How to better engage frontline employees

Frontline workers make up 80% of the global workforce. They’re the face of your company, serving your customers and doing hands-on work that keeps it running day in and day out. 

In a Dayforce survey of over 6,900 frontline workers around the globe, 65% said they want to advance within their company. Yet, according to McKinsey, fewer than one in four will actually achieve it.   

Many frontline employees eventually leave due to a lack of connection to the company and the absence of a clear career path. And when they do, organisations lose not just talent, but institutional knowledge, customer relationships and momentum.  

Fortunately, there are many ways HR and company leadership can improve frontline employee engagement. We’ll offer several practical strategies for keeping these essential team members happy — and shaping them into future leaders.

Key takeaways

• Employee engagement initiatives are often designed for office workers. When frontline team members can’t participate, it can be demotivating. 
• Frontline manager engagement is critical because frontline employee engagement follows suit. 
• Leaders can better engage frontline employees by offering regular feedback and recognition that’s tailored to each worker’s needs and preferences.
• Frontline employees are more likely to be engaged if the company facilitates their professional development and demonstrates that career mobility is possible. 
• Having the right talent management software and other tech makes reaching and engaging frontline employees easier. 

Roadblocks for employee engagement

Frontline workers are the people closest to your day-to-day operations. They’re the ones serving customers and keeping worksites running. They’re essential to how work gets done. 

But many companies struggle to engage frontline employees. Team members on the front line may feel disconnected from your organisation because they: 
 

• Can’t check emails throughout their shifts or attend all-hands meetings at the corporate office. That means they’re less likely to know what’s happening in the company. 
• Report to an immediate supervisor who’s also disengaged. Frontline managers are key to driving engagement. 
• Never get to see people from other shifts and departments. Employees who work nights and weekends, for example, may feel isolated. 
• Don’t think filling in an employee experience survey will lead to meaningful change. They may not even have the time to complete a long form. 
• Are on the brink of burnout. In frontline-heavy sectors, turnover pressure can be intense. High turnover can increase workloads, reduce job satisfaction, drive more resignations, and keep the cycle going. 
• Are unable to draw a clear line between what they do and the company’s mission. This lack of clarity can make it hard to feel invested in the work. 

Strategies to engage frontline employees

Knowing how to engage frontline employees starts with understanding the environment they work in every day. Here are practical talent management solutions to help build a more connected and supportive experience. 

Equip frontline managers to drive engagement

Frontline managers are one of the biggest drivers of frontline engagement. Gallup research found that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team-level employee engagement.

That illustrates just how much the manager experience affects employee experience. When your frontline managers are invested in their people and their work, their team members are more likely to be engaged. The reverse also tends to be true. If your frontline managers are burnt out or just going through the motions, chances are their team members will also be disengaged.  

Managers are the most visible representatives of an organisation for many frontline employees. Manager behaviours often shape how employees experience the company as a whole. Your frontline managers have a tough job, often juggling competing priorities and shifting expectations. That pressure can take a toll on their own engagement.  

Here are some things HR and the executive group can do to keep frontline managers (and their teams) engaged:
 

• Hire managers with excellent leadership and interpersonal skills. Not every high performer is the right fit to lead others. 
• Give managers well-defined criteria for success, help them to prioritise their work and provide frequent performance feedback. 
• Invest in regular managerial training, particularly around coaching and mentoring employees. 

Make communication and feedback part of the workday

One effective way to engage frontline employees is to communicate through channels they can readily access during the workday. That might mean moving beyond email and corporate meetings and using mobile-friendly tools that make it easier to share short timely updates.

Keeping employees informed about their performance is just as important as keeping them informed about the company. According to Gallup research, 4 out of 5 employees who report receiving meaningful feedback are fully engaged at work.  

Meaningful feedback includes: 
 

• Recognition for good work 
• Goal setting and tracking 
• Relationship building 
• A discussion of how to use the employee’s strengths on the job 

Meetings don’t have to be long, either. A weekly check-in can be as short as five or 10 minutes. 

Facilitate public or private recognition

Recognising the efforts and achievements of your customer-facing workers can go a long way toward improving frontline employee engagement. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) research found that 80% of U.S. workers say feeling valued at work is important or very important to the overall employee experience. 

Here are a few employee recognition best practices: 
 

• Acknowledge work anniversaries, major professional accomplishments and personal milestones, such as birthdays. Highlighting noteworthy personal and professional items can help employees feel cared about as individuals. 
• Ask each team member if they like public or private praise. Some dislike the spotlight, while others relish it. 
• Personalise how you reward each employee. Recognition is more incentivising when the prize for doing well is meaningful. 

Support learning in the flow of work

Frontline work is primarily conducted on-site in a fixed, non-configurable environment. That means frontline workers often don’t have the ability to step away to attend a two-hour training session at the corporate office.  

Mobile devices are among the best options for frontline learning solutions because your team members can brush up on their skills from anywhere. Ideally, learning could take a few minutes (or less) and be easily applied to the work. Here are a few real-world examples: 
 

• A service technician could scan QR codes on equipment to watch quick how-to videos.  
• A retail associate could scan a product tag to instantly stream a 60-second training video on upselling techniques.  
• A nurse could receive a daily tip on good patient communication via text.  

Educational materials should be presented in multiple formats (text, audio, video) to cater to different learning styles. 

Create visible career paths to improve retention

Career growth can play a role in frontline retention. According to a Boston Consulting Group survey, a lack of career advancement opportunities was the second-leading motivator of attrition among frontline workers, cited by 41% of respondents. 

But you can increase frontline employee retention by providing a clear career roadmap to go from entry-level to manager. 

Here are some career-pathing best practices to follow: 
 

• Train managers to have regular career advancement conversations with their team members. Managers should help workers identify and take the next steps. 
• Ensure promotion criteria are based on skills and job performance. Publish the criteria publicly so employees have a well-defined target. 
• Share internal promotion stories. That way, employees see that they can have a future with the company. 
• Offer lateral and upward mobility options. A move to a different department could keep a high performer engaged if a promotion isn’t currently possible. 

Use technology that fits frontline realities

Technology only helps if it fits the reality of frontline work. In other words, the tech needs to respect the context. And that’s different across industries.

A forklift operator shouldn’t need access to a company laptop to complete their safety training. A nurse shouldn’t need to log into a desktop to check their schedule. The right tech feels like an extension of the job — not an interruption.

The right tech also simplifies the work, making it easy for team members to handle non-customer-facing tasks. Dayforce research into workforce friction found that roughly 7 in 10 working respondents agreed that their company used too many technology platforms or solutions. Ideally, your tech houses tools for scheduling, professional development and communication in one place. 

If you want your talent management system to support frontline employee engagement, it should: 
 

• Be designed for mobile devices 
• Have an intuitive user interface 
• Have push notification and off-line work capabilities 
• Offer chat-based tools (human or AI) that can provide quick responses 

The system should also make it fast and easy for managers to recognise, update or check in with team members. 

The ROI of getting it right

Gallup research shows that half of U.S.-based employees are open to leaving their current job. Of those, 37% cite engagement and company culture issues as the reason.

That might make it seem like frontline retention is out of reach for most employers. Fortunately, though, many of the factors that dictate frontline engagement are within an organisation’s control. 

Organisations that support frontline workers achieve higher retention, better customer satisfaction and stronger business outcomes. They build cultures of trust, resilience and innovation. And they unlock the full potential of the people who keep their business running.

Frequently asked questions

Why is frontline employee engagement important?

Frontline employee engagement is important because frontline workers directly interact with your customers. If team members are disengaged, they may provide poor customer service, potentially leading to dissatisfaction and loss of business. Plus, disengaged workers are more likely to leave the organisation and replacing them is costly. 

How can companies engage frontline workers more effectively?

Companies can engage frontline employees more effectively by implementing tools and processes that align with how those team members actually work. For example, your learning management system should perform well on mobile devices and offer short training modules. That way, employees can boost their skills from anywhere during a spare moment.

How can employers improve frontline employee retention?

Employers can improve frontline employee retention by: 

• Making employees feel heard and appreciated 
• Offering clear career paths and accessible professional development opportunities 
• Training frontline managers to be coaches (and ensuring that they remain engaged) 
• Communicating important information through mobile push notifications or team huddles 

What role do frontline managers play in employee engagement?

Frontline managers play a critical role in employee engagement. Their own engagement is directly tied to the engagement of their team members. Plus, they serve as the bridge between frontline employees and the corporate office, so what they say and do will shape employee perception of the company. 

How does career growth affect frontline retention?

When frontline employees see the potential for career growth within your company, they’re more likely to stay. But when they think that they’ll be stuck in the same role indefinitely, they’re more likely to look for advancement elsewhere.