A global report from SafetyCulture reveals critical gaps in frontline workforce management.
“Frontline workers are telling us they feel unheard, overstretched, and compromised. On top of this, there is a strained relationship between employees and management that isn’t conducive to a healthy workplace culture or optimal outputs,” says Sam Byrnes, chief product officer at SafetyCulture, “There will always be room for improvement within organizations, but leaders are doing themselves, and their people, a huge disservice by failing to understand frontline challenges, acknowledging and addressing issues, and communicating adequately. It’s time businesses woke up to the fact that listening to people on the frontline is one of the fastest ways to improve the bottom line.”
Key takeaways:
- The majority (78%) of workers are dissatisfied with some aspect of their job. Among these, the primary reasons are slow responses to resolving issues or risks (40%), unreasonable expectations leading to burnout (35%), and pressure to cut corners to save time or money (32%).
- Of workers who admit to dissatisfaction impacting their performance, 44% feel less motivated, 34% report reduced productivity and 31% say they’re more likely to quit and find another job – this rises to 35% among these Gen Z workers.
- On average, workers lose about 7 hours a month due to dissatisfaction, which may show up as unproductive downtime, errors, or absenteeism. The collective impact of this discontent is costing frontline businesses an estimated $196 billion annually.
- About half of both groups (50% of employees and 55% of managers) agree there is a “them vs. us” mentality between those on the tools and those off them. When asked about various aspects of work, communication from management (38%) and overall management performance (34%) are among factors that frontline employees express most dissatisfaction with.
- Of workers who believe the relationship between the frontline and management could be improved, over half (55%) say better pay and benefits would help. This rises to 61% among frontline employees, compared with 46% in management roles.
- The current socio-economic environment could be contributing to the importance placed on better pay and benefits. Three-quarters (76%) of workers with concerns about the future cite the rising cost of living as a worry – the most common concern across all regions surveyed. Looking beyond remuneration, workers who believe the relationship between the frontline and management could be improved say that recognition for strong performance (47%), more regular communication (46%), and, once again, acknowledging and actioning feedback (40%) would help improve the relationship.
- Only 34% of those with concerns about the future cite emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), as one of them.
- Nearly two-thirds (63%) of workers are not fully satisfied with their current tools and IT systems. Of these, more than one-third (36%) are dissatisfied with outdated tools and systems, 31% with tools that are unfit for purpose, and 29% with insufficient training on how to use them.
- Nearly three in five (57%) workers believe their industry will suffer a brain drain in the future, and 71% of workers believe that skills and labor shortages will present critical issues in their industry. Nearly one-third (31%) of these workers say these shortages are already presenting critical issues, and an additional 39% believe these problems will occur within just three years.
“Workers are only as effective as their tools. That’s why we’ve gathered insights from the frontline at every step of developing the SafetyCulture platform, helping us build an accessible, mobile-first platform that, above all else, meets worker’s true needs,” says Byrnes. “These tools give onsite teams the knowledge, tools, and confidence to work safely, meet higher standards, and improve every day. It’s the power of improvement in their hands.”
