Survey: warehouse productivity driven more by worker well-being than automation and KPIs

Three-quarters of people in warehouse leadership jobs are concerned about maintaining productivity levels in the DC, even as an unpredictable macro-economic climate and global supply-chain challenges put increased pressure on companies to produce, according to a study commissioned by wearable scanner solutions vendor ProGlove.

The study also showed that one of the major barriers identified to maintain productivity was people. Among the warehouse floor workers themselves, 76% of respondents said having the right people was the top priority in maintaining or improving productivity. Despite their critical role, those workers are overworked. Among floor workers surveyed, 42% said staff exhaustion and fatigue were significant challenges in the warehouse.

Yet the challenge is on track to grow worse before it gets better, with worldwide labor markets experiencing continuing shortages. Munich, Germany-based ProGlove said those results show that there is a clear and present need for organizations to prioritize worker wellbeing and to build efficiency around them, not despite of them.

“The findings in our survey lay bare the pressing need to embrace human-centric technology products, to deliver better working conditions, higher productivity, and improved customer service,” Ilhan Kolko, CPO of ProGlove, said in a release.

In the face of those finding, ProGlove says many organizations overlook their workforce and instead seek productivity boosters in automation, cost cutting, and key performance indicators (KPIs). But better solutions would include improving processes and workflows (72%) and optimizing space and layout (66%), the firm said.

According to ProGlove, sustained success on the warehouse floor comes when businesses focus on human-centered productivity by retaining workers and giving them tools to augment them in their field. Placing people at the center of productivity improvement insulates a business from labor shortages by ensuring it has a well-equipped and satisfied workforce, the firm said.