Why Creating Engaging Content for Frontline Communications and Training Is Worth Your Investment

In a report on technology and frontline workers, 63% of frontline workers say messages from leadership don’t make it to them. And 69% of frontline managers say their higher-ups are not effectively communicating with them either.

If you imagine content and communications like a waterfall that flows down from senior leadership to HR or the internal comm team to middle management to line managers and then to the frontline worker, it’s easy to see how the flow of information can get blocked or misdirected. 

What most companies don’t realize is how important content and communication are to turn around an unhappy frontline worker. According to Inc.com, frontline employees who feel heard by and connected to their company are five times more likely to do their best work. 

Establish a single source of truth

While it won’t solve communication breakdowns alone, a single source of truth for knowledge, training, and information is one major step toward a solution. If all employees have access to the same communications, the flow of information is not only more available but also more accurate. 

This doesn’t necessarily mean sharing everything with everyone. The goal is to ensure that employees can access accurate and up-to-date information to do their best work at any given moment.

Democratize content and communication 

Ensure your frontline workers can share feedback on training courses, task instructions, and processes in a continuous feedback loop. This means that your frontline workers’ training needs to include access to post and comment on communication channels.

Feedback should also be acknowledged and responded to so employees don’t feel like their posts go into a void. Content and communication tools should facilitate not only top-down but also bottom-up and peer-to-peer communication in one digital workspace. 

Deliver engaging content

Once you’ve put a feedback loop into place, you’ll know what the most valuable content is for frontline communications and frontline worker development. The best content authoring tools make designing engaging digital training content as easy as editing a Word document. Drag and drop capabilities mean you don’t need to know coding to create a variety of media types like videos, slideshows, checklists, quizzes, and more.

By using interactive media, you can more effectively engage employees than with a static document or bland Powerpoint presentations with the dreaded “next” button. 

Target communications

Blasting generic communications to everyone won’t solve the problem of frontline workers feeling out of the loop. Overloading employees with unnecessary information that’s not relevant to their role will only make the situation worse. 

When it comes to frontline employee communication, less can be more. Target communications by job role, location, and other variables, so frontline workers only receive the information that’s important to them. Not only will they retain the information better but you’ll also build trust that the information you’re sending is relevant.

If you’re looking for an effective frontline communications solution, contact us or chat with us today to learn more about how Inkling can help deliver engaging content and improve productivity and satisfaction in your organization.