Stock traders, baseball players, and grocery clerks—what do they have in common? (Hint: it’s not consistently painting the outside corner with a 92 mile-per-hour fastball). You guessed it: they’re all employees.

In any job, giving and receiving feedback is crucial to success and alignment. But the nature of frontline employee communication makes sharing and acting on feedback a tough nut to crack for many businesses. Frontline employees, including deskless workers like restaurant staff, nurses, and retail and manufacturing workers, are a huge segment of the working population. 

Inadequate feedback between frontline workers and team leaders can negatively impact both sides. Absent an outlet for feedback, frontline workers tend to feel unengaged and unappreciated at work, leading to costly turnover. Conversely, according to goHappy data, turnover is 14% points lower at locations with the highest annual employee engagement scores. 

In this article, we’ll break down all you need to know about frontline employee feedback—including how to get it, challenges, and examples of how to do it right.  

What Is Employee Feedback?

Employee feedback is the exchange of information between employees and employers. Feedback can take place formally or informally; e.g., in a face-to-face conversation or via an official channel, like email. It often involves discussions of performance or ability in a job, but it also includes things like employee opinions and suggestions on culture, bandwidth, and more. 

The ultimate goal of employee feedback is to foster continuous improvement, engagement and alignment on goals for both sides. 

The Importance Of Collecting Feedback From Frontline Employees

Frontline employees have some of the highest turnover rates across all industries. 

Maintaining an open and continuous loop can drastically improve your ability to retain frontline talent. It allows your frontline to feel heard and valued by providing an avenue to voice opportunities for improvement and concerns. For example, acting on feedback received in a survey contributed to a 12% reduction in hourly employee turnover for goHappy partner Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza. 

An effective feedback loop boosts frontline workers’ morale by letting managers address their pressing pain points. It provides an avenue to review workloads, stress levels, and management style and take corrective measures. It’s a chance to walk a mile in their shoes and understand what you can change to create a rewarding and enabling workplace environment. 

Bottom line: soliciting feedback from frontline workers makes them feel heard while allowing you to improve their working conditions. That demonstrates you value your workers and bolsters your capacity to attract and retain top talent. 

Challenges In Gathering Feedback From Frontline Employees

Supervisors and HR managers can face various obstacles when gathering feedback from frontline employees. Some of these include:

Logistical Issues

Frontline workers often work in shifts and may be spread across multiple locations. Coordinating and collecting feedback from a distributed workforce may prove challenging. Some frontline workers aren’t tech savvy or lack reliable computer access, making it challenging to rely on feedback via channels like email. 

Implementing an app-free mobile solution, like goHappy’s feedback module, can provide a convenient and accessible way to get feedback from your frontline. 

Communication Barriers 

Frontline workers may speak a different language or possess limited proficiency in a common language, hindering effective communication. In the US, for example, 40% of front-line workers speak Spanish. 

The lack of direct contact with HR managers or supervisors may also create limited opportunities for interaction. 

Establishing a culture that encourages open communication and provides multiple feedback channels helps break communication barriers. Training managers on active listening and effective feedback techniques also helps. 

Cultural Hurdles 

Some workers may come from cultures that encourage members to avoid confrontation and prioritize harmony. Creating a safe environment and educating your managers on cultural sensitivity can help build a feedback culture that values honest opinions and diverse perspectives. 

How To Effectively Gather And Implement Frontline Employee Feedback

Creating a feedback loop between frontline employees, managers and HR teams provides a systematic approach to help you collect, analyze, and use feedback to make informed choices and drive changes. A typical feedback loop for frontline employees comprises several steps, including: 

1. Conduct Feedback Training 


Training frontline managers to give and receive feedback can help you build an effective loop. Training helps promote a culture of open communication while empowering supervisors to provide constructive criticism. It also allows frontline employees to receive feedback positively instead of viewing it as a personal attack. 

2. Collect Feedback 


Determine a reasonable interval for soliciting feedback that suits your goals and needs. 

You’ll also need to evaluate the proper channels for collecting feedback, whether via face-to-face meetings or digital channels. Mobile solutions, for example, can make collecting frontline feedback a seamless process. 

3. Analyze and Evaluate 


With feedback in hand, managers and HR teams need a plan of attack to interpret and action it. Analyzing feedback helps both managers and employees understand strengths, weak points, and areas of improvement. It also lets you uncover trends and patterns and gain critical insights into what frontline workers need and value. 

4. Implement an Action Plan


Use the feedback to formulate action plans that capitalize on your strengths and address identified issues to drive positive change. You may need to improve processes, adjust policies, or conduct training to enhance productivity and improve employee satisfaction. 

5. Share Feedback Results 


Share the feedback results with your employees and stakeholders. Highlight the key findings and provide a clear overview of the results. Keep the reports concise and transparent so they’re easy to understand and use for decision-making. 

Examples Of Successful Frontline Employee Feedback Strategies

From collecting to analyzing and acting on feedback, these are some of the best examples of companies leveraging goHappy for optimized frontline employee feedback. 

Breeze Thru

We've seen it time and time again—engaged frontline employees stick around longer. 

Such was the case with goHappy client Breeze Thur. After using goHappy to collect feedback and drive a 17% percent increase in their employee engagement, the car wash chain saw a 29% reduction in employee turnover year-over-year. 

According to Chief Operations Officer Jonathan Comyn, the enhanced visibility offered by goHappy's Feedback Module played a big part in the turnaround. 

"We were able to see the employee feedback in a way that made it actionable," Comyn says.  

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza

A similar pattern emerged for Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, a Florida-based pizza operation with 59 locations across eight states. 

After using goHappy to source employee feedback, the team experienced a 12% decrease in hourly employee turnover year over year. 

"We saw a significant decline in New Hire Turnover within the first 90 days," says Michelle Zavolta, Chief People Officer. "We experienced great results just by asking for their feedback and making slight adjustments to their onboarding and New Hire Experience." 

Best Practices For Actioning Frontline Feedback

Gathering employee feedback is only half the battle—you’ll also need a plan to drive meaningful change within your organization. 

Here are some best practices and tips for making the most of the frontline feedback you collect.  

            • Leverage technology: Going with a digital solution helps you streamline and customize your communication efforts in a way collecting manual feedback cannot. Mobile tools, such as goHappy’s Feedback Module, facilitate real-time communication to let employees offer insights and opinions while allowing managers to provide immediate feedback. They also feature advanced analytics to help you gain deep insights into your workforce and their needs. Key metrics that are proven to drive business results include employee retention, engagement, and employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS).

      • Be transparent: Always communicate feedback results to your frontline employees to make them feel heard and valued. Transparency builds trust as you demonstrate to employees you value their input.

      • Create action plans: Develop clear action plans outlining the steps to address the feedback. Appoint a team, assign responsibilities, establish KPIs to measure progress, and set a timeline. Action plans are crucial for accountability and successful implementation.

    • Share resources and support: Provide your team with the resources they need to effectively implement any changes resulting from feedback. Support may range from additional training programs, to updated equipment or revising processes and procedures.

    • Communicate the results: Once you’ve implemented the changes, share the results company-wide. The feedback report should demonstrate the positive outcomes and improvements. Recognize the employees’ contribution and celebrate the successes.

    • Rinse and repeat: Feedback is a continuous and iterative process. Encourage your workers to provide additional feedback and continually use their inputs to address emerging issues and refine processes to drive improvements.

Better Frontline Feedback, Straight From the Source

Frontline employees matter to your business. goHappy’s intuitive, data-powered frontline feedback solution makes it easier than ever before to collect, process, and act on your employees’ key insights—reducing turnover and bolstering morale across your team. 

Schedule a demo to learn more about frontline feedback for your business today.