The Role of a Frontline-Workforce Platform in Attracting and Retaining Workers

A recent post from Accenture points out that there were 10.1 million job openings in America as of August 2022 and that attracting frontline workers remained a major challenge for businesses.

It seems almost paradoxical that most workers are looking for extra work to cover inflation while most organizations claim to have workforce shortages and are making active efforts to engage new people while trying their best to retain existing workers. The data presented shows that these organizations aren’t doing enough to attract and retain talent. Accenture highlights how this situation can be improved and how, by making certain changes, even smaller companies can develop thriving, capable, and technologically forward-looking workforces that deliver the best possible KPI results.

In manufacturing, the frontline is responsible for executing tasks and following clear guidelines and SOPs. 

While doing so, they use their experience and judgement to ensure results are compliant with intended specifications and work instructions. Manufacturing operations evolve to incorporate more digital tech equipment like IIoT sensors, automation, and robotics. As it becomes more normalized to use advanced IT tools to extract manufacturing data, the frontline and the decisions they make on a day-to-day and minute-to-minute basis will play a key role in ensuring that optimal results are obtained from digital transformation and automation efforts.

On September 10, 2001, I became a founder of my third software company. The next day, as I came to learn that the world had changed forever, I experienced one of the key lessons that many founders learn on their journey to build a new venture—despite what you think you know, there always comes a moment when you realize you know very little.