Frontline workers are the indispensable backbone of our society. From healthcare professionals tirelessly taking care of the sick to grocery store employees ensuring shelves are stocked to warehouse workers making sure deliveries go out on time, these individuals are the beating heart of communities.
However, when it comes to digital transformation and modernized communication tools, vendors often direct their efforts at knowledge workers, even though the number of frontline workers outpaces deskbound people by 4x.
This is why people who hold these types of jobs often feel overlooked and disconnected from the rest of the organization. Some feel their accomplishments go unnoticed. Others believe they don’t have the same career opportunities as their office-based colleagues.
The research is based on feedback from more than 7,500 employees worldwide and published by Zoom’s Workvivo in a new report, The Frontline Gap.
The divide shows up in five key areas: culture, recognition, communication, technology, and career growth.
Here’s a closer look at what the report uncovered in each of these areas.
1. The Culture Gap
While corporate messaging is important to every organization, most frontline workers don’t feel it includes them. The majority (87%) don’t think their company culture applies to them, and only 13% believe it does.
Moreover, 56% aren’t confident they even know their organization’s mission and values. As a result, many are creating their own microcultures. Half of the respondents say their team has its own distinct culture, and 61% feel more connected to their team than to the company.
2. The Recognition Gap
Nearly half (49%) of frontline workers believe they have made a greater impact than their office-based colleagues, but they don’t get the recognition.
In fact, one in five has never been recognized for their work. What’s concerning is that 40% of these workers feel the company doesn’t care about them as a person. Frontline workers often face challenges like stress, understaffing, and long hours.
Yet, Only 10% believe their managers understand these struggles and their impact.
3. The Communication Gap
Communication from leadership often misses the mark. According to 42% of frontline workers, their company communication is poor. On top of that, 46% don’t know who their CEO is. What frontline workers are looking for is more transparency: 58% want to hear updates directly from leadership, while 69% want to understand how decisions are made.
Yet almost a quarter (24%) are rarely or never asked for input on how work gets done, leaving frontline workers feeling unheard.
4. The Technology Gap
Frontline workers frequently lack tools that fit their needs. In fact, 66% say they’re frustrated by their company’s communication technology, and nearly seven in ten (69%) rely on personal messaging apps like WhatsApp to get work done.
Almost half (47%) believe company tools were designed with the office staff in mind. Only 35% say their company’s scheduling app makes them feel empowered.
Clunky apps, poor user experiences, and disconnected platforms make it harder to get work done. That’s where “shadow IT” becomes a problem, and employees start using personal or unsupported tools outside of IT’s control.
For organizations, this creates security gaps, compliance issues, and poor visibility.
5. The Career Gap
Career growth is important to frontline workers, but many feel stuck. More than half (54%) believe they have fewer opportunities than their office-based colleagues, and only 13% see a clear path to advance where they are.
That frustration has consequences: 52% say they’d leave for another employer and better growth prospects, even for the same pay.
That doesn’t mean moving to a desk job, according to 37% of the respondents. They would prefer a future in frontline work, with clear steps forward and recognition for their contribution.
A Wakeup Call For Organizational Leaders
This research should be sounding alarms at the highest level of organizations.
While frontline workers are critical to a company, the churn rate from this group of workers can be up to 80% in some fields creating a massive, often underestimated, financial drain on the business.
The research clearly shows that frontline workers don’t experience company culture the same way as office-based employees. Workvivo suggests a practical way to close the existing gap.
Organizations should focus on engaging and communicating with frontline workers in a way that’s relevant to them.
Their challenges and needs are different from other employees, so the communication should reflect that.
Workvivo believes that with the right tools and strategies, frontline workers can feel happier and part of the company culture.
To help with this, Zoom offers Zoom Workplace for Frontline as well as Workvivo, an employee engagement tool targeted at frontline workers.
While there are many tools directed at frontline, the integration with knowledge worker tools is important as it enables communications to flow seamlessly between frontline and knowledge workers and ensures consistent messaging.
The communications gap for frontline is real, it costs companies money, but it is solvable today.
At the upcoming Zoomtopia event, I’ll discuss how to close the frontline communications gap with Jen Jordan, Global Head of Strategic Customers at Workvivo. If you’re attending Zoomtopia, I hope you’ll drop into our session—it’s important.
