Frontline management is mission-critical
Modern frontline leadership demands a new approach – one that bridges the gap between corporate headquarters and the heartbeat of operations.
In an era of rapid change, organizations need to pivot quickly. This means corporate teams will be making strategic and directional changes – requiring frontline staff to understand, adapt to, and execute these changes. Whether it’s retail staff, healthcare workers, airline crew, manufacturers, or any other frontline workers – they’re the ones responsible for execution excellence. Equally, being able to quickly receive feedback from the frontline is crucial.
Any organization that wants to stay aligned to customer and market shifts needs agile insights that only the frontline can provide. All of this means that effective frontline management and frontline communication aren’t optional – they’re mission-critical.
Key challenges in frontline management
Despite their importance, frontline employees often face significant barriers, especially at enterprise level. These barriers can hinder pace, performance, productivity, and alignment with company goals. Here are some of the most pressing issues:
1. Lack of access to information
Frontline workers often operate in environments where desktop computers are unavailable – think factory floors, retail stores, and construction sites. As a result, important company updates, training materials, or policy changes may never reach them, or arrive too late to make an impact.
This creates a risk to both the customer experience, and in some cases, safety. Examples of the two include a retail associate unaware of a promotion, or warehouse workers using outdated safety procedures. From a productivity perspective, even basic questions like “What’s the return policy?” or “Where do I file an incident report?” can slow organizations down when information is scattered or out of date.
2. Slow frontline communication with HQ
Traditional communication channels can be slow or inconsistent, especially in large or distributed workforces. When updates are delayed, it again impacts customer service, safety, and productivity.
This becomes even more of an issue in industries where there can be fast-moving disruptive events, such as travel. Speed and adaptability is what separates the good from the great, and communication can make or break an organization’s performance in these areas.
3. A disconnect between corporate and frontline employees
The absence of two-way communication can create a cultural divide between the desked and the deskless. It’s not uncommon for frontline workers to feel siloed and disconnected from the rest of the company.
This has numerous knock-on effects such as poor engagement and a higher staff turnover. It also prevents valuable frontline insights from reaching the corporate and leadership teams.
4. Fragmented communication channels
Many enterprises use a mix of systems, some of which may be outdated, and others which cause compliance risks to the organization. Often, frontline workers are relying on a mix of WhatsApp groups, bulletin boards, paper memos, and team meetings. This mixture can lead to confusion and missed messages.
Without a central source of truth, employees may be working off inaccurate or outdated information.
Practical strategies for frontline communication
Enterprises that excel in frontline leadership adopt a multi-faceted strategy that addresses communication, engagement, and empowerment. Here are some practical steps you can take to effectively manage your frontline workers.
1. Deploy a mobile-first Employee Experience Platform
A frontline-friendly EXP or employee app is the cornerstone of frontline management. It should be a lot more than a communication tool as well – think of it as a digital workspace that travels with your frontline staff. The right app will consolidate messaging, training, knowledge, scheduling, and more. Crucially, it ensures that every worker – regardless of location or shift pattern – can access this.
When choosing an app, look for things like:
- Personalized news feeds so employees only see relevant content
- Shift schedules and task lists that sync in real-time
- Push notifications for safety notices, weather updates, or leadership messages
Unily’s frontline app addresses the unique needs of frontline workers by providing a mobile-optimized platform that ensures seamless access to work tools and resources, on the go at all times. Plus, its offline access capabilities allow frontline workers to stay connected, even in environments with poor connectivity, ensuring no disruption to their work.
2. Centralize knowledge in one accessible hub
When knowledge is spread across emails, paper documents, or legacy systems, frontline employees struggle to find what they need. A centralized, searchable knowledge management system eliminates this friction. Some things to keep in mind include:
- Ensuring the system is easily accessible on mobile
- Allowing offline access to critical documents, so employees in areas with limited connectivity can still get what they need
- A smart search functionality to enable faster access to relevant information
- Multilingual content support – this is vital for enterprises with global workforces
3. Enable two-way frontline communication
Listening is just as important as speaking. Make it easy for frontline employees to share suggestions, concerns, or wins. This drives better decisions and also shows respect for their expertise.
A good frontline portal can enable this with features such as:
- Employee feedback; forms and pulse surveys
- Instant messaging between employees and leadership
- Team discussion boards
You can also have internal initiatives such as digital suggestion boxes, or “Feedback Friday” where once a week, employees can submit ideas and vote on others.
4. Recognize and celebrate frontline contributions
A key part of effective frontline management is making them visible to the rest of the organization. It’s too easy for them to feel like corporate colleagues don’t realize the realities of their role – or their contribution to the business. Regular employee recognition not only boosts morale but also strengthens loyalty and retention.
You can use your frontline app as a vehicle to celebrate success. Some things to consider are:
- Using social feeds for peer-to-peer shoutouts
- Spotlighting frontline stories in company news
- Showcase stories from different regions to create a shared sense of purpose
- Creating badges that frontline workers can add to their profiles – it’s good if these link to your company values or strategic goals
Frontline communication tools: A handy checklist
Choosing the right digital infrastructure is critical to frontline success. Look for platforms that are built with the frontline in mind, as opposed to being adapted for them as an afterthought. Here are some of the non-negotiables when looking for frontline communication tools.
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The business impact of effective frontline management
Enterprises that invest in frontline leadership and communication see tangible gains across multiple departments. Here are how just a few different areas of the business see value.
HR: Enhancing engagement and retention
Frontline roles often experience the highest turnover rates. Faster, clearer communication, combined with effective frontline management, can ensure these workers feel more connected to both their colleagues and the company strategy. In addition, implementing two-way communication tools will make them feel more heard and valued. Ultimately, this helps to prevent the staff churn which is such a drain on enterprises.
Internal Communications Teams: Reaching the unreachable
By moving away from traditional frontline communication methods, IC teams can ensure their strategies are more impactful and fit for purpose. A modern and mobile-first approach enables them to reach every part of the business, and engage employees with tailored and relevant communications. When done right, this creates an alignment with business goals – demonstrating a powerful ROI for a department that can sometimes find this a challenge.
IT: Driving adoption and improving compliance
When the right frontline communication tools are used, IT leaders will visibly see an increase in adoption and usage, providing them with a better ROI on their tech stack. This is enhanced by the fact that the organization will move away from the fragmented (and potentially risky) communication channels mentioned earlier. The cost savings alone are valuable, but combining this with improved compliance makes tech investments even more impactful.
CEOs: Seeing a better customer experience
For business leaders, the effects of good frontline management will be clearly seen. Informed and empowered employees deliver a superior customer experience, while easier frontline access to critical information will reduce mistakes. This operational efficiency also accelerates decision making, giving leaders the peace of mind that any future changes in strategy can be executed on quickly by employees. They will also see greater innovation throughout the organization, as feedback from the frontline will be easier to receive – sparking improvements and new ideas.
The key takeaway: Empowering the frontline is empowering the business
Your frontline workforce is a huge strategic asset. Strong frontline management and robust frontline communication enables enterprises to move with speed and serve customers with excellence.
In an era of constant change, your ability to lead, support, and engage your frontline employees might be the single most important factor in long-term success.
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