Blink announces strategic partnership with LineZero to facilitate Meta Workplace transition

Meet Theo Booth, our solutions engineer based in Boston. Theo has been an integral part of Blink for nearly 3 years, leaving his mark not only through his impactful work but also by introducing everyone in the office to Tony’s Chocolate bars, now a beloved staple.

When asked what drew him to Blink initially, Theo emphasized the appeal of being part of a small, flexible team dedicated to making a difference in people’s everyday lives. Describing Blink as an environment that is exciting, challenging, and rewarding, Theo likes the dynamic opportunities that Blink offers.

Now, let's dive deeper into Theo's journey at Blink.

Theo, what's a project you are proud of from your time at Blink?

One of my proudest achievements at Blink has been my involvement in enhancing our payslip management system. We now have multiple ways of consuming, generating and making them easily accessible to our users at the click of a button.

It's incredibly rewarding to know that our efforts directly improve user experience and operational efficiency.

What's one thing you're excited about for the future of Blink?

I'm particularly excited about Blink's growth trajectory. We're consistently taking on larger clients, which brings new complexities and challenges.

Can you tell us about a recent initiative or program launched at Blink that you found particularly exciting?

One initiative that stands out is "Blink for Everyone." This program underscores our commitment to making a positive impact beyond our immediate business objectives. It's great to see Blink contribute to initiatives that aim to make the world a better place.

Why Blink?

It’s fast paced, exciting and every day is different. With everyone moving towards the same goal and challenging each other at every step, it is an extremely interesting place to work and grow.

In conclusion, being part of Blink isn't just about a job—it's about being part of a community that values growth, impact, and collaboration. Theo is excited about the future and the opportunities ahead as we continue to evolve and innovate in the realm of technology solutions.

Join us in shaping the future of technology and impacting lives. Explore career opportunities at Blink today! https://www.joinblink.com/careers

Out of all the terms we’ve added to our lexicon over the course of 2020, ‘frontline workers’ is our favorite.

At Blink, we build software that improves the experience of thousands of frontline workers all over the world. We know how hard they work. The hours they put in. The pride they take in keeping their communities healthy, fed and well looked-after. 

There’s a lot about this year we’d all like to move on from. The word 'unprecedented' being one of them. But there’s one thing that we need to take forward, and that's our appreciation of brave frontline teams.

We're forever indebted to you. Thank you for looking after us during the most unprecedented (sorry) of times. 

We can’t possibly mention you all, and we’re sorry. But we hope you know how much we appreciate everything you do for us.

Long live society’s newfound appreciation; long may it continue!

The frontline workers we need to thank

NHS medical teams

This Christmas, many will be raising glasses to the medical staff who threw themselves behind global efforts to contain the pandemic and minimize its impact. 

We’ll certainly be joining them. 

So, here’s to the doctors, nurses, paramedics, healthcare assistants, physios, occupational therapists and pharmacists.

Whether directly or indirectly involved in treating Coronavirus patients, the world owes you one.  

While we extend our gratitude to healthcare workers globally, we can’t help but be extremely grateful for our native NHS. Providing stellar, free-at-the-point-of-access care during a global pandemic isn’t easy - but somehow you’ve managed, and managed spectacularly.

It’s stories like that of Dr Sarbjit Clare, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust's deputy medical director, that demonstrate what a gargantuan effort healthcare workers put in.

Central to operational and clinical decision-making surrounding COVID-19 treatment, Dr Clare cared for over 700 patients. Oh, and she single-handedly kept her department open when all her colleagues were sick or self-isolating. 

If treating and caring for patients wasn’t enough, some healthcare workers took on even more responsibility in their spare time. Ashleigh Linsdell founded and coordinated a national effort to make scrubs during the UK shortage.

Alison Williams raised funds for COVID-19 patient essentials, including iPads to help them contact their families during isolation.

NHS support teams

We need to thank the often-overlooked support teams that keep wheels turning behind the scenes. 

Without them, it would be practically impossible for healthcare workers to do what they do. They’re the backbone keeping the NHS - and healthcare organisations the world over - together and functional. 

Caterers for keeping staff and patients fed. 

Laundry and housekeeping staff for keeping hospitals clean, whilst navigating intense and often-changing safety regulations. 

Hospital porters, for providing an ever friendly, welcoming service. Veteran porter Terry Allen worked tirelessly for patients, transferring them between departments, facilitating their treatment and helping them feel comfortable.

The NHS’s medical teams provide first-class care, but they couldn’t do it without Terry and thousands of others like him. 

Care home workers

Residential care home staff - working with elderly people or those with disabilities - look after those most vulnerable to COVID-19. 

It’s a tough, underappreciated (and often underpaid) job. So, it's all the more remarkable that care workers have gone above and beyond for their patients and their families. 

Care staff have made it an absolute priority to keep their residents safe. Sometimes, they have done so at great personal sacrifice to them and their own families. 

A staggering one in four residential care workers left their families to isolate with residents. Staff from the Victoria House Care Home even committed to sleeping in tents (during March, no less).

Countless others moved away temporarily, when the support of loved ones has never been more important. 

We haven’t even mentioned all the work they put in keeping spirits up amongst those who couldn’t go outside. 

From fiddling about with FaceTime to organizing activities, care home residents would have struggled without them.

Supermarket workers

A huge shoutout to supermarket and food supply chain workers for putting food on our tables.

Whether you’ve been working on the supermarket floor or manning the warehouse, we wouldn't have survived the pandemic without you. We mean that literally –– access to food is generally important for long-term survival, after all. 

Here are a few of the ways food supermarket and food supply chain workers made a difference: 

• Eased shortages by introducing limits on certain items (toilet roll, anyone?) and enforcing them effectively at checkouts
• Remapped warehouses and supermarkets and implemented queueing systems so they could operate with social distancing
• Kept up with frequently changing regulations with regard to masks and PPE 
• Stepped up to a massive increase in demand for online orders/home delivery

Julie Cook, who works at Asda in Aberdare, South Wales, spent her time off shopping for care homes to ensure they received key supplies. 

It’s thanks to supermarket workers like Julie that we’ve all been able to eat and shop safely this year. So, wherever you shop, make sure to thank their in-store team for their efforts when you pop in next.

Teachers

As schools shut and lessons launched online, anyone with a child found themselves more appreciative of how hard teachers work. 

If you thought homeschooling your school-aged child was hard, imagine trying to teach a class of 30. Then imagine trying to teach a class of 30 online, with the myriad distractions and potential for disruption that offers. 

Teachers have kept classrooms open for children of key workers. Dealt with whole year groups being sent home for isolation. And increased their risk of exposure to the virus to minimise disruption to education. 

Headteacher Jane Davenport and the staff at Reynalds Cross School kept classrooms open for children of key workers. They also made sure the school’s most vulnerable children - with complex educational, healthcare and behavioural needs - could attend classes safely. Jane put so much work that she was recognised with an OBE for services to young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

They’ve certainly earned those Christmas chocolate boxes, bottles of wine and ‘best teacher ever’ mugs. If you can’t offer these, a nice note thanking them will be equally as treasured!

Logistics personnel

In a pandemic, it’s vital to keep key supply lines open. That’s exactly what lorry drivers do, alongside the logistics teams that support them. 

The logistics sector made sure food, essential medicines, PPE and medical equipment were delivered to organizations in need, whilst working under significant pressure and increased demand. 

To all the frontline workers across the logistics and supply chain sector, whether working for an in-house operation or a third-party logistics specialist –– thank you.

You can’t eat food that doesn’t arrive on supermarket shelves before expiring. Pharmacists can’t fill prescriptions if they don’t have the right medication on hand. Doctors and nurses can’t protect themselves with PPE if it doesn’t arrive on time. 

Logistics teams make this all happen. 

Public transport workers

Car ownership is by no means a given amongst many groups of frontline workers. Without the efforts of public transport personnel worldwide, lots of urgently-needed staff would have been stranded. 

Drivers, ticket sellers, platform guards and many others in every transport system across the globe need to be thanked here. 

We were in awe of how professionally our own transit clients’ workforces carried out their duties under lockdown regulations. 

Drivers from Go Ahead, Metroline and Stagecoach provide essential services whilst operating in uncertain and unfamiliar circumstances. Not to mention dealing with significantly reduced capacity to ensure social distancing. Kudos to you.

Police, fire and social workers

While it’s great we recognize the contribution ambulance drivers and paramedics made, it’s easy to forget other essential services.

For police and fire crews, this involved keeping essential services running, whilst adding new responsibilities to their workloads. 

For example, UK police have been tasked with enforcing both national and local lockdown laws. These have often changed quickly, and guidance for policing them has been somewhat vague at times. 

Enforcing them whilst strengthening links to local communities has been a difficult, often thankless task. We’d like to thank them for their part in containing the spread of the virus. 

Meanwhile social services workers have continued to do an emotionally demanding job in extremely difficult conditions. 

The Queen’s Birthday Honours List reflected this, with both senior and on-the-ground practitioners recognised for the work they do. 

Social workers Manvir Hothi (Hammersmith and Fulham), Danny Levine (North Yorkshire) and Louise Peart (Vale of Glamorgan) were all recognised for supporting service users throughout the pandemic - but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. 

Thousands more helped vulnerable people and families navigate a particularly confusing time, provided community-based support and eased the loneliness of those self-isolating. 

Postal workers and parcel couriers

There’s a lot to be said for delivering ‘everyday’ post as well.  

Ask yourself: how much more difficult would those initial stages of lockdown have been without that new hobby you took up?

How much more lonely would elderly relatives or those living alone have felt without cards, letters and gifts delivered?

Postal workers kept it together in tough working conditions. In doing so, they kept countless others together by keeping them connected and keeping them occupied. 

Lockdown would have been a lonelier, more boring place without them. 

Honorable mentions

Containing and treating the Coronavirus pandemic has required a Herculean effort from so many key workers across different industries. 

Not everyone involved in the COVID effort needed to work directly on the frontline. So much organization has gone on behind the scenes, from so many people – many of whom weren't involved as professionals. 

We’d like to give an honourable mention to the groups below for stepping up!

Operations who repurposed their facilities

The most impressive thing about society’s collective response to the Coronavirus was how everyone came together.

Companies repurposing their manufacturing operations to provide essential items and supplies was just one example of this phenomenon. 

It takes entrepreneurship, ingenuity and a lot of hard work to turn around a new, unfamiliar product at short notice. We think it’s important to recognise just how much effort this took, for both strategic decision-makers and on-the-ground workforces. 

There are countless examples across the globe here. Close to home, we saw international craft beer brewery BrewDog produce batches of hand sanitizer to help meet skyrocketing demand.

Luxury fashion brand Barbour’s manufacturing workforce turn their sewing machines away from wax jackets to making seriously high-quality medical gowns. 

Further north, design teachers from James Calvert Spence College and Duchess’s Community High School in Northumberland teamed up to make PPE. 

James Calvert Spence science teacher Dan Davison, who previously worked in an NHS lab, helped develop a test protocol whilst still teaching online classes. Miss Scrimgeour, Mr Donnison and Ms Whitelock from the two schools’ DT departments laser cut visors for use across local hospitals and care homes. 

This ‘all hands on deck’ attitude helped significantly in easing shortages - particularly at a local level. 

Last but not least... let's hear it for the volunteers

Alongside frontline workers and key workers paid to do their jobs, an army of volunteers rose to the challenge.

They transformed old bedsheets into useful medical scrubs, started essential goods collections for struggling families, dedicated their time to befriending isolated people over the phone and so much more. 

We can’t list everyone who helped out, so to finish off, we’ll share Cambridgeshire resident  Geoff Norris’ story.

Already a frontline worker, Geoff worried elderly and vulnerable residents would struggle to get their groceries amidst food shortages. Noticing that all the delivery slots were booked up too, he set up a weekly food delivery service.

On the days he wasn’t working at Asda in Wisbech, he picked up orders, put them through the tills and delivered them at his expense, using his own vehicle. Soon, he had recruited colleagues to help, and was taking orders via phone and email.

We all know a Geoff - or several - who has selflessly given up their time to help others during the pandemic. In our eyes, they’re just as much key workers as anyone else. 

So we’ll end by saying “thank you, volunteers, for donating time when you didn’t have to, and making a real difference to so many.”

Your contribution has been absolutely unprecedented (oh no!), and we appreciate it. 

While 2020 was a rotten year for many, many reasons, the sense of togetherness fostered is inspiring and moving. 

Take a look at Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workforce report and you’ll find a concerning stat. 52% of employees told Gallup researchers they were watching for or actively seeking a new job.

While the Great Resignation seems to have subsided, talent retention is still a pressing issue — and it can make all the difference to your business. Holding onto your best people, with all their skills and knowledge, means better productivity, customer service, and profitability.

In this quick guide, we explain what talent retention is and why it’s important. We also share what you can do to inspire employee loyalty in 2025 — from a connected workplace culture to the perks that matter most.

Ready to turn retention into a competitive advantage? Let’s get started.

What is talent retention and why is it so important?

Talent retention is your ability to hold onto your employees once you’ve hired them.

If you have an effective talent retention plan, employees stick around for long, stable, and productive careers within your organization. 

So why does talent retention matter?

Talent retention is important because replacing employees is expensive. Gallup estimates that replacing a frontline employee costs 40% of their salary. This rises to 80% for employees in technical roles and 200% for leaders and managers.

By improving staff loyalty, you reduce costs associated with recruitment and onboarding. But there are other benefits of employee retention to bear in mind:

• Improved productivity. Your organization is more productive because a high proportion of employees are fully trained and know how to do their jobs.   
• An expert workforce. You retain knowledge and skills within the business, which means you achieve your goals faster.
• A positive company culture. Because workers are able to build strong and lasting relationships with co-workers, you raise satisfaction and loyalty.

One final benefit of staff retention is a better customer experience. And that deserves a section all of its own...

The link between employee retention and customer experience

Gartner defines customer experience (CX) as: 

“The customer's perceptions and related feelings caused by the one-off and cumulative effect of interactions with a supplier's employees, systems, channels or products.”

The snappier version? It’s the degree to which interactions with your brand spark joy in customers.

It’s easy to delight customers when employees are informed, happy, and engaged. And it’s very easy to do the opposite if staff are new to the job — or looking for a role elsewhere.  

According to PwC research, 46% of customers will abandon a brand if employees aren’t knowledgeable and don’t know how to meet their needs.

Employee retention, employee experience, and customer experience are closely linked. Do right by your employees and they’re more likely to stay working for your company.

They continue to build their knowledge and skills, which means they’re more likely to provide an industry-leading experience for your customers.  

Talent retention: why now?

52% of employees say they’re watching for or actively seeking a new job. And turnover rates for frontline industries remain high: 73.8% in hospitality, 56.7% in transportation, and 21.9% in professional and business services.

There’s another, stealthier problem at play too. Glassdoor has revealed that nearly 2 in 3 employees feel stuck in their roles. And Gallup says that we’ve moved beyond the Great Resignation into the Great Detachment, where employees are staying in roles they have little interest in.

In 2025, some employees are quitting. Others are sticking around for lack of a better option. In either case, the business suffers. But a focus on talent retention can help to combat both of these issues.

Talent retention strategies revolve around improving the employee experience. You make your workplace a better, more fulfilling, and more inspiring place to be. So both employee engagement and retention improve.

The first hurdle: identifying talent retention issues

How is your company doing in terms of talent retention?

To truly understand your performance, you need to know — and keep track of — your employee retention rate. You can use this number to set a baseline and establish targets. But while this figure tells you how many employees are leaving your organization, it doesn’t tell you why.

For that, you need to dig deeper. Exit surveys and interviews can reveal trends and problems with the employee experience. They can help you understand why employees are choosing to leave. Some of the most common culprits in 2025 include:

• Work-life balance: a lack of flexibility in the workplace is leading staff — including frontline employees — to look for jobs elsewhere.
• Career progression: lack of career or professional development opportunities is one of the most cited reasons for leaving a job.
• Recognition: when you don’t show regular and authentic appreciation for employee efforts, they become demotivated and more likely to jump ship.
• Workplace culture: a sense of connection and belonging have a big impact on employee satisfaction, so issues with managers and co-workers, or feelings of loneliness can raise employee turnover.
• Salary and benefits: sometimes, it’s simply about the money — it’s difficult to keep employees if competitors are offering better rates of pay.

Convince employees to stay with these 6 talent retention strategies

Staff retention rates not where you’d like them to be? Reduce employee turnover with the help of these practical strategies.

Keep your finger on the pulse

Exit interviews are a useful talent retention tool. But wouldn’t it be better if you could prevent employees from handing in their notice in the first place? To do this, you need to understand the state of employee morale and engagement in your organization at any given moment.

There are some signs a manager may be able to spot. Drop-offs in productivity, refusal to commit to long-term projects, and a lack of enthusiasm are all signs that an employee sees their future elsewhere.

But you can go beyond manager observations to take the pulse of your entire organization. Use employee surveys to gauge sentiment on a range of retention-related topics. For example, job satisfaction, internal communications, benefits packages, and recognition.

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You can then act on any major bugbears to prevent employee experience issues from translating into higher employee turnover.

This feedback process has another talent retention benefit. When you show employees that their input is prompting real change in the workplace they feel heard and valued — and become more invested in your organization.

Help them achieve their goals

According to recent Randstad research, 31% of employees have quit a job because of a lack of career progression opportunities. Employees want to feel that they’re making progress toward their learning and career goals.

Investing time and money in professional development sends a strong signal that you’re supporting your employees over the long term. Build in career development plans, coaching, and one-on-one time as soon as a new member of staff joins your workforce — and sustain these initiatives throughout the entire employee journey.

Emphasizing that you see this as a long-term partnership rather than a transactional exchange of services (“you work, we pay”) lays the foundations for future success.

Offer regular recognition

Retaining employees is easier when they feel valued and appreciated. Workers are five times more likely to stay with your organization for two years or more when there’s a comprehensive recognition program in place.

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All employees — whether they work in the office, at home, or on the frontlines of your organization — should receive regular appreciation for the work they do.

For teams working in the same location, informal recognition is relatively easy. For disparate teams and frontline employees, you have to be more intentional. The right internal communication tools can help. 

You can use an employee app or intranet to highlight the hard work and achievements of your employees — and encourage peer-to-peer recognition across digital communication channels, too.

Create a positive workplace culture

Having a work bestie is more important than you might think. Employees who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to stay working for your organization. 

Again, this can be tricky when employees aren’t working in the same location. So use an interactive company news feed, online Communities, and instant messaging tools to bring your organization together. 

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As well as helping employees to build connections with co-workers, support them to understand and take part in company culture. Make company values and purpose part of your every day. 

Managers also have a big role to play. 70% of the variance in team engagement comes down to the manager. So give your leaders the training they need to boost employee engagement and create a culture employees enjoy being part of.

Offer flexibility where possible 

Flexibility and work-life balance are a top priority for employees. In fact, it’s the second most important factor for frontline employees when choosing a job.  

Flexible working looks different in different organizations. Some employees get to work remotely, work compressed hours, or choose start and finish times.

For frontline employees, this isn’t so easy. But you can support work-life balance for this segment of your workforce by offering expanded paid time off (PTO) policies, a choice of schedules, and easy-access shift swap tools.

Revamp your salary and benefits package

When was the last time you looked at the salary and benefits package you offer? Pay is another big factor in employees deciding to look for another job. 

So compare your offering to that of your competitors and consider improving your package if you find you’re falling behind the pack.

But remember that pay isn’t everything. It will take more than a small pay increase to tempt engaged employees to jump ship. According to SHRM, employees may be willing to trade pay for improved work-life balance, flexibility, and workplace culture.

Make life easier for your HR team with talent retention software

An effective talent retention strategy gives you an edge over your competitors. When you build and maintain a skilled and engaged workforce, your business performs better.

To achieve high levels of retention, you need to offer training and development, honor work-life balance, and provide regular recognition. You should also strive to create a company culture based on purpose, connection, and community.

All of the above is made easier when you have the right tech tools at your disposal. Talent retention technology includes solutions like employee engagement, employee communication, and employee experience tools.

The best software is available on desktop and as a mobile-first employee app, so you can tackle talent retention issues across your entire workforce. These solutions provide employees with easy, digital access to:

• Training and career development tools
• Company news, community, and co-worker chat
• Recognition and rewards
• Health and wellbeing resources

They also give HR teams access to tools like employee surveys and analytics. So you get greater insight into the state of employee engagement and talent retention within your business.

You can spot engagement and retention issues before they harm company culture and lead more workers to jump ship — and you can uncover what employees want from your organization.

With this information, you can make meaningful improvements to the employee experience, keeping staff turnover rates low and engagement high. 

Blink. And improve talent retention with a mobile-first employee app.

Working remotely hasn’t stopped Jessica from immersing herself in Blink’s vibrant culture. As a solution consultant for our US enterprise accounts, she’s been making waves since joining over two years ago. Whether visiting our Boston or London offices — or collaborating from her home in Pennsylvania — Jessica loves Blink’s agile, innovative, and positive environment.

Which Blink office do you work out of?

I'm one of the few fully remote employees, but I’ve still managed to visit both offices. I go to Boston more often — probably three or four times so far — and I’ve been to London twice. I’m based in Pennsylvania, roughly in the middle between Philadelphia and New York City.

I lived in New York City for ten years, but now I have three young kids, so we needed more space. Right now, for example, it's snowing outside and there are deer in my front yard — quite a change from the city!

What's your position at Blink?

I'm a solution consultant for enterprise accounts in the US.

How long have you been at Blink?

Just over 2 years now.

What initially attracted you to join Blink?

What drew me to Blink was partly the people I knew here — people I really respected. I thought if they were at this place called Blink, then I should be here, too. On top of that, Blink’s overall mission resonated with me. I’ve been selling software for a long time, usually to IT departments, and I never really saw the broader impact beyond making some people more productive.

But hearing how Blink improves the lives of frontline workers, who often receive little support — especially after everything that happened with COVID — made me realize how crucial they are. Unfortunately, many companies aren’t investing much in improving their experience, and that’s what we’re aiming to change: enhancing their work lives.

What's a project you are proud of from your time at Blink?

I have to say, there’s a major deal I worked on (which we haven’t announced yet) that was incredibly exciting from start to finish. I felt like we were entering the next phase of Blink. Just the fact that this huge company even considered us — and ultimately chose us — was amazing.

I loved seeing the teamwork and effort everyone poured in. At some point, every single team played a role — marketing, product, implementation, sales, pre-sales, legal, and more. So many people came together, and it was really fun to witness. It took about six months, with hundreds of meetings and around 20 demos — truly unbelievable.

How would you describe the company culture at Blink in 3 words?

I would say it's fast-paced, super-positive — which you don't see everywhere — and agile.

I chose “super-positive” because everyone is always open and happy. You never join a meeting — whether it’s an internal call or a customer call — without seeing smiles on people’s faces. Even though everyone’s busy, they’re still great to talk to and easy to connect with.

People here are also eager to help, and I think our customers pick up on that. They know we’re not just going to deliver reliable work — we’re going to brighten their workday, too. That positivity really carries over into our relationships with them.

What's one thing you're excited about for the future of Blink?

I'm excited to see how quickly we're growing in the US and how we'll continue to expand. I’m also really thrilled about what we've already accomplished and what we’re planning to do in retail and hospitality.

When I first joined Blink, we only had a handful of customers in that sector — some of them quite small. Now, seeing what we've achieved, what we're currently doing, and what we have planned for the future is incredibly exciting, especially in that space.

We've done amazing work in transit and healthcare so far, but retail and hospitality brands are more widely recognizable. I feel like this will bring greater awareness to all the good Blink is doing, and more people will hear about it simply because they can relate more to these public-facing companies.

Can you tell us about a recent initiative or program launch at Blink that you found particularly exciting? 

Our internal 12 days of Blinkmas gifts campaign was amazing — I’ve never seen another company do anything like it! The gifts were great, and I loved how excited everyone was to participate. I looked forward to it every morning, eager to see who won the previous day’s gift and what the newest gift was. It really made the lead-up to the holidays special.

I actually ended up winning a really cool prize: a donation to a charity of my choice. I chose a local charity that helps families in Bucks County, where I live in Pennsylvania.

Why do you work for Blink?

I love the people here — my daily team, my manager, and the fact that I can easily reach out to anyone in another department when I need something. I always know exactly who to contact, and they typically respond quickly, no matter the time of day. It’s a refreshing change from bigger companies, where requests can just vanish. At Blink, everything gets done efficiently.

I also work here because our product is amazing. I’m in it day in and day out, and it’s so fun to envision solutions for our customers — our product is incredibly straightforward to use. I’m impressed by how fast we roll out new features and develop enhancements, whether it’s based on our own plans or customer feedback. I’ve never been at a company that does it so quickly and so well. We work together to figure out what’s best for the next phase of Blink, always keeping our customers’ needs at the center.

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Quick question: who does a forklift operator turn to when there’s a problem? Or to whom does a shift nurse bring her safety concerns?

In most cases, this would be the middle-level, frontline manager or supervisor. That’s how critical frontline leaders are to the day-to-day functioning of your organization and its workers.

But many of them are handling a management role for the first time. They were probably promoted because they were great at their job. So the skills and behaviors they need to manage frontline workers may not come naturally to them.

Whether you’re leading frontline workers or leading those who manage frontline workers, proper frontline leadership training is essential. And the following tips will help take your training programs to the next level. 

Frontline leadership training tips

The right frontline leadership training strategies don’t just show people how to lead frontline teams, but also help you turn junior frontline workers or those with no frontline experience into powerful frontline leaders. Let’s see what these are.

Get out in the field 

This frontline leadership training tip may look obvious on the surface. After all, how can you lead or train deskless workers just from your desk?

But it’s surprising how many leaders and supervisors become disconnected from the people they lead due to physical distance.

Their teams are out there in the factory, toiling away at the warehouse, serving customers in their rooms, or traveling to client locations, while the managers spend most of their time in their little cabin.

This doesn’t just impact frontline leadership training, but also puts you out of the loop from what’s really happening on the ground level.

So get out and see your world. Frequent places you wouldn’t normally visit. Seek out conversations with workers you don’t usually interact with. And train other frontline managers in your company to do the same.

Prioritize empathy

A hospital security guard was once working the night shift. He noticed the hospital CEO walking toward him in the hallway. Wanting to make a good impression, he acknowledged and smiled. But the CEO walked right past him, as if he was not important enough to engage. So how would the guard feel at that moment?

Understanding and empathy are essential to engaging frontline employees. And it’s important to reinforce this fact as much as possible in frontline leadership training.

As a frontline leader, you should be easily approachable. And make your workers feel comfortable in raising their concerns and suggestions.

Also, be proactive about this. Many frontline managers unintentionally project a stoic image. They accidentally come across as cold and uncaring even though they are not. So a frontline leadership training session is a good opportunity to identify and improve on these blind spots.

Empower your people

As per a 2019 employee engagement study, 33% of workers feel undervalued at work. Without the motivation and authority to take full responsibility, it’s hard for them to take pride in their work.

So another aspect of effective frontline leadership is teaching and supporting workers in taking ownership of their tasks.

As you train frontline leaders and employees, you’ll notice them wanting to step up. And this is the time to allow them to do so. Encouraging independent decision-making is the key to building a high-performance team.

One way to empower your frontline leaders and workers is to reduce the bottlenecks and red tape preventing them from experiencing autonomy at work.

Instead of micromanaging their every move, provide clear expectations about the final outcome. Your role as a frontline leader is not to micromanage every little process, but to empower your teams to handle day-to-day operations on their own.

Second, always encourage open communication. When a team member communicates with you, listen actively and respectfully to their issues and feedback. And provide candid feedback of your own when required.

Use storytelling

As humans, we are wired for stories, and they’re easy for us to remember. Not just that, stories activate more areas of the brain than just language processing. So they have a better chance of inspiring and impacting us.

When training or managing frontline employees, storytelling goes a long way in creating cohesion and showing them that their actions make a difference.

For example, a real-estate company built a set of simulation videos to demonstrate a new customer-success approach.

The videos featured the activities of the protagonist — a leasing agent — as she worked with customers to fill a unit in her locality. And each video created an opportunity for the viewer to learn how to handle a specific conflict that may arise in the process.

As a frontline leader, we bet you have a lot of stories to share from your experiences in the field. If you do, you’re sitting on a goldmine that can be invaluable when imparting frontline leadership training. So use stories to emphasize key takeaways in your training sessions and drive frontline workers to action.

When telling a story, follow the standard story arc. Start with a character your audience can relate with, build tension with a conflict, then introduce concepts and actions the character used to resolve the conflict. For more information, see our guide to employing storytelling for communication.

Invest in a continuous improvement program

Training frontline leaders and workers on improvement strategies like TWI, Lean, Kaizen, and Kata can kill two birds with one stone. They learn how to be more efficient and be a good leader.

Kaizen, for example, is the process of making tiny, incremental improvements in both strategy and operations over time. And these small improvements eventually lead to a big difference in the long run. Toyota is famous for applying this model right from the beginning, and it played a big role in the company’s success.

By introducing a continuous improvement course in your organization, you can turn frontline supervisors into real leaders, and teach them how to:

• Motivate frontline employees
• Collaborate with people in other departments
• Get workers to comply with safety measures
• Empower frontline employees to share feedback
• Build trustworthy relationships at work

Start small and see how the small changes you initiate are impacting your team. If everything goes well, you can apply the changes to the whole organization.

According to the Kaizen philosophy, the goal is not perfection, but improvement. No matter how trivial. So remember not to get your workforce bogged down with unrealistic expectations.

Frontline leadership FAQs

What is frontline leadership training?

Frontline leadership training programmes will aim to improve the skills of those currently in or looking to move into a frontline leadership role. The majority of these courses will focus on improving communication, reducing conflict, improving employee performance, and enhancing team effectiveness.

What is frontline leadership?

Frontline leadership refers to the ability of supervisors or managers on the frontline and their ability to combine practical management skills with proactive and decisive decision marketing.

What are the skills of a frontline manager?

A frontline manager will rely on a lot of skills to keep their team performing efficiently. Some of these skills include: communication, critical thinking, leadership, strategic thinking, motivation & engagement skills.

Conclusion: frontline leadership training tips

According to a Woohoo study of employees worldwide, workers say that 40% of their bad days are because of a lack of guidance and support from their manager.

Frontline managers in your organization need to listen and be responsive to their teams’ needs. And effective frontline leadership training is essential to develop the skills that make this happen.

Even if you already have a training program in place, the tips outlined above will help you make it better. So go ahead and use them to turn workers into leaders.

Blink, the leading employee engagement super-app, announced that The Learning Experience, a premier early childhood education provider, has successfully implemented Blink’s employee engagement platform as part of its strategic initiative to improve frontline staff communication, engagement, and retention across its 350 locations.

As The Learning Experience continues its significant growth, finding innovative ways to enhance company culture and ensure effective communication across all locations has become increasingly important. Due to the nature of the work, traditional communication methods aren’t accessible, as most staff members are teachers who do not use email during the day and need a more flexible solution. To address these needs, the organization launched a strategic initiative called Operation Blue Elephant, utilizing Blink’s platform to enhance engagement and streamline internal communication. This effort focuses on unifying the experience for the company’s 10,000 employees, 90% of whom work in franchise-operated centers with limited direct connection to the corporate team.

Blink’s platform, known as the "Happy Hub" within The Learning Experience, has become a key component of its employee engagement strategy. This centralized communication tool offers employees timely access to essential information, core tools, and a platform for feedback, thus enhancing overall engagement and connectivity.

“Blink has been a game-changer on how we communicate and engage with our employees,” said Traci Wilk, Chief People Officer, of The Learning Experience. “By providing a unified platform, we’ve ensured that every team member, from corporate staff to frontline franchise employees, feels connected and valued. This initiative is not just about improving communication-it’s about building a culture where every employee thrives.”  

Key highlights of the Happy Hub

• Comprehensive benefits program - The Learning Experience introduced "TLE Cares," an affordable benefits package for franchisees to offer their employees.

• Reimagined teacher onboarding program - Through the platform, new teachers have the tools they need to succeed from day one, leveraging new technology and resources.

• Happiness index - The Learning Experience began running both parent and employee engagement surveys. Viewing these results together gave the organization and franchisees a clearer idea of their performance and how Happiness index scores relate to employee engagement, retention, and family enrollment at centers.

Results

Since the launch of the Happy Hub, there has been a notable improvement in employee retention rates. The streamlined onboarding process has also contributed to this success by boosting new hires' confidence and readiness to lead classes effectively. In addition,  the positive reception of the platform, with 99% of franchisees actively participating, highlights its effectiveness in enhancing staff engagement and creating a more supportive work environment.

Sean Nolan, CEO and co-founder of Blink said, “The success of The Learning Experience’s Happy Hub showcases the profound impact of effective frontline connection.  In today's competitive market, fostering a strong organizational culture and ensuring employees feel supported is crucial for retention and growth. Other organizations can look to The Learning Experience as a model on how to leverage technology to achieve these goals.”

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