How to Retain Frontline Workers: A Story of Reaching Out and Listening

In 2018, a regional grocery chain was grappling with a challenge that is all too familiar to many companies: high turnover among its frontline workers. Exit interviews revealed frustration, feelings of isolation, and exhaustion. But what stood out wasn’t just the complaints—it was how rarely those concerns had ever been voiced before someone walked out the door. No feedback, despite management’s efforts. No real listening. No active follow-up. 

That grocery chain did something different. They piloted a mobile survey and communication tool that gave every cashier, stocker, and delivery person a voice—straight from their phones, no logins or apps required. Within months, they uncovered simple fixes that drastically improved employee morale: brighter lighting in a storeroom, more predictable scheduling, and managers who checked in more frequently.

It didn’t take a massive budget. Just a mindset shift.

And this is where our story begins.

The Overlooked Engine of the Economy

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 55% of the American workforce are frontline employees—people in roles such as retail, hospitality, healthcare, food service, and manufacturing. Despite powering essential services, frontline workers are often the least engaged, least supported, and most likely to quit.

A 2022 Gallup study found that only 21% of frontline workers feel engaged at work. And disengagement is expensive: replacing a single frontline employee can cost 20% to 30% of their annual salary in turnover-related expenses.

This labor group also faces the brunt of unpredictable schedules, limited upward mobility, and low investment in professional development. And yet, their day-to-day work directly affects customer satisfaction, safety, and a company’s bottom line.

When organizations ignore the needs and aspirations of frontline employees, they risk not just high turnover, but a demoralized workforce with ripple effects across every aspect of operations.

Why Current Communication Methods Fall Short

Despite good intentions, most companies still rely on outdated or ineffective communication channels for reaching frontline employees. Here are some common methods—and why they don’t work:

1. Bulletin Boards and Posters: While these are easy to implement, they are often outdated by the time employees read them. Frontline workers are busy and constantly on the move, and bulletin boards fail to capture their attention or invite interaction.
2. Email Communication: Many frontline employees do not have a company email address or regular access to a computer during their shifts. Even when they do, email isn’t an immediate or engaging channel for most hourly workers.
3. Team Huddles and Pre-Shift Meetings: These are valuable for quick updates, but they often rely on supervisors to communicate clearly and consistently—and they leave no record for those who miss the meeting or need to revisit the message.
4. Mobile Apps: While apps are more modern, many employees resist downloading another app on their personal phones, especially if it requires a login or consumes data. Apps also often suffer from low adoption and usage over time.
5. Top-Down Announcements: This creates a bottleneck and relies too heavily on managers and supervisors, many of whom are often overwhelmed or inconsistent in relaying messages. It also doesn't enable two-way communication or feedback loops.

These communication gaps result in disengaged employees who feel uninformed, undervalued, and unheard.

That’s why tools like Trivvy—which require no downloads, logins, or tech barriers—are redefining what frontline communication can look like.

Six Common Mistakes Leaders Make (and How Trivvy Helps)

In their Harvard Business Review article, Joseph Fuller and Manjari Raman identify six common ways companies mismanage low-wage workers:

• They don't understand the full cost of high turnover.
• They fail to define clear career paths.
• They underinvest in manager development.
• They overlook the importance of schedule predictability.
• They rarely seek direct input from frontline workers.
• They use outdated tools and systems that frustrate rather than empower.

These mistakes are often interconnected. A manager who hasn’t been trained to support career development, also might not recognize the value of collecting regular feedback. And when communication tools are clunky or inaccessible, gathering input from frontline employees becomes near impossible.

This is where a platform like Trivvy makes all the difference.

Trivvy helps employers:

• Use AI-generated surveys to quickly gather real-time employee feedback
• Send surveys via SMS text, so employees don’t need links or logins
• Get automatically-generated employee sentiment analysis and key findings 
• Get instant follow-up recommendations to act quickly and visibly

It lowers the barriers to communication and raises the bar on responsiveness—empowering supervisors with insights they can act on immediately and consistently.

Storytelling from the Floor: Meet Rosa, Kevin, and Tanya

Rosa, a housekeeping supervisor at a hospital, used to struggle with a rotating crew. New hires often left within the first month, citing lack of support or burnout. Using Trivvy, she runs weekly pulse surveys asking, "What’s one thing that would make your shift easier this week?" She gets   immediate insights: better access to clean linens and snacks available during night shifts. She has also discovered that new staff often feel uncomfortable asking for help. So she has introduced a peer buddy system, based on the recommendations, which has led to a turnover drop of about  40% in her department within three months.

Kevin, a warehouse line lead, was initially skeptical. He'd filled out surveys before but never saw change. But when a Trivvy survey revealed widespread frustration with overlapping shifts, unclear handoffs, and rushed safety training, leadership took action. Within a week, scheduling was restructured and a new digital checklist was introduced. Within a quarter, workplace incidents dropped, and Kevin’s team reported a 20% rise in satisfaction on follow-up surveys.

Tanya, a quick-service restaurant manager, used Trivvy in the onboarding process to discover that her new hires didn’t understand their career advancement options. Her staff didn’t know how to qualify for raises or take on new responsibilities. With these insights, she started hosting monthly “pathway chats.” Each session spotlighted a different role, the steps to get there, and stories from employees who made it. Her team didn’t just stay longer—they brought in friends. Employee referrals went up 30% over six months.

These stories aren’t outliers. They’re reminders that when frontline workers feel heard and valued—they stay. And they thrive.

Why Surveys and Feedback Matter

When you give employees the opportunity to share honest feedback—and you act on it—you create a circle of trust and transparency. Research shows that organizations that prioritize regular feedback see 14.9% lower turnover rates compared to those that don’t.

Here are some additional insights:

• Companies that communicate effectively are 4.5x more likely to retain top talent
• 74% of employees say they are more effective when they feel heard

Feedback is more than a feel-good activity—it’s a business-critical one. When employees are asked for input but nothing changes, it creates cynicism. When their input leads to visible change, it builds credibility and trust.

Companies using Trivvy report that employees begin engaging more not only with surveys, but also with their supervisors and peers—creating a ripple effect across the culture.

What Makes Frontline Feedback Different

Frontline workers face unique challenges in communication. Unlike office workers, they may not have access to work email, Slack, or internal HR systems. Many use shared devices—or none at all. Their schedules are packed, their breaks are short.

That’s why tools like Trivvy, which deliver short, engaging, and mobile-first surveys, messages, announcements and other communications via SMS texts, are essential. Workers don’t need to download an app, remember a login, or wait until they’re off the clock. Trivvy meets them where they are.

Even more importantly, Trivvy doesn’t just collect feedback. It uses AI to identify trends, synthesize employee sentiment, and offer recommended next steps tailored to your organization. Supervisors don’t have to guess what to do—they’re guided through action.

With its simplicity and instant value, Trivvy has become a tool that employees trust and leaders rely on for better outcomes.

The ROI of Listening

According to Gallup, companies that implement effective employee feedback programs:

• Improve productivity by 12% to 17%
• Reduce absenteeism by 41%
• Experience 59% lower turnover in high-retention risk jobs

Beyond retention, surveys drive clarity. Employees understand what’s expected of them. Leaders identify hidden pain points before they become crises. And the organization becomes more agile in responding to frontline realities.

Trivvy turns survey data into clear, immediate actions—helping organizations move from reactive to proactive management. This is how trust is built.

It’s Not About Perks. It’s About Purpose.

Retention isn’t solved with pizza parties, swag bags, or the occasional raffle. It’s built on a foundation of trust, clarity, and connection. When frontline employees believe their employer values them—not just as labor or assets, but as people—they bring more energy and loyalty to their roles.

Trivvy makes that foundation stronger by giving every frontline worker a voice—and ensuring that voice leads to tangible change. When feedback leads to new break policies, better lighting, fairer schedules, or clearer advancement paths, it sends a powerful message: “We hear you. And we care.”

When you ask people what they need, listen to what they say, and respond quickly, you build workplaces that people don’t want to leave.

Because the opposite of turnover isn’t retention. It’s loyalty born of a strong feeling of connection with the organization’s mission and values.

For more discussion on this topic see our Linkedin post here.

For more News, Tips and Tricks, see here.

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Trivvy is a text-based survey and communications tool (no links or logins required). Trivvy goes beyond results; it provides instant follow-up recommendations tailored to your organization. To find out more and try Trivvy for free, click here. 

You can also check out this one-minute Trivvy video.

Image: Blue Collar (film, 1978) with Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto

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