For years, we’ve been told that consumer behaviour is changing and that businesses must adapt or go out of business. PwC says the pandemic accelerated workforce transformation even as digital adoption became one of the central tenets of our lives.
Fast forward to 2024, we see a workforce that demands empowerment from their employers. Talent has reached new levels of mobility and workers know this. And just to be clear, the changing expectation among the workforce is not limited to the developed markets of the US nor is it restricted to desk-bound jobs.
Steven Kramer, CEO and co-founder of WorkJam defines the frontline workforce as non-desk workers working in retail environments in manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, and hospitality.
Evolution of the frontlines pre- and post-pandemic
Kramer says the frontline workforce has been an integral part of many businesses since the beginning of industries. “I think what happened during the pandemic is that there was a deeper appreciation for these workers,” he opines.
Steven Kramer
“The pandemic was a tremendous Black Swan event that increased the awareness, not only of the public but also businesses on the strategic importance of investing in frontline experiences to drive better business results.”
Steven Kramer
Whereas research abounds on the impact of digital transformation on the overall performance of organisations, much of the operational focus has been on either back-office operations or customer experience or the supply chain.
A Forrester study, commissioned by WorkJam, aimed at understanding the level of digital transformation in the frontline. The study revealed that while digital transformation around the workforce was accelerating, 73% of the respondents claimed that initiatives had not yet reached the frontline, citing issues such as complex systems, frontlines not using devices, compliance around work processes, and in parts of Europe and the US, compliance around compensatory time.
“As you can imagine, the majority of the companies’ top initiatives were to increase revenue and profitability, to reduce cost,” says Kramer. “The investments in the people in employee experience ended up being lower in the list but is more important than ever.”
What poor frontline employee experience mean
Given this revelation of delayed transformation of the frontline workforce, Kramer acknowledges a disconnect between what corporate and headquarters would like to achieve and what the staff in the field understand as their objectives.
“The result is a higher turnover of people not feeling recognised or feeling confused in their job. The decline in employee experience also results in a decline in customer experience,” he continues.
Kramer opines that without the technology investments for the frontline, the result is a lack of data and insights to drive operational efficiency and to make informed business decisions. “All these impact organisations’ revenue, customer satisfaction and loyalty, profitability, and overall success as a brand,” he posits.
Benefits of a digitalised frontline
But having technology on the frontlines does not mean all is well.
The Forrester study reveals that organisations that have started to invest in the frontline may be putting too much technology in the field. On average, frontline employees have four different applications to use.
Kramer says it's hard to be a frontline employee. “You are managing customers, and a lot is expected of you,” he expressed with concern. “Highly mature organisations are now looking to consolidate their frontline technology into one app, a super app or a digital workplace,” he remarked.
Drivers for digital transformation of the frontline
Kramer acknowledges a maturing of industries over the last 18 months. “We are speaking to so many organisations across different segments, where executives in these organisations are putting the dots together. And realising that the investments in people are the leverage needed to achieve better business results,” he elaborates.
Turnover remains an issue for many organisations, according to Kramer. “There continues to be a tight labour market in many different geographies. Ways to reduce attrition and turnover is very important for organisations right now,” he opines.
Impediments to the adoption of frontline operationalisation technologies
The Kahoot! 2023 Workplace Culture Report says frontline workers are ambitious with 91% reporting wanting to advance in their careers either through upskilling within their current role or reskilling to take on new roles, including manager and supervisor-level, or even the C-suite. Self-motivation is also high with 94% of survey respondents expressing a willingness to go the extra mile to ensure their company’s success.
But there is a limit to how much and how fast workers are willing to adopt new technologies. One of the caveats for adoption is the acceptance that any new technology must make sense to the user. It should not be just about optimising job performance.
Kramer acknowledges that some organisations are afraid of change. “There's a lot of change management when you're putting in this type of solution,” he starts. “I do think that that the need to think (about change) and getting serious about the employee experience and operational tools to reduce costs is, is part of the survival of these organisations.”
He predicts that the ones that lag for too long may not exist in five to 10 years from now.
Motivation to transform
“Revenue and cost-effectiveness are key drivers for transforming the frontlines,” opines Kramer.
When organisations have better-engaged employees, and using tools to drive compliance and actions, and better scheduling, it has a big material impact on cost reduction.
“We have customers that have workforces of 150,000 to 200,000 frontline workers that are saving US$50-$60 million a year, as a result of simply driving operational excellence and reducing the amount of time and the compliance aspects within their field.
“It is a clear ROI - many of our customers have achieved ROI in less than 3-4 months. In addition, executives in these organisations are looking to create a win for their employees, at the same time as winning as a company. We like to call that ‘dollars and hearts’, says the CEO.
Kramer acknowledges that part of this digital transformation is about breaking down the siloes that exist in organisations. He believes that the best person to break down silos in an organisation is the CEO.
“We also talked a lot about communication, learning, flexible scheduling, task management. Our advice to companies looking at starting their digital transformation journey is to start smaller, pick a couple of problematic use cases to the organisation, and then grow into other functionality.” Steven Kramer
AI and its use in frontline transformation
The Kahoot! survey reveals a strong interest among frontline workers to know more about AI, yet 32% feel their employers are not investing enough in the employee’s growth, and instead feel that employers expect employees to develop their knowledge and skills on their own.
“I will start by saying that it is our belief that AI is not going to replace people,” says Kramer. “We believe that AI is going to be transformational to our industry in allowing organisations to drive operational efficiencies quicker.”
Being able to analyse the data and to create actionable insights in real time, is going to be a game changer for organisations, predicts the CEO.
“AI is here to stay, it's going to be important, but it will not replace the frontline. It's going to enhance it and it's going to have a big impact on how organisations are operating,” he continues.
Click on the PodChat player to listen in detail to Kramer’s thoughts and recommendations for transforming the frontline workforce.
Define for us the frontline workforce.
How has this frontline workforce evolved from before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and now post-pandemic?
WorkJam worked with Forrester on a study in 2023 that revealed digital transformation initiatives were not reaching the frontlines. Can you elaborate more on the research findings?
What is the true business cost/ consequences of poor frontline employee experience (EX) to businesses, particularly in industries like retail, healthcare, manufacturing and logistics?
What are the characteristics of organisations that have more mature digital frontline practices versus those that have low awareness or maturity? Can you highlight industries, particularly in the Asia Pacific region that have higher or lower maturity?
The Forrester study was done from late 2022 to 2023, what has changed since then? What are the main drivers for the digital transformation of the frontlines today?
What impedes companies’ adoption of frontline operationalization technologies?
What is the number one motivation for companies to invest in employee communication, scheduling, task management and learning?
What are some of the tangible business benefits (top and bottom lines) for customers/employees?
Who should drive this frontline transformation?
What are your thoughts about AI and its use in technologies for the frontline?
What is your advice for organisations that want to put frontline transformation as an imperative? In addition to the CEO driving this, how should the organisation come together to make it happen?
Allan is Group Editor-in-Chief for CXOCIETY writing for FutureIoT, FutureCIO and FutureCFO. He supports content marketing engagements for CXOCIETY clients, as well as moderates senior-level discussions and speaks at events.
Previous Roles
He served as Group Editor-in-Chief for Questex Asia concurrent to the Regional Content and Strategy Director role.
He was the Director of Technology Practice at Hill+Knowlton in Hong Kong and Director of Client Services at EBA Communications.
He also served as Marketing Director for Asia at Hitachi Data Systems and served as Country Sales Manager for HDS’ Philippine. Other sales roles include Encore Computer and First International Computer.
He was a Senior Industry Analyst at Dataquest (Gartner Group) covering IT Professional Services for Asia-Pacific.
He moved to Hong Kong as a Network Specialist and later MIS Manager at Imagineering/Tech Pacific.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering degree and is a certified PICK programmer.
