According to a United States Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 10.1 million jobs were available as of August 2022. Most employees have now been exposed, thereby knowing their value and worth, which means they'll never do jobs that make them feel unappreciated. There's been an acute shortage of skills and abilities to carry out frontline duties successfully, coupled with businesses going through a challenging period.

There are some ways through which you can keep your frontline staff, and they include the following.

1. Create an Effective Work Culture

While some industries may face severe problems, it’s understandable that you want to keep these issues from affecting your company. However, one of the ways you can push through difficult periods and keep your most efficient frontline staff is to create an effective work culture. This will greatly reduce the risk of losing frontline staff. This is one way to stop losing field service employees and other frontline staff. Give all it takes to create an environment that brings out the best in your employees. Set up systems that push them to become highly effective, efficient and results-producing.

A few pointers may include:

  • Ensure the workplace is filled with positive vibes
  • Avoid mismatching workers with jobs
  • Inform employees about your expectations
  • Set clear-cut goals and targets
  • Set realistic time frames for assigned tasks

2. Invest in Technology

Now that we're in a post-pandemic era, people have become more educated and will do their best to get the best available offers from the company. If you want to keep your frontline staff, providing the latest digital tools will go a long way in motivating them. Investing in tech tools like artificial intelligence and robotics can help automate business procedures, thereby allowing frontline workers to focus on other aspects.

Some benefits of investing in technology are as follows:

  • Equip frontline staff to make better decisions
  • Help older employees carry out jobs that are physically demanding
  • Prevent errors and promote accuracy at a high level

3. Offer Flexibility

Companies that survived the days of hardship have ensured that adaptability becomes one of their primary traits. The truth is no employee wants to continue working without flexible schedules to help them do their jobs efficiently. Notably, the mode of operation of frontline staff is different from the typical employees, so trying to control their schedules may pose significant problems to your business.

Offering flexibility in your company can lead to the following:

  • Improves rate of productivity
  • Employee happiness and loyalty
  • Brings about trust and success

4. Set Aside Training for Frontline Managers

According to a 2022 report by McKinsey, more than 73% of frontline employees prefer a manager that offers support as one of their topmost priorities in a company. It's important to note that most frontline employees are already involved in doing much work; therefore, having a manager who can provide encouragement and motivation will help them keep their focus. There are times when business is slow, and you'll need the best capacity of supervisors to inspire frontline staff to work.

You can train frontline managers to boost your workers' morale by:

  • Improving their essential skills
  • Offering administrative learning practices
  • Supervising their work with frontline employees

5. Support Workplace Diversity

Since you have to deal with challenges in your business, you'll need several kinds of frontline employees with ideas to help resolve such a situation. 

There are several types of diversity in the workplace, and some of them include the following:

  • Different levels of education
  • Distinctive capabilities
  • Religious and language diversity
  • Cultural diversity

Workplace diversity can bring more solutions to problems and help you keep frontline teams engaged and happy in their roles.

6. Encourage Employee Training and Development

Your business and every other rival in the industry may have to deal with hard times, which means measures will definitely be competitive. While some companies can gain more frontline staff, others can lose them as a result of not being able to provide or meet up with their needs. Therefore, to ensure that you keep your frontline employees, there's a need to encourage training and development for them.

Ensuring that frontline teams undergo growth processes in your business will bring about benefits like:

  • Low turnover rate
  • Increased level of efficiency and output
  • Improved reputation of your brand

7. Regularly Ask for Feedback

According to a 2021 workplace report by Meta, 75% of frontline employees believe that their companies don't communicate transparently with them. That's why some businesses find it hard to keep their employees during times of hardship and a shortage of skills for frontline jobs. It's essential to ask employees for feedback to keep your business running.

You can ask for feedback from employees in the following ways:

  • Usage of feedback surveys
  • Holding one-on-one meetings with frontline workers
  • Usage of suggestion boxes (can be real or virtual)

Conclusion

There's no doubt that frontline employees are not always engaged because of the degree of work and unappreciation they receive from their leaders. We are currently in a time when businesses need more hands than ever to ensure operations go smoothly. You can survive hardships in your business and keep frontline staff by offering flexibility, training frontline managers, and investing in technology.