly business is an all-in-one platform. A system that includes time tracking, shift scheduling, employee records, and more, all seamlessly integrated with payroll, helps you stay compliant, accurate, and efficient—every single payday.

When selecting your HR tech stack, consider these tools for your payroll and benefits needs:

Payroll software
Too many hourly businesses either manage payroll by hand or use software designed to serve white collar workers with too many features they don't need and not enough of the ones they do. Look for software built for hourly that automatically flags errors, keeps your compliant, offers fast, expert support, and integrates seamlessly with your HR and time-tracking systems.
Benefits enrollment and management platforms
This HR technology can help a business maintain employee benefits enrollment, communication, and distribution for its hourly workforce. This is also where employees review, update, and utilize benefits or access forms and documents on a mobile device.

Performance management

Employee evaluations and performance management play important roles in achieving ongoing success in any workplace. But if you oversee an hourly workforce, you more than likely need a tool that is accessible on-the-go without the cluttered paper files or burdensome spreadsheets. Of course, workplace performance isn’t limited or measured by employee evaluations alone. It’s also about helping your people set goals and encouraging friendly competition to reach targets.

Performance evaluation software
These solutions incorporate brief questions to prompt action while keeping subjectivity or speculation to a minimum. They can provide managers with a foundation for coaching conversations, helping them better lead and grow their teams. The data you collect from this software can help inform your compensation, promotion, and succession planning decisions. And can even keep the lines of communication open via chat.
Goal setting and tracking tools
This HR technology is often used to inspire productivity, accelerate performance, and increase employee engagement through a combination of gamification, motivational psychology, and activity-based behaviors. Managers can set up personalized goals with metrics or implement leaderboards using progress bars and rankings to motivate teams.

Employee experience

In the aftermath of the Great Resignation, more businesses now recognize the value of retaining their best employees by prioritizing their professional needs, personal well being, flexible benefit options, and performance feedback. Those who don’t take care of their people risk losing them.

Many among the hourly workforce feel unappreciated by their current employers. One recent survey revealed that 37% of frontline employees were considering leaving their jobs. Emotional issues like burnout were cited among the top factors negatively affecting employee experience.

37%

of hourly workers are considering leaving their jobs

When creating your HR tech stack, try these tools to address your employee experience needs:

Communication tools
Chat tools facilitate real-time communication, enabling quick responses to urgent needs and ensuring workers are informed and engaged no matter where they are. A mobile-first solution enhances real-time collaboration and ensures that important messages are delivered promptly, fostering a more efficient and cohesive work environment.
Engagement survey tools
Using a survey tool to collect feedback from hourly workers offers significant benefits for businesses. It allows you to continuously monitor employee satisfaction through various types of surveys, such as pulse, exit, and new hire surveys. This helps employers gather valuable insights into worker morale and engagement, ultimately reducing turnover and fostering a more positive work environment.
Recognition platforms
When a workforce feels both appreciated and valued, they tend to enjoy higher levels of job satisfaction. Businesses that encourage employee recognition experience reduced turnover rates and greater productivity. Recognition platforms allow workers and managers alike to recognize each other via eCards, award nominations, and other forms of positive reinforcement and company-wide acknowledgement—with any mobile device. This can include the celebration of employee birthdays as well as career anniversaries.
360 feedback systems
These HR tools enable you to measure and track employee performance in key skills all through a mobile device. Managers can identify (and understand) skill gaps over time to improve team dynamics, better allocate training budgets, and adjust future hiring plans. These solutions give workers access to an open channel of communication to provide direct feedback to managers or further up the chain of command as needed.

Compliance and reporting

According to a study conducted at the height of the global pandemic, 65% of hourly workers say they hadn’t been provided with any additional technology to complete their jobs. An even greater number, 91%, said they wanted better training— which included safety and compliance.

65%

of hourly workers don't have the tech they need to do their jobs

91%

want better technology

Failing to comply with company policies, procedures, and regulations could result in hefty fines for employees, owners, and businesses. But with a hourly workforce, ensuring that every employee is in compliance with the rules and requirements that govern your industry can prove challenging.

Measuring, then analyzing, the productivity of your hourly workers can be just as difficult. It first starts with figuring out which specific things need to be measured. Different businesses can have different definitions of productivity. Should your KPI be the number of jobs completed in a given day, week, or month? Is response time in the field your metric? Is it customer satisfaction?

Without the right tools, uncovering efficiencies to improve productivity in a timely manner can be a tedious process. Especially if your employees work independently or without direct oversight.

There’s also a matter of separating actual work time from travel or administrative tasks. Some of your KPIs can be measured independently. Other KPIs require self reporting or customer input.

When selecting your HR tech stack, try these tools for your compliance and reporting needs:

Compliance management software
This type of HR technology stores all your compliance-related information in one central location, accessible to your employees on their mobile devices—keeping them informed on current company policies and procedures. Real-time notifications about activity status (such as incomplete or delayed tasks) remind and encourage users to get in compliance. Look for solutions that integrate training directly in the tools that your workers already use.
Reporting and analytics tools
This software incorporates streamlined workflows and modern technologies to schedule, track, monitor, and analyze the performance of shift workers on their mobile devices as they conduct work activities—giving you a clear, real-time view of day-to-day operations. This can take the form of customized mobile timesheets, work-related app- or site-usage monitoring, GPS tracking, or daily check-in prompts, often compiled into a visual timeline.

Learning management system

Traditional training platforms for the workplace are designed for office-bound or centrally located employees. The needs of the hourly workforce are obviously different. On the road or on the job, hourly workers are always on the move. Pulling them off the frontline to train in a classroom or behind a desk is costly and impractical. Yet, your workers crave more education (as evidenced in the previous section by their desire for career advancement). Or need corporate or compliance-based training.

With hourly workers, employers and HR managers must find ways to offer training that can be completed anywhere —with all the information they need—without slowing them down at work.

When setting up your HR tech stack, use app-based tools for your learning management needs:

Digital training tools/programs
Look for tools that break up training in short, to-the-point units instead of hour-plus presentations. When critical or time-sensitive information becomes available, some software solutions can send notifications via text to every employee’s mobile device for added efficiency, rather than waiting until everyone is in the same room to get up-to-date about courses.

How you build your tech stack matters

52% of hourly workers claim they would leave their jobs over tech tools. They expect and deserve the same quality experience with HR technology as their white-collar counterparts.

52%

of hourly workers would leave their jobs over tech tools

Putting together a solid HR tech stack for an hourly workforce takes time, effort, and research. But it doesn’t have to happen all at once. Whether it’s the lack of mobile-friendly payroll options for your employees, the need for flexible and accessible shift scheduling, or a gap in compliance training, identify and focus on which HR tools fit your biggest priorities.

Know that once the implementation is complete, it will be rewarding and well worth the effort for many reasons. Your HR tech stack can help improve the worker experience, increase overall job satisfaction, and decrease turnover rates—making it that much easier to manage your business.

Looking to upgrade your tech stack with technology built for the hourly workforce?

Workstream's all-in-one Payroll, Hiring, and HR platform automates tedious tasks and streamlines your workflow, so you can focus on the people who power your business. Learn more here!