How to Attract and Keep Top Talent with Strong Frontline Communication

Talent retention, in a world where new job postings and career opportunities appear daily, is key for companies. Having engaged employees with knowledge and experience can make a tremendous difference in terms of productivity and profit.

Unfortunately, it’s often on the frontlines, however, where high turnaround is most common. And it’s on the frontlines where experience can matter most. In this article, we’ll explain why frontline talent retention so often suffers, and provide ways to turn things around.

Problems companies face when hiring and managing frontline workers

A major hurdle companies face is preventing turnaround when it comes to frontline positions. When frontline workers aren’t valued for their full contribution, and kept connected to company life accordingly, it’s not uncommon for their role to be seen as temporary, or replaceable, when in fact, many frontline positions demand a unique skill set requiring years to master.

These are the problems that can enable this to take place:

Low Frontline Employee Lifetime Value

The cost of replacing a frontline worker can be high, especially if the worker has been with the company for a long time and has developed a deep understanding of the company’s operations and culture. Turnover can be a major drain on the budget if employees are constantly leaving and needing to be replaced.

Limited availability of skilled workers..

..in certain industries or geographic locations:

Some industries, such as healthcare and technology, may face shortages of skilled workers in certain regions. Without the right recruitment strategy, filling these roles can become next to impossible, as locating the right talent is exceptionally difficult.

High turnover rates

Frontline workers often face difficult working conditions, such as long hours, low pay, and high stress, which can lead to high turnover rates. This can be costly for companies in terms of recruitment, training, and lost productivity.

Lack of meaning

Frontline workers may feel disconnected from the company’s mission and purpose, leading to a lack of motivation and engagement. If workers don’t understand the company’s mission and how they fit into the bigger picture, they’ll have no reason to perform at their best and do their part.

Lack of support from managers

Frontline workers may feel unsupported by management, leading to burnout and disengagement. This can especially be true if directives are coming from a distant corporate source, without direct knowledge of conditions on the ground or the realities frontline workers face on a daily basis.

So how can a company keep and retain frontline talent? Recognizing their efforts and acting on their feedback is a great start.

Solutions for finding and keeping the best frontline talent

Employee loyalty is a two-way street. For frontline workers to be committed to their job and their company, they need to know that their work is appreciated, and that when they have ideas or feedback to give, it will be taken into consideration.

Concrete strategies for accomplishing this include:

To attract new talent:

• Promote referral programs through your communication platform with meaningful rewards to encourage existing employees to refer their friends and family.
• Highlight the benefits of working for the company, such as opportunities for growth, work-life balance, and employee development programs.
• Blend the energy of youth and experience by hiring a mix of both.

To retain loyal and reliable talent:

• Create a sense of community and camaraderie by including frontline workers in CSR activities. Sociabble, for example, offers a CSR feature linked to employee engagement called “Sociabble Trees.” Frontline workers can be rewarded for their engagement with trees planted in their name.

• Establish a feedback loop through surveys and polls to gather feedback on job satisfaction, payroll, timing, flexibility, and other relevant topics. This can help companies address concerns and make improvements. Sociabble makes this easy, with the ability to create polls and surveys in just a few clicks, that can also be set so that answers are kept anonymous.

• Offer peer-to-peer training and sharing for frontline managers, including the sharing of best practices and lessons learned from personal experiences. Encourage interaction between managers and frontline workers, with a two-way flow of communication and feedback.

• Design and elevate the purpose of the work, highlighting how frontline workers contribute to the success of the company and the greater good. Explain their role in the larger mission of the company, and showcase how critical it is to achieving business objectives.

• Create a “Wall of Fame” to showcase the achievements of frontline workers and recognize their contributions to the company’s success. This can help boost morale and increase loyalty.

Sociabble: The communication solution that helps you retain frontline talent

Sociabble is the total communication solution that’s specifically designed to keep frontline workers connected, informed, and engaged with company life.

With Sociabble, they’ll receive the updates and notifications they need, regardless of if they’re at a desk at HQ, or on the frontlines, relying on a mobile device.

Sociabble has already teamed up with industry leaders like Coca-Cola CCEP, Primark, and L’Occitane en Provence to enhance their employee communications, and we’d love to discuss ways we can partner with your company as well.