Wrapping Up 2022 & Looking Ahead to 2023

2022 saw a continuation of some workforce trends we saw take hold in late 2020 and throughout 2021. That’s true not only in trucking, but across the board in most other industries as well.

In trucking, over the course of the year, companies were full speed ahead, taking advantage of the freight market that we’ve had. With talks of economic shifts, companies are becoming more thoughtful about how they go forward into 2023. 

One of the muscle memories that a lot of companies have gotten better at is figuring out how we take care of our people. We have seen trends shift from treating people like a number to realizing that taking care of people is a really good business strategy.

That trend is happening across the board. Workers have gotten selective about what kind of company they want to work with, and companies have stepped up the ways in which they take care of their people. People want consistency, they want stability, and they want to be valued by a company. 

Value can be shown in a number of different ways. Pay and benefits, certainly. But people are also looking to be seen as people. They’re considering questions such as, “What is the culture of the company? What is my growth opportunity inside this organization?” and not just, “What are you going to pay me?” People are realizing that while pay is important, it’s not the only component to consider in choosing to work with a company.

Taking Steps to Do More, Faster

This year also saw WorkHound take leaps and bounds forward. A Series A investment in March served as an affirmation of the work the company does and the direction it is moving in.

We were also recognized on the Inc. 5000 list as part of the fastest-growing companies in the country. We are proud to have been able to grow at a fast pace with a lean approach and operating structure. 

As we have continued to build out our team in 2022, we’ve been able to do more, faster. We’ve been able to find new ways to serve our customers. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day. We’re a feedback company, and we always want to listen to the feedback of our customers and find ways to deliver more value to them.

Growing While Keeping the Same Mission

We remain focused on amplifying the voices of workers across North America. Everyone on our team is very mission-focused, and each day, we set out to help people love the work they do. That requires a passion for gathering those voices and helping companies drill into what they need to do to help workers. As a company grows, sometimes you lose that passion, but that’s not been the case for us. 

We are always looking for people with hustle and heart. A lot of companies are looking for people who are culture fits, but we are looking for people who are culture adds. We want people who are committed to not only doing the work, but to make the work better. 

There are always opportunities we can improve as a company. As new team members joined our team this year, they have found ways to improve that we couldn’t see ourselves. 

And in many cases, new team members have joined us in one role only to see their role evolve as they identified opportunities and needs. It has been so fulfilling to watch people join the company in one role and then create an entirely new position because they found different ways to help.

Looking Ahead to 2023

It’s been awesome to add new customers as partners and grow those relationships, but what’s been really exciting is having companies come to us to ask for help with additional members of their workforce: office staff, technicians, and warehouse workers. It takes a lot of work to make the supply chain work, and we know we can reach out and help workers of any kind find their voice. That’s part of our focus in 2023.

Our core product is creating a real-time feedback loop. We know that whether you’re a professional driver or a warehouse worker, you want to be heard. And for companies, it’s easier to keep the people you have than to try and fill a leaky bucket.

One of the questions we had to ask ourselves this year is, “What is our zone of genius?” We know that getting feedback is easy. But we are really good at helping companies thrive by understanding and taking action on the feedback they’re receiving. Getting feedback is good, but doing something about it is better, and telling people about it is the cherry on top. 

We’re looking to roll out new ways to understand feedback, with advanced analytics, and new ways to respond to feedback, which will be really exciting in regard to the employee landscape.

A Final Word

There are certainly conversations happening around the state of the economy, and companies need to be asking, “How do we come out of this a better version of ourselves?”

It’s important to remember that a strong company culture outlasts economic cycles. Find ways to take care of your people. Listening to the voices of your workforce is essential. An engaged workforce is good for digging out ways to improve that you may not otherwise see. 

Companies that find success in the next year will be focused on making incremental improvements during a challenging time. And we’ll be here to help them do that.