Frontline Innovators

https://www.frontlineinnovators.com/feed.xml

This is Frontline Innovators. Hosts Justin Lake and Gene Signorini speak with experts who are leading the way and driving digital transformation to the frontlines. We explore how to overcome challenges and achieve success when we empower our essential workers. This podcast is sponsored by Skyllful, on a mission to help frontline workers learn and use the technology needed to succeed in their jobs.

Episodes

Friday Mar 24, 2023

In Their Shoes - Episode #107 - Carl Hefele

Friday Mar 24, 2023

We're excited for this weeks guest - Carl Hefele, the Director of Field Services East @ Idemia.

Carl has extensive experience with field service operations and leads a large team for oversight and leadership for the Eastern half of the United States Service Operations Division.

Quote: "When I work with these people, I'm trying to use all of the experiences and all the headaches of everything I had and all the frustrations, you know? And it's just that all the life experiences, you know, we got to figure out a better way to do this."

Key Takeaways:

➖ Use all of your experiences to help the frontline in a situation

➖ Let the field techs know why you're asking for the data

➖ Learn how to scale knowledge to the frontline

➖ Don't put in garbage data or you'll get garbage reporting

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlhefele/

Company Website: https://www.idemia.com/

Here's other ways you can listen:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS

Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators

Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw

Youtube - https://youtu.be/x9rxny7SbNo

Find more episodes of Frontline Innovators at www.frontlineinovators.com

Friday Mar 17, 2023

Understanding The Kinesthetic Learner - Episode #106 - Marie Elliston

Friday Mar 17, 2023

Join us for our newest episode with Marie Elliston, Sr. Manager Commercial Sales Learning and Development @ WestRock Company. Marie is a learning and development strategist with 15 years of experience delivering enterprise-wide change and talent management initiatives within the performance and product fields.

Quote: "I'm a big proponent of giving people a play space, whether it's a sandbox, if it's ai, let the people get used to it in a safe environment, rather than just throwing 'em into production and being like, 'Hey, good luck.'"

Key Takeaways:

➖ Kinesthetic learners need time to fail and figure it out themselves

➖ Encourage a continuous improvement loop

➖ You need to pinpoint the issues and assign them

➖ Having a sandbox for them to fail in is invaluable

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-e-4539bb186/

Company Website: https://www.westrock.com/

Here's other ways you can listen:

Find more episodes of Frontline Innovators at www.frontlineinovators.com

Friday Mar 10, 2023

Keeping Frontline Technology Grounded - Episode #105 - Andrew Lorraine

Friday Mar 10, 2023

Join us for a new episode of Frontline Innovators as we talk with Andrew Lorraine, CEO @ Resco. Andrew leads Resco’s mission to help mobile workers reach their full potential with technology. His focus is on developing business solutions for the key challenges of our era through authenticity and relationships.

Quote: "So I think the biggest challenge that is impacting mobile workers or frontline workers today is making sure that technology that's dreamt up in the clouds, works on the ground, works in the real world."

A few key takeaways:

➖ You've got to anticipate the challenges and requirements for a project

➖ One size fits all doesn't always work with technology

➖ You need to get a champion from the mobile workforce involved in the design process

➖ Make sure their voice is heard and the change is quick

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewlorraine/

Company Website: https://www.resco.net/

Here's other ways you can listen:

Find more episodes of Frontline Innovators at www.frontlineinovators.com

Friday Mar 03, 2023

Meeting the Underserved - Episode #104 - Chris Bond - Part2

Friday Mar 03, 2023

Join us for a new episode of Frontline Innovators as we talk with Chris Bond, CEO @ Bluewater Learning. He has been transforming the Learning and Talent Management field for over 20 years through his leadership, articles, speaking engagements, and consulting services.

If you missed Part 1 with Chris listen here - https://www.frontlineinnovators.com/e/meeting-the-underserved-episode-103-chris-bond-part-1/

This is Part 2 of 2 with Chris Bond as he discusses:

➖ What is Bluewater Learning & who they serve

➖ The right way to implement tech

➖ Transforming the learning experience & delivery for deskless workers

➖ Picking the right vendor that solves your problems

➖ Getting great measurements to justify your investment

Chris's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophermbond/

Company Website: https://www.bluewaterlearning.com/

Here's other ways you can listen:

Find more episodes of Frontline Innovators at www.frontlineinovators.com

Friday Feb 24, 2023

Meeting the Underserved - Episode #103 - Chris Bond - Part 1

Friday Feb 24, 2023

We're excited to be back with a new episode of Frontline Innovators as we talk with Chris Bond, CEO @ Bluewater Learning. He has been transforming the Learning and Talent Management field for over 20 years through his leadership, articles, speaking engagements, and consulting services.

This is Part 1 of 2 with Chris Bond as he discusses:

➖ The biggest challenge facing the deskless workforce

➖ Solving the People, Process & Technology issue

➖ Why the frontline has been underserved

➖ The 4 segments of training in L&D

➖ Short term versus long term employee experience - investing in the frontline

Chris's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophermbond/

Company Website: https://www.bluewaterlearning.com/

Here's other ways you can listen:

Find more episodes of Frontline Innovators at www.frontlineinovators.com

Friday Jan 13, 2023

Making Your Solution Scalable - Episode #102 - Adam Roesner

Friday Jan 13, 2023

In this episode, we talk with Adam Roesner, Learning and Development Technology Manager @ Pactiv Evergreen Inc. He has extensive experience in the healthcare field and medical device training. Adam delves into giving the frontline access to the right learning and understanding the nature of the learning itself.

Takeaways

🔔 Teach them how to get to the answer rather than what the answer is.

🔔 Scale your solution, so that in the future you can integrate other systems & not disrupt your workflow.

🔔 Know the difference between a primary and secondary tool that the frontline uses day-to-day.

🔔 Just in time solutions should be a temporary fix to a more permanent training plan.

Quote of the show: "Make your solution scalable so that in the future, if there is a chance that something happens, you can plug other systems into it and not disrupt your workflow."

Links:

Adam's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamroesner/

Company Website: https://pactivevergreen.com/

Here's how you can listen 🎧

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS

Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators

Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw

Youtube - https://youtu.be/ywixH0XCIfI

Friday Jan 06, 2023

Asking The Right Questions - Episode #101 - Maria Feay

Friday Jan 06, 2023

In this episode, we talk with Maria Feay, Director, Learning and Quality Coaching @ Quantum Health. She gives great insight into Learning and Development asking the right questions and solving for the problem.

Takeaways

🔔 What happens after the button is pushed? (Day 2)

🔔 The frontline needs competence but more importantly they need confidence that they can do the job they are tasked to do.

🔔 Meet the learner where they are at - then build content to fit.

🔔 Allowing your frontline to be resourceful rather than have everything memorized

Quote of the show: "What I love is coming into organizations and being the one that asks the question, so what are we solving for?"

Links:

Maria's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-gentile-feay-mba-b4a4741/

Company Website: https://quantum-health.com/

Here's how you can listen 🎧

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS

Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators

Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw

Youtube - https://youtu.be/sb5yFJAxjLU

Friday Dec 02, 2022

Designing the Right Training - Episode #99 - Amanda Fullbright

Friday Dec 02, 2022

This weeks episode host Justin Lake talks with Amanda Fullbright, Senior Vice President, Learning and Performance Development at BlueSprig Pediatrics. Amanda has many years of experience finding technology solutions in the healthcare field and speaks on the various challenges of developing training for the frontline.

Takeaways

🔔 Time and communication are the big struggles for the deskless workforce.

🔔 Design the right training for the right person at the right time.

🔔 Know how you are going to measure training before rolling it out.

🔔 It's really important to think about what device your training is optimized for.

Quote of the show: "Change can be good, but transition is always hard."

Links:

Amanda's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-fullbright-470071a/

Company Website: https://www.bluesprigautism.com/

Here's how you can listen 🎧

▪ Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS

▪ Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402

▪ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS

▪ Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators

▪ Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw

▪ Youtube - https://youtu.be/88w8jszI1j4

Friday Nov 11, 2022

Back to the Trenches - Episode #98 - Meg Vrabel

Friday Nov 11, 2022

This weeks episode host Justin Lake talks with Meg Vrabel Chief Revenue Officer & SVP Innovation @ Capital Factory - the Center of Gravity for Entrepreneurs in Texas. Meg has extensive experience helping and leading frontline workers and delves into some great advice for frontline leaders.

Takeaways

🔔 Without an understanding of how people operate in the field, you can't make good decisions for them in a corporate environment.

🔔 Companies need to rethink the amount of time they're allocating to CM, training, and support.

🔔 A mistake made often with large companies - the frontline workers themselves are the last ones to hear about things

🔔 Get in the field and listen to your team. It doesn't mean that you're gonna be able to make everyone happy, because that is completely unrealistic, but if you're doing those first two, you just have such a better base to be able to help them.

Quote of the show 31:47 “Get in the field, listen to your team. It doesn't mean that you're gonna be able to make everyone happy, because that is completely unrealistic, but if you're doing those first two, you just have such a better base to be able to help them when you're their liaison basically to the corporate office. And lastly, I would. Not just listen to them, but trust them and be willing to put your neck out. If you really feel like you, this is the hill you wanna die on, be willing to do it as a leader, especially if you're a generalist, like you'll find another job if really the worst happens. But like if you don't take those chances and you're not willing to put your neck on the line and you're not willing to die on a hill for your team, you're probably just not gonna get the best outcome.”

Links:

Meg's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megvrabel/

Company Website: https://www.capitalfactory.com/

Here's how you can listen 🎧

▪ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS

▪ Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators

▪ Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw

▪ Youtube - https://youtu.be/obfp4ZUM49A

Friday Oct 21, 2022

Tailoring Learning and Development - Frontline Innovators - Episode #097

Friday Oct 21, 2022

Abby Fordham is the Director of Learning and Development at Pactiv Evergreen Inc. Abby is passionate about making sure that frontline employees are taken care of and that they are given every chance to succeed. Abby joins the host Justin Lake to talk about some of the biggest challenges frontline employees face and how we can overcome them.

Takeaways:

The biggest challenge facing the frontline workforce today is the ability to access technology while being away from a desk. We have all the technology in the world but it is a struggle to get it to work when away from a desk or a spot without service.
Frontline workers should be allowed to use their phones while away from the desk as a source for finding the answers to any questions they might have.
The more you can help the frontline workers get their job the better their lives will be. Consider motivating and giving them access to the technology they might need to complete everything.
Often when frontline workers are promoted and become their peers' boss, it is overlooked that they aren’t given leadership training and it is assumed that they will take the role. It’s important to provide them with the leadership skills and knowledge needed to succeed.
Just because there is an issue when trying to implement technology doesn’t mean you stop what you are doing. A roadblock is an obstacle to overcome, not an excuse.
You have to follow a procedure and see how things have been done, but it’s ok to have it customized slightly as long as all the proper steps are being followed.
Let the technology do the hard work for you and the deskless workforce and then tailor the learning and development to them.

Quote of the show

31:47 “I never let no be a roadblock or a stop.”

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abby-fordham-8061343a/
Company Website: https://pactivevergreen.com/

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://youtu.be/BwIDcwL9UxU

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Oct 07, 2022

Serving A Greater Purpose - Frontline Innovators - Episode # 096

Friday Oct 07, 2022

Casey Jensen is the Learning and Development Lead at Medtronic. Casey is passionate about making sure the employees on the frontline are able to ask questions and achieve their ultimate goals. Casey joins the host Justin Lake to talk about some of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers and how to help them better use the technology surrounding them.

Takeaways

The deskless workforce is underrepresented in the amount of time it takes to learn a new task or technology. The change is often thrust upon them without enough training to make it viable.
There is a lack of buy-in from management that allows enough time for learning new technology to happen.
Feedback is an important part of communication with the frontline workforce. It’s essential to offer them a place to provide feedback so they feel heard and then you can see how you might be able to solve any of their issues.
Learning and development miss the most important thing to link the training back to business development and business strategy.
If somebody is on the floor but you are training them then you are losing productivity but at the same time, the training is essential to the frontline workers being able to do their job effectively.
Different learning styles and different concepts come to people in different ways. It might take longer for some people to learn new technology and techniques than it would for others.
You always want to make sure people are using training time wisely and appropriately and not dropping on the computer and going to Facebook or wasting the time.

Quote of the show

24:27 “The number one thing that I see that learning and development misses is linking it to the business objective and business strategy.”

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseywjensen/
Company LinkedIn: https://www.medtronic.com/us-en/index.html

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://youtu.be/9JfQN_jYdtM

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Sep 30, 2022

Lead with Emotions - Frontline Innovators - Episode # 095

Friday Sep 30, 2022

Molly Fields is the Senior Director of Learning and Development at TCC & Wireless Zone, a Verizon Authorized Retailer. Molly is passionate about making sure that leaders are emotionally invested in their teams and care for them. Molly joins the host Justin Lake to talk about the importance of being a good team leader and how that can motivate and make a difference to those working on the frontline.

Takeaways

The biggest problem facing deskless workers today is that they aren’t able to balance things as well as they used to be able to because they have more on their plate than they are used to.
The emotional aspect is where a direct leader can have the most impact on other members of their team.
As a leader, it is your responsibility to lead your people and treat them with respect like the people they are, and then looking at them as workers comes second.
Change doesn’t start from the top down. The best way to make change stick and work is by having the middle management people get the frontline workers to switch over and then the change will stick.
When it comes to bringing in new technology a new strategy, you want to try and sell it to the frontline workers with the mindset that they won’t like it and then get them to see the benefits of it.
Think about the “stars” of your company and get them on camera to try and sell some change. The message will be more impactful coming from them rather than from someone in upper management.
If you are not actively pursuing some kind of skill development then you are falling behind. You have to look at it what you can you do to be better at your job.

Quote of the show

5:51 “As the leader, you do have to lead your people emotionally first as people, not as performers.”

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-fields-5bb54385/
Company Website: https://www.tccrocks.com/

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://youtu.be/_Q0ntyaYFAw

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Sep 23, 2022

Working on a Spectrum - Frontline Innovators - Episode #094

Friday Sep 23, 2022

Jason Aurora is the Senior Director of Learning and Development at Hilti North America. Jason has a passion for helping deskless workers to be more knowledgeable about the current technology that surrounds them but also sees the value of human interaction and communication. Jason joins the host Justin Lake to talk about some of the biggest struggles facing frontline workers and we can overcome them.

Takeaways

It’s important to be really effective from a learning perspective because in a diskless environment it is hard for those employees to find free time in their day.
Communication has become more complicated as the world becomes more digital. The digital aspect creates a lot of distractions with all the different apps to communicate with.
There is a model of “70 - 20 - 10” where 70% of the skills you need for the job you will learn from being trained, 20% is the informal learning of being added to projects and 10% is being certified in a certain subject.
The human interaction and the bonding that takes place during in-person training and other programs is something that can not be replaced by using zoom or other video call platforms.
Everyone at a company learns differently and has different needs. To make sure you are meeting everyone in the best way possible, it’s important to have a good company culture and to support each other.
An office isn’t just a place where you work, it’s also a place where you create, celebrate, and collaborate with others.
Employees need to feel valued and appreciated in an organization so that they will bring in their best work, be dedicated to the company and want to stay at the company long term.

Quote of the show

13:56 “70% of your learning is really based on experiential.”

Links

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-aurora/
Company Website: https://www.hilti.com/

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Sep 16, 2022

Solving Problems - Frontline Innovators - Episode # 093

Friday Sep 16, 2022

Sumair Dutta is the Vice President, Product Marketing at ServiceMax. He is an experienced product marketer and industry analyst. Sumair has deep familiarity with field service, workforce management, and frontline worker needs. Sumair joins the host Eugene Signorini to talk about the changing role of frontline workers.

Takeaways

The biggest problem facing the frontline workforce today is the disruption that new technology has brought. While some jobs can be automated frontline workers can be interacting with customers and spend less time on unnecessary paperwork.
A true test of automation is to see if it still works after taking some fields away from it, rather than just adding more work to it and hoping that it works out well.
The technicians and those on the frontline are the ones who represent your company to your customers, so you want to make sure they are fully capable and able to do any work they need to do in the field.
The people who take on the role of a field service technician or someone else working the frontlines are people who want to help solve problems that customers are having a get over any potential hurdles.
The work that frontline employees are doing is becoming more complex, requiring multiple steps for a single task to be completed.
Organizations are going to want to tap more into the customer success part of the frontline workforce. Companies will be able to use that as a source of revenue and lead generation for themselves.
It’s important to understand the needs of technicians and frontline workers and see where any of the pain points are and try to solve that for them.

Quote of the show:

12:22 “The folks who take on these jobs are inherently folks who want to solve problems.”

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumairdutta/
Company Website: https://www.servicemax.com/

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://youtu.be/f-swOhgPqcg

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Sep 09, 2022

Designing for Membership - Frontline Innovators - Episode # 092

Friday Sep 09, 2022

Today’s guest has a passion for people and is all about empowering employees. Christopher Shryock is the Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer from Sam’s Club. He sees the heavy weight that is being put on frontline employees and wants to make their lives easier and their work more efficient. Christopher joins the host Justin Lake to talk about the role technology plays with frontline employees.

Takeaways:

The current rate of inflation has become one of the biggest problems for frontline workers. It creates an issue for them to make enough money to provide for their families.
When it comes to communicating with frontline workers, sometimes the best ways to reach them are the “old school” methods rather than through email or app notifications.
When you are creating a process for frontline workers, you want to make sure that the process is simple and designed with their needs and wants in mind.
When you are designing a flywheel for your company, you want the main point to be that your company is obsessed with membership. If you have the right people in the right places, that can lead to an increase in profits for your company.
You want to make sure that your employees have access to the right tools that they need to get the job done in the most efficient way, and that could be a handheld device.
You can simplify the work life for frontline employees by not having them do everything, but allowing for some automation to make their life easier.
At the end of the day, if you have someone at the company who doesn’t meet the standard then that will bring down everyone else.

Quote of the show

17:51 “We made sure that associates had access to the right tools. So that is access to the right handheld devices.”

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-shryock-b322743/
Company Website: https://www.samsclub.com/

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://youtu.be/0L5AXFYG_1E

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Sep 02, 2022

Using Technology to Your Advantage - Frontline Innovators - Episode # 091

Friday Sep 02, 2022

Today’s guest is Daniel Angelo, The Director of Technical Services of North America and the Global Product Manager of Services for Bosch Automotive Aftermarket. Daniel joins the host Justin Lake to talk about the problems that are facing the automotive industry and frontline workers as a whole.

Takeaways

One of the problems facing frontline workers today is that there is a constant influx of more complex data and big volumes of information.
In the automotive industry, it is hard to find people who are ready to work with their hands and work on a more technical level.
Most modern electric cars actually have more technology in them than the standard commercial airplane.
You can use the latest technology to help make diagnosing car issues easier. For example, you can use VR to draw lines around what might need to be fixed so the mechanic can look at the same headset and see what needs to be done.
It’s ok to fail when you try something new, but you don’t want to fail at the same thing twice. You want to learn from your previous mistakes.
There are a lot of different models for electric cars like Teslas but now a lot of brands will use similar software and hardware so they end up using the same pieces for repair.
If you are a leader at an organization, it’s ok to admit that you might need help from other people in the organization to make sure that everyone is properly trained and ready to work.

Quote of the show

31: 26 “We accept failures, but we have to learn from them.”

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-angelo-03b79523/?locale=en_US
Company Website: https://www.bosch.us/

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://youtu.be/BMin-SP7ktY

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Aug 26, 2022

Being the Bridge - Frontline Innovators - Episode # 090

Friday Aug 26, 2022

Today’s guest has over 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. She has held roles ranging from field engineer to change management professional. Akanksha Mathur is the Director of Business Operations at Wallbox Chargers. Akanksha joins the host Justin Lake to talk about some of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers today.

Takeaways

The biggest challenge facing the frontline workers today is the lack of understanding from the corporate side. Often time they are given new technology to use and even those in corporate don’t fully understand how to use it and how it will affect them.
When it comes to training frontline employees on new technologies, it’s not about what’s in it for them today but it can also help advance them in their careers.
It is your responsibility to be the “bridge” between the IT experts and the workers in the field. You need to make sure that they understand each other and are supporting each other.
When it comes to solving issues within your team, take the time to scope out the priorities are, and the key issues and understand the end-to-end process.
You can connect new users of your system to existing users and have them talk over a virtual conversation about what they like about the system and what they don’t.
When talking with your end users, you want to find out what the pain points are for them and solve those and fill in any gaps you encounter along the way.
Let the frontline workers get used to a system by going in and seeing how it works. That way they can familiarize themselves with it and also find out where they might get stuck.

Quote of the show

14:11 “Be the bridge between and the translator between the IT experts and those working in the field.”

Links

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akanksha-mathur-34856310/
Company Website: https://wallbox.com/en_us/

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://youtu.be/P2n2qw0n4uY

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Aug 19, 2022

Driving Change Forward - Frontline Innovators - Episode # 089

Friday Aug 19, 2022

Today’s guest is a computer science graduate, but she quickly discovered that it wasn’t the technology that got her pumped about her job but how people use that technology to make their work and personal lives easier and more creative. Debbie Jackson is the Director of Learning and Development at Ciena. Debbie joins host Justin Lake to talk about how the advancement in technology can help to make the lives of frontline workers easier and better.

Takeaways

The biggest challenge facing frontline workers today is the issue of fatigue. In the last few years, frontline workers have gone through a lot of changes in guidelines and rules.
A lot of frontline workers haven’t been given the luxury of time and during the pandemic, they were putting their lives on the line to show up to work.
Learning needs to be about enabling individuals to do something in a better fashion. Learning should not be treated like a checkbox item.
It’s important to enable frontline workers so that they can be successful. A mentorship is a good idea as people want to connect with others at a new company but don’t know how.
Many projects look at just the start date and the go-live date but there’s more that goes on in between those phases that needs equal attention.
You want to have communication between different departments at a company in order to make everything run smoothly.
Implementation teams should not disappear after a product or service has gone live. They can still be of use by providing a helpful service to fix any issues with the product.

Quote of the show

2:54 “So when I look at our frontline workers, I have to wonder how much fatigue are they carrying? It's that emotional, physiological, mental fatigue of the change, the weight that they've been carrying while showing up every day to do their job.”

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debleejackson/
Company Website: https://www.ciena.com/

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRpEOGnt14c&ab_channel=FrontlineInnovators

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Aug 12, 2022

Skill vs Will - Frontline Innovators - Episode # 088

Friday Aug 12, 2022

Today’s guest has over 20 years of experience with retail L&D and HR. Stephen Vellecca is the Director of Learning and Development at Bloomingdale’s. He sees some of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers in this day and age and wants to make their lives easier. Stephen joins host Justin Lake to talk about how technology adoption can be one of the ways to help them out.

Takeaways

Being a frontline worker right now has become more difficult because of how demanding of a society we have become.
A lot of retail stores closed during the pandemic because they weren’t able to adapt to some of the changes.
Frontline workers don’t have the time and ability to be trained during work hours and then they don’t have the time to be trained during off hours.
You want to leverage your team leaders and people in higher positions to inspire frontline workers to accept change.
eLearning is a great resource that can help people to learn from an interactive service, but the struggle is finding out how to bring it to life.
The role of the people leader is to be more empathetic and to make sure that the team feels safe and can do their work.
Skill vs Will is the ability to do a task but also want to complete the task to its full ability.

Quote of the show

13:55 “My whole platform is always about the people leader and how do we leverage our people leaders to provide the inspiration and the education to the hourly colleague.”

Links

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvellecca/
Company Website: https://www.bloomingdales.com/
Company LinkedIn:

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://youtu.be/KI5aTJGVvkM

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Friday Aug 05, 2022

Avoiding Resource Depletion - Frontline Innovators - Episode # 087

Friday Aug 05, 2022

Today’s guest uses his experience with his psychology background to help frontline employees make it through a successful change program. Matt Pita is the Manager, Enterprise Change Management at one of the largest communications companies. Matt joins host Justin Lake to talk about ways to properly introduce change to those on the frontline.

Takeaways

The biggest challenge that frontline workers face is that they are experiencing a lot of change and have little to no input on what the change actually will be.
The reason why change happens is so crucial. Change should start from the bottom and work its way up with it making sense along the way.
Stressors tend to come up for people when there isn’t a clear plan in place. The best way to avoid stress for employees is to lay out a clear path of change.
Put yourself in the frontline workers shoes. You should think about the everyday parts of their job and try to find ways to make their lives easier.
Synchronous training is like calling a timeout on your team. It helps to sit down and talk through objectives and goals for change.
It’s the job of those working in change management to identify if there are any holes in a change process and to fill them.
You want to inform frontline employees ahead of time for any change that is coming down the road. This will allow them to best prepare for what is coming down the road.

Quote of the show

1:00 “[There’s] largely too much change all at once with no input on what the change would be. I would say that’s number one.”

Links

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpita/detail/recent-activity/
Company Website: https://www.cox.com/residential/home.html

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS
Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS
Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators
Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw
YouTube - https://youtu.be/Lg53tWei304

Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/