Connecting with front-line employees is crucial for organizations, but despite the use of surveys, a disconnect continues to exist between corporate concerns and front-line needs. Through an empathetic approach of understanding workers’ realities, we can bridge this gap, transform workplace dynamics and create better engagement.
Keeping front-line employees happy is a big deal. I know this since I’ve sat on several cross-industry calls with peer groups seeking to share ideas on how to engage and improve their work experience. The interesting part is, that even with surveys or listening programs, corporate and front-line employees seem to be speaking at each other, rather than listening to each other.
Case in point, if I were to make a Top 5 list of concerns from each side (assuming basic needs are met), it would look something like this.
Top 5 Corporate Concerns:
- Low participation in extra-curricular, volunteer activities
- Low participation in surveys, townhalls, executive updates
- Low participation in Employee Resources Groups, mentoring, coaching programs
- Low participation in benefit, health and wellness programs
- Higher turnover rates
Top 5 Front-Line Concerns:
- Pay, bonuses or overtime
- Access to leadership
- Work-life balance
- Promotion transparency
- Lack of autonomy
Believe it or not, there is a way to connect these two sides together, but that is the topic of a future post I’m working on. For now, it’s easier to call out the broad misalignment on what is most important to each side. Corporate interests seem to revolve around employee engagement as a means to counteract turnover. For the front-line, most relate to compensation in one form or fashion. As the corporate side is in the driver’s seat with respect to taking action, I’ll focus here.
The sole reason why engagement efforts fall mostly flat with the front-line, why communication struggles or why you have high turnover, is a failure to empathize with (not just understand) your audience.
If you are in a role or position that influences or affects the employee experience, here are some examples that may help bridge that empathetic gap.
For your field, plant, manufacturing or other operations-based workers:
- Priorities: Safety is the most important part of the job. When working with machinery, chemicals, explosives, emergency responses, contagions, etc., a good day can be just making it home safe and sound.
- Attire: Clothing, masks, head gear, gloves and shoes to protect from amputations, severe burns, contamination, injuries or death are not the most comfortable (PPE – Personal Protective Equipment). When working in harsh weather/environmental conditions, it can make it even more intolerable.
- Commute: The meaning of “work commute” is different for people who live AND work in their community. It’s a different type of working relationship when you know your co-workers’ families and/or attend the same schools, churches, etc.
- Locations: Work locations can vary from large facilities or plants with a team of co-workers, to remote areas and done in isolation. Typical sex-based accommodations that are part of office life are sometimes not possible, e.g. use of portable restrooms.
- Schedules: Work still needs to gets done in extreme weather, heat, cold, or natural disasters and during the summer, spring break or major holidays. In addition, traditional working hours of 8 – 5 pm do not necessarily apply to employees working long shifts/rotations or overnight while everyone sleeps.
- Breaks: Not everyone takes a “lunch” break or can meet up a colleague at a new restaurant. Eating can be mostly a nutritional action versus a social experience due to time limitations. Moreover, sometimes it’s dinner and sometimes it’s in a paper bag if options are limited. Coffee or power-walking breaks don’t exist.
- End of Day: After a grueling day of working in 100+ degree heat outside or being on your feet after a 12 hour shift, the first thing people don’t do is check their work email. Work that demands physical exertion typically concludes with a desire for quick relaxation and decompression. Most front-line, industrial athlete work is active and performed either standing or in constant motion so the simple act of sitting and removing PPE, brings relief.
- Time-off: Summer vacations, camps, or travelling for consecutive days are the exceptions, not the rule. Not only would they have to be pre-approved in advance, but the critical nature of operational/revenue generating roles is usually subject to more restrictions. As hourly employees, hours not worked means a loss of income, which is seldom acceptable to working families less they go into debt. Even work absences due to sickness, dependent care, doctor’s appointments, etc., represent a cost AND a loss of income.
- Lifestyle: Shift-based work creates added challenges for families trying to juggle work with parenting, especially when weekend or evening shifts impact their ability to participate in their child’s activities. Even then, exhaustion and burn-out is expected as those working night-shifts still need to be engaged with their families one way or another during the day. Even when dealing with their own family issues, emergencies or disasters, they must also be available to work due to their critical role. Often on-call roles have to deal with unexpected interruptions in the least opportune moments or during late hours.
- Compensation: With needs and lifestyles being wholly different between those making hourly wages or annual salaries (wages are generally less), there is an added focus on pay. Freedom to be able to leave a job any time or choose an employer is a luxury, more so if done for social/emotional reasons. In roles where there is higher turnover, it can be argued better hourly rates in a different industries can create added competition for wage earners.
If you look at all the points above you will find that the last point, compensation, drives lifestyle and therefore their work experience. It’s no wonder that top front-line concerns would revolve around pay or how to increase it.
While keeping these things in mind won’t solve all your problems, looking at corporate issues through a different lens can surely open up your approach when working with your front-line. But reading alone won’t make much of a difference. If possible, take a field trip and spend a day with your teams, and make sure to go back. There is no better or rewarding way to empathize with the people that drive your company’s success, than the personal relationships you create.
Twistymind 
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