Frontline Possibilities

Report/Research

Frontline Possibilities

June 7, 2023

At a Glance

In today’s economic landscape, it’s crucial for business leaders to understand and address the needs, aspirations, and capabilities of their frontline workers. By doing so, they gain a multitude of benefits that create new career opportunities for their employees and strengthen their organizations’ bottom lines.

In this three-part series, Frontline Possibilities, JFF explores how and why understanding the needs, aspirations, and potential of frontline workers can transform your business.

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Contributors

Cat Ward Vice President

Tameshia Bridges Mansfield Vice President

Michael Collins Vice President

Practices & Centers

The Journey to Inclusive Career Mobility Begins on the Front Line

Frontline workers bring powerful experience, know-how, and skills to bear on critical functions within nearly every business and the most critical sectors of our economy. Their insights and up-close understanding of customers, products, and services fuel transformation and innovation.

Yet, too often, our understanding of the experiences and perspectives of frontline workers is limited. Not only is that harmful to the economic mobility of workers, it undermines our broader economic success—and competitiveness.

Business leaders who understand and value the frontline workforce unlock a wealth of benefits.

In this three-part series, Frontline Possibilities, Jobs for the Future (JFF) explores how and why understanding the needs, aspirations, and potential of frontline workers can transform your business.

Invest in Frontline Agency to Drive Business Resilience

The first report, “Invest in Frontline Agency to Drive Business Resilience,” explains how businesses and employees benefit when employers build connections and feedback loops with frontline workers and take action driven by their input.

Skills-First—But Not Skills Only

The second report, “Skills-First—But Not Skills Only,” explains why skills are just one part of the worker advancement equation and how companies should take a “skills and” approach to employee engagement, training, and advancement.

Creating Equitable Access to Education as a Benefit

The third report, “Creating Equitable Access to Education as a Benefit,” explains why companies must expand and promote access to educational benefits for Black workers in frontline jobs in order to help break down occupational segregation and build pathways to economic advancement.

To be an employer of choice, you must understand your talent. By embracing the insights and advice in these reports and acting on the recommendations, you’ll engage the full potential of your workforce and give your company a new competitive edge in the marketplace.

Building with people—not just for them—takes thoughtfulness, effort, and even vulnerability—but when you commit to it, the benefits are exponential.

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About the Project

Our work on the Frontline Possibilities initiative was made possible by generous support from Guild.

About Guild

Guild was founded in 2015 with one simple belief: when opportunity is as evenly distributed as talent, everyone benefits. Individuals rise, companies grow, and our economy thrives.

We saw a country where millions of working adults were stuck in jobs without clear pathways to growth while thousands of employers were struggling to find employees with the skills to fill their open roles.

So, we built a bridge between education and employment: the Guild Career Opportunity Platform™. With it, we help millions of Americans gain the skills and support they need to grow in their careers.

As a public benefit corporation, we align the needs of companies, learning partners, and employees through a business model where we do well by doing good.