Frontline Innovators

Bob Mosher is the CEO/Chief Learning Evangelist at APPLY Synergies. He helps learning organizations, design, develop and measure effective learning. He is also a columnist for Chief Learning Officer Magazine. Bob joins host Eugene Signorini to talk about the rapid rate of change and other challenges that deskless workers are facing. 
 
 
Takeaways: 
The rapid rate of change is one the biggest challenges facing frontline workers today. The day of learning having a shelf life is in the past. 
Covid really brought out the elephant in the room, especially in terms of L&D about how training and learning hasn’t been taught or kept up with in the best manner.
In L&D, there is a process of apply, change and solve. You apply a new solution to a problem, change it if that doesn’t work and try to solve the issue for deskless workers.
When you are going to introduce change, you want to make sure the methodology of the message makes sense and it reaches home to the frontline employees.
Failure isn’t critical. Letting know that failure isn’t the absolute worst outcome is something that can ease the burden on workers. 
You want to enable frontline workers to be self confident and have self efficacy, so you need to train them on those so they don’t fall into the negative or between the cracks.
Onboarding a new employee shouldn’t be more than 15 - 30 days because they won’t be able to retain all the information.
Quote of the show
 
2:43 “I think what [covid] has done for us is show us things that we've gotta be more attentive to in this space. And change has been a constant for too long. I think it's fallen on the shoulders of the frontline workers who’ve done their best, often in spite of our efforts frankly, to keep up and perform effectively.” 
Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmosher/
Company Website: https://www.applysynergies.com/
Blog: www.5momentsofneed.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/f0WSSo7EP_k 
 
Frontline Innovators is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

Jonathan Maldonado is the Learning and Development Manager at PGA TOUR Superstore. He has a vast experience with deskless workers with his experience from Cingular. Jonathan was a former frontline employee himself and he is passionate about making sure they have everything they need to succeed. Jonathan joins host Justin Lake to talk about some of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers and how we can overcome them. 
 
Takeaways 
The biggest challenge facing frontline workers today is trying to increase engagement and adoption when it comes to learning materials.
Learning and Development is an investment as it costs time and money to train someone properly. 
Change can vary from being a daily experience to being something that doesn’t happen often, but either way you want to prepare employees for.
You have to look at the gaps and see if you can get people over to a new system and change their behaviors around it.
There needs to be an appropriate amount of time to get change to go out and make sure it rolled out properly.
Take the pressure off of retail by partnering with the department heads so that they can help plan out a proper lay out for any change coming down the line.
Getting boots on the ground is a great method to help upper level managers understand what is really going on and see where they need to help out.
 
Quote of the show
3:19 “When it comes to learning and development and training, there's an investment. That time costs money, the money it takes to develop content as well as the money and time that it takes for people to absorb that particular content.”
Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-maldonado-475536110/
Company Website: https://www.pgatoursuperstore.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/HLOx5Lbbvg0

Matthew Candito is the Vice President of Training & Operations Services at One Table Restaurant Brands. Matthew moved out to LA in 2004 and worked in many different positions within the restaurant space, eventually finding his passion for the restaurant industry and working with people. Matthew joins host Justin Lake to talk about some of the challenges facing frontline workers and how we can overcome them. 
 
 
Takeaways 
One of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers is that the corporate side doesn’t fully understand the aptitude level of deskless workers in terms of technology.
You have to be as efficient as possible to deploy training and to get people up to speed to produce the desired outcome.
A lot of restaurant organizations don’t invest the proper funds into training and give it the proper due.
When bringing on a different management system, most people can adapt really well to using it like an app on their phones.
A modular viewpoint for training can be very useful. Using a video system to train people allows them to see the training in action.
Giving people the tools they need to succeed and have it in one place is a great solution. You can have all the information on one ipad and train everyone on how to use it.
The rising cost of labor across the nation has forced restaurants to be more careful where they spend their money, and that comes at the cost of technology.
Quote of the show
 
0:59 “One of the biggest challenges facing dustless workers right now is the corporate side of the business typically does not understand the aptitude level of a lot of its team members as it relates to technology.”
 
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-candito-a598b75a/
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/xQWkkIZaTJw

Phoenix Cavalier is the Senior Program Manager, Learning and Development Technology at T-Mobile. He has over 20 years of experience in learning and development. He wants to create strategic harmony between people, systems and tech. Phoenix joins host Justin Lake to talk about how the lack of speed of information is something that negatively impacts deskless workers and how we can use other tools to empower them. 
 
 
Takeaways :
The biggest challenge facing deskless workers is trying to reach them and get them information at the same speed as they get it outside of work.
It’s a matter of will to optimize frontline tools in the same way that everyone gets to use devices outside of work. We should expect the same performance and speed for devices for personal use and deskless workers. 
You want to make sure that all the tools given to frontline workers are intuitive and make it so that they don’t want to quit to avoid using the technology. 
Frontline workers are often underappreciated and undervalued at a company, it’s better to show your appreciation and keep people around rather than constantly hiring new people.
Deskless workers are the face of your brand and they are the ones that are the most client facing, so you want them to be a contributor to the business and keep them on.
Training is observable, measurable, coachable and it has a clear metric for success. It is something that is a linear event that can be completed and demonstrated. 
Google will be faster than any of the training or having a frontline employee go through multiple different links to get an answer. 
Quote of the show
 
2:15 “How are we helping people in frontline if it takes longer than it does in real life, so to speak outside of work. So I think that's the challenge. It cannot be this slow.” 
Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoenixcavalier/
Company Website: https://www.t-mobile.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/nnKAEtNN-NI 

Tony Fatouros is the Director of IT - OCM and Change Enablement at Mattel. He is passionate about helping organizations adopt digital technologies to achieve benefits faster. Tony joins host Justin Lake to talk about the significant challenges that frontline workers are facing and how we can overcome them. 
 
 
Takeaways 
The biggest challenge facing the deskless workforce today is the capacity of change. Not only do they have more on their plate, but guidelines are constantly changing.
The men and women on the frontline don’t have the same luxury as the workers who are working remotely, so their challenges are more unique.
You have to manage expectations for those experiencing change, they need to understand it is a long process.
Set goals along the way during the change process, so that there are measurables that can be used to determine the success of change,
Help people to understand what they are really accountable for. This will help them understand what they need to do on their end.
It’s important to have continuity in the experience of change. If you keep the message and the tone consistent, people will be more likely to absorb it.
Providing updates throughout the process takes away the uncertainty of the change. Being transparent will allow them to trust you and be more willing to accept the change.
Quote of the show
 
24:05 ​​”We're bringing you up to date throughout the process, this is our current plan. We'll provide you with updates. So what we're actually doing is kind of peeling off some of the uncertainty, which actually does create some of that capacity for people.”
 
Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tfatouros/
Company Website: https://corporate.mattel.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/YrDSzTg6K54

Erica Keener is the Learning Performance Designer for Skyllful. She sees how important communication is and how to change a “us vs them” mentality to a team oriented one. Originally, Erica was in the clinical medicine industry but switched over to an administrative side and found that she really loved onboarding employees and teaching others to be excited about their work. Eric joins host Justin Lake to talk about some of the challenges facing frontline workers and how we can empower them.
 
 
Takeaways 
The biggest challenge facing deskless workers today is balancing the need for autonomy with a potential lack of communication.
Frontline workers have to be able to make decisions without a lot of guidance and that causes a rift between frontline workers and those in the office. 
Learning and development helps employees to understand their goals and find the best and most efficient ways to achieve them.
When managing a project, you want to mitigate risks as that will bring a better result and yield a hiring return.
Lack of communication and accountability are big factors when trying to implement new technology for deskless workers. 
You need to have a unified concept and message at all levels when trying to implement change or new technology. If they are all different messages or concepts it gets muddied and makes it confusing. 
It’s easier to abandon the change and what it’s supposed to be rather than unifying the team, but that doesn’t make it right. It’s better to do the harder right and get everyone on the same page than the easier wrong.
Quote of the show
 
31:26 “Essential workers need essential leaders.”
Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica123/
Company Website: https://www.skyllful.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/fOAifdeyoOo

Danyele Harris-Thompson is the Change & Transformation Senior Manager at Kao Corporation. She sees how overloaded deskless workers are and aims to fix that, as well as some of the other issues that plague frontline employees. Danyele joins host Justin Lake to talk about how new technology and change management tools can help to serve those deskless employees.
 
 
Takeaways 
The biggest challenge facing frontline workers today is that they are cognitively overloaded. That overload makes things more complicated in various different ways. 
Most projects across an organization require employees to change for it to be successful, and sometimes they can be hesitant to change.
If a change process fails, then you have to rebuild trust and that is difficult. You want to make sure that change is smooth and doesn’t hit roadblocks.
The people side of change is one of the most difficult things but is important to making change successful.
As an internal employee, you are more connected to the work going on at the organization which allows you to measure the success of a project.
An internal survey about change management is a good way to see how employees feel about changes and how to improve the process.
If you don’t have the resources to do a project, then you are setting up the organization, and all those involved with the project, to fail. 
Quote of the show
5:01 “If people don't use this tool, if they are not understanding what this tool is about or this new process change, all the costs that we're putting into this, financial, people's time, people's attention, it's all for not, what's the point?” 
Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dharristhompson/
Company Website: https://www.kao.com/americas/en/
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/SpUc0eETHJs

Ed Kless is the Senior Director of Sage Accountants Solutions. Ed is also the host of the Sage Advice podcast, and the talk show co-host for the VoiceAmerica Talk Radio. He joins host Justin Lake to sit down and talk about some of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers and how to overcome these issues.
 
 
Takeaways 
Bringing their humanity is one of the biggest challenges for frontline workers. They have many different tasks throughout the day and they are measured by the quality of their work, not the quality of their work.
When you are documenting a workflow, don’t make changes while documenting it because you could mess up the process.
Automation isn’t something to be feared and it won’t take your job away. The whole point is that it makes your job easier and more efficient, freeing you up to focus on other tasks.
If someone is asking you how to do something over and over again, it is because they don’t want to do the task. 
People can’t be trained, they can be educated. Training can have a negative connotation with it and educating relies on drawing out the knowledge that people already have.
The system of technology should support the people, not people supporting the system.
“How” based questions are oftentimes a roadblock to change, whether it’s done consciously or unconsciously.
Quote of the show
6:13 “My brief definition of understanding knowledge workers is that knowledge workers, instead of having to bring their coffee to the office, can bring their office to the coffee.”
Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edkless/
Company Website: https://www.sage.com/en-us/
VoiceAmerica: ​​https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/
Blog: https://www.edkless.com/blog/2021/3/on-empathy-vs-compassion
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Answer-How-Yes-Acting-Matters/dp/1576752712
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/m4sjwvMRMfA

Casi Morris is the Change Enablement Lead at MTX Group. She notices that not only is the speed of change an issue for deskless workers, but also the changing priorities that come with the breakneck speed of change. Casi joins host Justin Lake to talk about some of the biggest challenges facing deskless workers today. 
 
Takeaways 
The shifting priorities are one of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers today. With so much going on, they aren’t sure what they should really focus on.
Sometimes you have to give up a certain amount of productivity to help move change along so it is a smooth experience.
There’s been so much change within the last couple of years that people aren’t as excited or enthusiastic about change, even when it’s incredibly beneficial.
Finding out what the change brings for the person delivering change and those receiving it will help to resonate with everyone on each level.
You want people to understand that the change is what is best for the company, which can be difficult to do so timing is important. 
When it comes to incentivizing employees, focus on the less tangible benefits such as saving them time on their day. 
Communication is important when it comes to incorporating change. You want to cause the least amount of disruption of their daily job and be crystal clear about what they can expect.
 
Quote of the show
10:27 “You got to give people snacks on a go live day.”
 
Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casimorris/
Company Website: https://www.mtxb2b.com/s/
 
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/B0JPUvX-URY

Tiffany Caswell is the Change Management Specialist Commercial Data & Analytics at Alcon. She’s also a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and a prosci certified change practitioner. Tiffany joins host Justin Lake to talk about change management and how we can better support frontline workers. 
 
 
Takeaways 
 
Understanding the true problem that frontline workers face and getting to the root of the problem are the biggest challenges facing deskless workers today.
You want to make sure that everyone is getting the same level of training so that everyone is on the same page.
Not all technology is intuitive, so it can’t be treated as if it is easy for everyone to understand as everyone has a different background.
One of the biggest pieces of communication is making sure that everyone clearly understands what is happening. You can never communicate too many times. 
When it comes to change, you want to start small and work your way up to bigger change. 
Practice changes internally and making sure that everyone understands it before they bring it to the customers or end users. 
It’s normal for people to be hesitant to change. That’s why it’s important to make sure that the change process is smooth so they remember that and not a bad process that didn’t work.
Quote of the show
 
16:42 “Sometimes something that seems so easy and so intuitive may or may not in fact be. So we always try to, whether it's myself or someone directly going to be impacted by the change, to go in and kind of play with it… and I think that's a really important thing to always do.”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-caswell-377404104/
Company Website: https://www.alcon.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/6o8Pb6getgk

Maria Fung is the Program Change Manager in the IT organization at W.L Gore & Associates. She knows how much strain is being put on the frontline workers not just in terms of workload, but also by how they are physically separated from everyone else at an organization. Maria joins host Justin Lake to talk about that and other challenges facing frontline workers. 
 
 
Takeaways 
 
The biggest challenge facing frontline workers is the physical distance between them and the associates in the office because of COVID restrictions.
Because of the distance between workers, it has created a ripple effect that creates a lack of trust and a lack of the sense of community amongst workers. 
You want to make sure the stakeholders are also engaged in the change, so mapping out the direction of change is a good idea. 
You have to wear the “lens of empathy” for different stakeholders and really understand where they are coming from in order to get them to buy into change.
Frontline workers have their own community and you need to be able to speak their language to get them to be interested in change.
You want to make a solid foundation for change and make the reason it is done very clear and how it affects them, so that everyone is on the same page.
To create a desire for change, you need to show frontline workers the future and the value of change. 
Quote of the show
 
15:37 “I had the chance to really see what change management actually means. And it really covers human centric solutions… how to really wear the lens of empathy for different stakeholders.”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-fung-4590a689/
Company Website: https://www.gore.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/z_9jknRZh-Q

Marquell Hunter is the Change Enablement Manager at Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. She sees how deskless workers aren’t represented largely enough in an organization when it comes to the planning phase and wants to make sure their voice is heard. She joins host Justin Lake to talk about some of the issues facing frontline workers and how they can be overcome.  
 
Takeaways 
 
The biggest issue facing frontline workers is representation in the organization. They don’t always get a seat at the table during the planning phase. 
Adoption is key. You want to make sure that when you introduce technology changes that you make it so that everyone will want to use it and make it easy to learn as well. 
Your employer is really the one who determines what the division is between communication and learning and development.
There are plenty of different types of frontline workers, and each of them face issues that are unique to their department and how you can reach them. 
The change network is the best tool to make sure that you are getting representation across business units or countries. 
You want to make sure that you aren’t surprising people when you begin to roll out new changes. 
Good change agents should model the behavior that they are looking to implement in an organization.
Quote of the show
 
6:13 “Adoption is key. We roll out something for a certain reason, to impact the bottom line, to improve morale, to improve the focus of the employee. And they don't adopt it. That's a key reason why I am focused on change management now, because I've seen from the technology aspect and from the communications aspect, we put a lot of thought and effort into things and they just don't hit. They don't resonate with anyone.”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marquell-hunter-01907758/
Company Website: https://www.stanleyblackanddecker.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/-QU-Mz6Xs5Q

Alvin Haygan is the Global IS Change Management Leader at the Lubrizol Corporation. He used to work at Wendy’s and from that job he saw what having change done to you feels like, and it inspired him to make sure that change is done with people rather than to them. Alvin joins host Justin Lake to talk about his experience in change management and how he wants to positively impact frontline workers. 
 
Takeaways 
 
Understanding what the frontline workers go through is one of the biggest challenges that they face today. 
You don’t want to change to be something that is done to you, but rather you want to be a part of the process. 
Prior preparation prevents poor performance. If you set up any changes in a company, you should do prep work ahead of time to make sure it will be successful. 
Change managers have a “social license to operate”, or an agreement that both sides understand they are going to work on the change together.
You want everyone to have bought in on the change. You have to have the perspective that it is positive and good for everyone and then people will pay more attention to it.
Change localization is where you focus on one particular area and the change that will be occurring with that area.
Change is about empowering people. If you are empowering people, you provide them with strategies and listen to what input they might have. 
Quote of the show
 
1:50 “You don’t want change to happen to you, you want it to happen with you.”
 
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvinhaygan/
Company Website: https://www.lubrizol.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/vIZIz_q5uTM

Kyle Spitzley is the OKR Coach and Change Management Professional at Amway. He has a wide span of experience within change management, using many many different mindsets to show how change can be effective. Kyle joins host Justin Lake to talk about some of the challenges that face frontline workers and how actions speak louder than words.
 
 
Takeaways 
 
The greatest challenge for frontline workers is that they are the least represented at moments of strategic planning.
Don’t build to the average means of everyone. Each employee has different needs and thoughts so change will look different to each person.
Gemba is Japanese for “Go see”, and it’s an important mindset when it comes to working with frontline workers. You want to spend time going and see how they do their job.
SCARF is a model of change that stands for - Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness
Actions speak louder than words. You want to be there with the frontline workers and go through the change with them, rather than doing change to them.
Customers have a choice to buy or work with your company. You treat that with care and cater to their needs. We need to do that with frontline workers as well.
Have empathy for those on the frontline. They are the ones dealing with customers and trying to solve problems while out in the field.
Quote of the show
 
1:05 “I think the challenge is how do we make sure the voice of the frontline worker is not only heard, but is valued, is listened to and is incorporated into the strategic decision-making that goes on at a company”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylespitzley/
Company Website: https://www.amwayglobal.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/FF4ztgjcF2c

Elliott Woyshner is the Change Management Specialist at Hallmark Cards. He spent time as an officer in the Army, and uses the skills he learned from that career to help understand frontline workers and how to communicate about changes to them. Elliot joins host Justin Lake to talk about some of the issues facing frontline workers and how to help them overcome those roadblocks.
 
 
Takeaways 
 
A lot of organizations are going through the same type of digital transformation. A lot of the changes come down to how those on the frontline are feeling with the change or adding extra steps.
Getting employees to accept change is a routine process. You need to check in with them and make sure they are comfortable with everything going on.
You need to build a space for employees to engage with the change in their way and at their own pace. 
If you are adaptable and flexible during times of change, then you are more likely to think ahead on the outcomes of a project. 
Consider who you are talking to and how you will talk to them. Your audience is important and understanding them is key to having change be successful.
To build people’s capacity for change, you need to be clear and concise. If you explain clearly what the steps are and why they are involved they are more likely to be willing to accept the change. 
You need to address concerns early on when it comes to introducing change into a company. Feedback will help make a project better.
Quote of the show
 
5:13 ​​”Getting [employees] on board is not as simple as answering some questions during a standup. It is checking back in with them, it's this routine process and it has to be a routine process of making sure people are processing the change so they'll get on board with it a lot smoother.”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliott-woyshner-822a3a165/
Company Website: https://www.hallmark.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/ODqOmdl3U2g

Drey Taylor is the Director of Services at Acuity Brands. He used to be a frontline worker himself, riding in the bucket trucks. He uses his knowledge of his time as a deskless employee to be able to bring positive change that is much needed to those on the frontline. Drey joins host Justin Lake to talk about the biggest challenges facing frontline workers and how they can be overcome. 
 
 
Takeaways 
 
Being human is one of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers. It goes back to communication and explaining what is in your mind and what you understand to the customers.
Everything has become digital in the last decade. It’s important to keep up with these innovations and make sure they are properly adjusted.
The frontline workers don’t typically use email, while in a standard office setting emails are the primary form of communication. It’s important to meet the frontline workers on their means of communication.
The “genba” is where the real work is done. It refers to the places that frontline workers are typically found working in.
You want to make sure the reason why change is being implemented is clear. If the message isn’t clear, it won’t be a successful change.
As a leader, you have to listen more to those on the frontline. There is a feeling or a need that is being communicated back to you. 
We carry our emotions and experiences into a conversation, so we might misunderstand someone when they are talking with us. 
Quote of the show
 
4:09 “Technology is coming at us left and right. And it's changing the way that we interact with our workspace, with our customers, with our employees, with our boss, with the company at large.”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drey-taylor-9069b517/
Company Website: https://www.acuitybrands.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/emOjPfZedjA

Ciprian Porutiu is the Vice President, Operations & Delivery at Marsh McLennan. He believes the most important part of a company are the employees, and that feeds into his passion for change management. He joins host Eugene Signorini to talk about some of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers and how they can be solved. 
 
 
Takeaways 
 
The frontline workers are the ones bearing the weight of any change. They should be trained to be the experts in the change and given whatever tools they need.
It’s important to make sure that they are able to give feedback on what they are hearing from clients and others using the new technology.
You want to be agile when it comes to change management. To do this you want to deliver small values incrementally with a lot of feedback.
When trying to reach an objective, you need to set a plan to reach those objectives. Those plans need to be adopted by someone, and everyone needs to be on the same page.
Face to face interactions allow for more of an in depth understanding rather than on video calls or phone calls.
The most important asset of a company is its employees. The more you leverage the value of a company, the company gets put in a better position.
If you want to have frontline workers accept change, then they need to be part of the process of the change and have their voices heard.
Quote of the show
 
21:26 “The most important asset of a company are its employees. So the more you're able to leverage the value and the richness that every single employee has, the better position is the company in.”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciprianporutiu/
Company Website: https://www.marshmclennan.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/Bi_nhzpiOQo

Susan Evans is the Change Management Manager at Ecolab. She sees the rapid pace of change in technology and how that can present a challenge for frontline workers, and she wants to ease that burden on them. Susan joins host Justin Lake to talk about that and other issues that are plaguing frontline workers.
 
 
Takeaways 
 
The biggest challenge facing frontline workers today is that they are having to learn new tasks and processes while they are on the go.
When new technologies get rolled out it is easy to get wrapped up in deployment of the new technology but there are underlying process changes that need to take place at the same time.
Frontline workers need to help the sales team and customers adapt to technology changes and meet their needs.
Oftentimes deskless workers don’t get time to learn and develop in a way in a pace that works for them. They often have to learn it fast and that can be daunting.  
There needs to be a focus on frontline managers and help them coach the reps on integrating digital processes into their work days, so that they can understand the change as well.
Make sure that frontline workers know that it is ok to ask questions and ask for help. It can help make the process smoother and go better for the next change.
Use all the technology to your advantage. Now with virtual reality, you can use that and other tools to help support frontline workers.
Quote of the show
 
1:44 “Digital presents an additional layer of that learning. There's so much more that they have to learn faster. We are advancing faster everyday in our digital applications and how they need to integrate those into their processes. It's a lot of new content that they need to learn, but they're also changing their behaviors, how they interact with a customer, and in how they change their daily activities.”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-evans-b815301a/
Company Website: https://www.ecolab.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/l8zX3wF36xE 

Karan Froom is the Director, Business Transformation Organizational Change Management at The Clorox Company. After sitting through an orientation class at a banking job, she found a passion for teaching people. Karan sits down with host Justin Lake to talk about the issues facing frontline employees and how to overcome them.
 
 
Takeaways 
 
One of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers is the lack of human connection. With being out in the field and using video calling, they rarely get to interact with others from their office.
In change management, you want to take someone from a current state to a future state that is better for them.
Change can be painful if not done right. You want to invest in a good change management team so that they can make the change painless.
Look at change management through the lens of it being a funnel. You want to start broad at the top and narrow down until everything is clear at the end.
Let people know of the change that is coming down the road. Give them a road map of what the timeline for the changes will look like and people will understand.
Look at all levels of management and leadership when executing change. They are part of the people who need to be included in this as well and their support can go a long way.
There has to be a willingness to accept the change. Make sure that people are informed of what will happen and make sure they are ok with it.
Quote of the show
 
16:29  “I use the concepts that I like to think of as a funnel. So if you think about the top of the funnel being the broad concepts of the benefits of what the change is, and then as you go down the funnel, you get more specific…It's a process, I like to talk about change as being an art and a science.”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karanfroom/
Company Website: https://www.thecloroxcompany.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/gf86tn5h_q8

Trent Oelkers is the Organizational Change Management Lead at Carlisle Interconnect Technologies. He sees the gap in communication between deskless workers and those in management and aims to make that gap smaller. Trent joins host Justin Lake to talk about some of the challenges facing frontline workers and how to overcome them. 
 
 
Takeaways 
 
A big struggle is how to make remote workers feel connected to the rest of the rest of the company even though they aren’t in the office. 
It can be difficult to tell those on the frontline how to do their job better. To help this, you can form a better relationship with them and then they will trust you.
It’s important to try and increase the safety standards for frontline workers. They are the ones who work to keep the world moving and we need to take care of them.
Take into account all the aspects of the job for a person on the frontline and make sure you aren’t overloading them or making their job dangerous
There is technology that can be used to accurately track the work done by frontline workers rather than estimating the amount of work they do. 
Go beyond the physical barrier to meet the frontline workers. You need to meet them on their level. 
Having a positive culture and trust amongst employees and management is something that can make a company run better.
Quote of the show
 
21:10 “I think that sincerity and acknowledgement of their, you could call it a sacrifice, but at least of their work environment is very important. And so one thing I hope that at least we, as people who are spending less time away from our desks, we can acknowledge their sacrifice and try to hopefully drive safety as one of the major things.”
Links
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trentoelkers/
Company Website: https://www.carlisleit.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/Hdmg1t_sv3E