Developing Effective Frontline Managers

Employees don’t quit companies, they quit managers. Although there’s truth in that statement, pointing a finger of blame is not helpful. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that there are specific things that managers do — or don’t do — to create employee dissatisfaction.

In many cases, frontline managers feel constrained by the limits of their authority. How can your frontline managers be expected to keep your people happy when their hands are tied by those in positions of greater authority? A frontline manager doesn’t control compensation, determine working conditions, set the targets, or write policies. In other cases, managers don’t know how to act. Perhaps they haven’t been told that managing retention is important, or taught how to do it; maybe they haven’t been given feedback as to how well they are doing.

By giving your frontline managers the tools, training, and latitude they need to hold on to the best hourly workers, you can improve retention, reduce the drag on your business caused by needless turnover, and save a substantial amount of money in the process.

This paper explores how providing frontline managers with tools to retain high-performing hourly workers can help reduce needless turnover, lower costs, and greatly improve employees’ lives.