Compliance
Why Frontline Workplaces Still Rely on Paper—and What That’s Costing Us
Digital tools won’t change the frontline until they’re built for how the frontline actually works.
Frontline Supervisors Need More Empowerment
Companies need to lean on the unique vantage point of frontline supervisors before they make frontline operational decisions.
Jeff Fiala
Jun 11, 2025
We talk with frontline supervisors every day. Their role is complex and often overlooked. They’re expected to manage a revolving door of hourly employees—part-time, full-time, seasonal, and temp—while also reporting to offsite leadership that may not fully understand the realities of day-to-day operations.
They’re responsible for onboarding new workers quickly, making sure procedures are followed, keeping productivity on track, and responding to shifting priorities. At the same time, they’re fielding corporate initiatives and tools that they didn’t choose and often don’t match the needs of their teams.
Most, if not all, of the systems and software implemented in these workplaces are selected at the corporate level. They're built to support compliance, reporting, and top-line visibility. Few are designed with the daily work of supervisors in mind, even fewer with input from them. The result is a growing stack of disconnected systems, manual processes, and paperwork that slows down the very people responsible for keeping things moving.
Supervisors know they’re job security is more impacted by their managers than their teams. That often means their decisions prioritize what leadership wants to see rather than what employees need to succeed or even what they need to succeed. It's not about bad intentions. It’s a structural issue. And it's a major reason frontline turnover stays high.
Supervisors need tools that work for both sides of their job:
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Systems that frontline workers can access easily, that support efficient work without creating distractions
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Processes that lean on automation to avoid repeated manual work and to facilitate end-to-end task management
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Checklists, tasks, and follow-ups that aren't analog
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Visibility into what's happening, not just after-the-fact reporting
Without dedicated budgets or meaningful input into tool selection, they can’t build the kind of environment that drives engagement, performance, or retention.
If we want to improve the frontline experience, start by giving supervisors better support. They’re central to everything- hiring, training, productivity, safety- and yet they’re often left to figure it out on their own. Better tools won’t fix everything. But they’re a necessary step toward making frontline workplaces more manageable, more consistent, and more productive.