137 million people are employed by 6 frontline sectors in key countries in Southeast Asia - that's 46% of the total workforce in the region.
Frontline companies face unprecedented challenges in managing a growing workforce and meeting evolving customer expectations. While technology plays a vital role in streamlining operations and enhancing efficiency, human capabilities remain the cornerstone of success for these companies.
Challenges Faced by Frontline Companies
- High turnover rates, ranging from 24% to 48% annually, result in substantial costs for replacing and retraining employees in Southeast Asia.
- The average cost of a bad hire is estimated to be between 15% to 30% of that employee's annual salary. A mis-hire cost per frontline worker in the Philippines, ranges from P30,000 to P100,000.
- 66% of employers in the Philippines report that workers lack sufficient socio-emotional skills, highlighting a critical gap in the workforce.
- Frontline workers often experience poor confidence, mindsets, and motivation, impacting their communication, collaboration, and problem-solving abilities.
Build High-Trust Teams
"Like a Dragonboat, all members in the boat need to paddle at the same cadence."
Teams that are highly aligned, trust each other perform well because they can communicate with relevant stakeholders and solve problems on the ground - without pushing up problems to the next layer in the organization.
- How to make sure that my people and I are aligned, have the right information and communication flow?
- How do I allocate resources and attention when there are competing priorities from the headquarters, branches and functions?
Managers are Crucial
The effectiveness of leadership is the most powerful factor that builds high trust teams. Middle managers or branch managers are particularly important to engage.
It is well-researched that human capabilities such as growth mindset, self-awareness, relating, achieving (problem solving, critical thinking) have a strong correlation to leadership effectiveness and business performance.
Help employees find the motivation to deal with the change
One executive of a company recently told us that the problem isn’t the skill mismatch, it's a “motivational mismatch”. Some workers don’t seem to be motivated to learn and adapt. Ultimately, employers will have to tap into workers’ own motivation for training. Understanding what those motivational barriers and fears are important.
For example, a culture that allows honest communication will help organizations learn ways to remove these barriers. However, in these uncertain times, it is also important to tap into a bigger purpose of the organization and create a strong rallying cry and inspire action.
Keep learning initiatives agile and scale up when proven
Perfect is the enemy of good. Change doesn’t need to be overnight, but it can certainly start small like in a department or a team. For example, a reskilling plan can target a group of workers that are strategically important, and start on a small scale.
You can rely on support from senior levels of the organization, and less complex plans to demonstrate that it works. Even if the work culture is challenging, focusing on small success like this can fuel more change to happen.
The Future of Work is Human
"The danger is not machines becoming humans, but humans becoming machines".
In conclusion, human capabilities are not just desirable but essential for the success of today's fast-growing frontline companies.
By recognizing and investing in the development of these capabilities, companies can build a resilient and adaptable workforce capable of navigating the challenges of a constantly changing world.
This approach not only drives business growth but also empowers individuals and creates a positive ripple effect throughout organizations and communities.
CEO & Co-founder | Ashoka Fellow | Executive Coach, Leadership Circle® Certified Practitioner
