Strong employee engagement is undoubtedly good for businesses. According to a 2020 data analysis from Gallup, business units and teams with the highest employee engagement levels were 81% less likely to see absenteeism. They also saw 18% higher productivity and 23% higher profitability than those with the lowest employee engagement.

But boosting frontline and hourly workers’ engagement is no simple feat. While company resources like employee resource groups (ERGs) and learning and development programs boost employee engagement and mobility by offering career advancement opportunities, these workers often don’t have the time or support to step away from their primary duties and take advantage of such offerings.

“Some of those positions, by their nature, are more precarious. They don’t offer benefits, they don’t offer flexibility, folks can’t take time from their hourly job to go participate in an ERG [or] to get professional development,” said Lisette Garcia, chief research officer at the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, at a luncheon panel at the Fortune Impact Initiative in Atlanta earlier this week.

Charisse Dean, director of ESG social strategy and operations at consulting firm KPMG, notes that clients in the oil and gas sector often handpick talent who can serve as ERG leaders. “Identifying and developing champions in the field, who can actually get trained in and come back and deliver, has been very successful. And so one of the things that we’ve been doing is working with different industries on creating and actually building and training on BRGs and ERGs,” she said.

Cox Enterprises, an automotive services and communications conglomerate, partners with community-focused nonprofits to recruit talent like the Atlanta-based Women in Technology, which offers a single mothers cybersecurity certificate program. Maury Wolfe, its vice president of corporate responsibility and social impact, notes that employees recruited from these partnerships have the lowest turnover.

“We’re hiring talent that’s coming in with bespoke skills that we need to fill our talent gaps, and then they’re staying because we’ve invested in them in a unique way,” she said. “They know that they’ve got an employer that cares before they even walk through the door.”

Cox is also rethinking benefits to boost engagement. Employees are paid a state-by-state “living wage” or minimum income needed for a worker to meet their basic needs, says Wolfe. Employees also receive 16 hours of paid time off annually to volunteer and six hours to vote. 

“I think it’s right to think about what’s the full package of ways you’ve signaled to your employees that they are meaningful across the board…and that they should feel empowered to access all of the benefits that we talk about [publicly]?” Wolfe said.

Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion

Reporter's Notebook

The most compelling data, quotes, and insights from the field.

Earlier this week, anti-remote work CEO Michael Bloomberg confoundingly accused remote employees of spending their working hours at the golf course. “If you think [work] can be done at home, I don’t know,” he told Mo Rocca during a CBS Sunday Morning interview. “But every golf course that I’ve heard about in the last three years has had record summers, okay? It is funny, but it’s tragic.”

He’s not entirely wrong. Research from Stanford University published earlier this year found that Wednesday mid-afternoon golf course visits increased as much as 278% from 2019 to 2022. But unfortunately for Bloomberg, the researchers also found that trips to the green had no impact on productivity so long as workers make up the lost time later.

Around the Table

A round-up of the most important HR headlines.

- LinkedIn surveyed 30,000 employees from 18 countries about their feelings toward AI. Almost half are concerned that they don’t know enough about the technology, and just under 40% are anxious about not being up to date with AI developments. Insider

- Women are a leading demographic in the post-pandemic return to work, and data shows that’s because they’re flocking to companies with remote flexibility. Financial Times

- Caste-based discrimination is likely to be outlawed in California with a new bill waiting to be signed by the state’s governor. Still, some South Asian Californians think it unfairly targets them. MarketWatch

- The United Auto Workers union is officially on strike at select Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors manufacturing plants after negotiations failed before last night’s deadline. NBC News

Watercooler

Everything you need to know from Fortune.

Turbulent takes. Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle came out swinging this week against the “silliness” of remote work and an epidemic of “lazy” workers, who he says are unproductive and costing his company money. —Orianna Rosa Royle

Generational wealth. Some moms are setting aside savings to fund their daughters’ maternity leaves as childcare costs rise and U.S. companies hesitate to provide substantial parental benefits. —Eleanor Pringle

Workplace blackout. Goodbye slacks and blazers, hello spikes and fishnets. “Corporate goths” are the new fad among Gen Z and millennial workers who want to feel a little more like themselves in the workplace. —Paige Hagy