As the year winds down, HR and Learning and Development leaders are gearing up for performance reviews, strategy planning, and hopefully, employee appreciation. It may be National Gratitude Month, but the uncomfortable truth is that for most companies, “gratitude” never makes it past the desk. And frontline workers are usually the last to hear it.
That’s a huge miss.
Folks on the frontline represent 80 percent of the global workforce, but they’re overlooked when it comes to communication and recognition. According to the 2025 Employee Communication Impact Study, only 10 percent of non-desk workers are satisfied with internal communication. Worse, 58 percent of employees thinking about quitting say poor communication plays a role.
If you want to get real about talent retention, performance, and culture, it’s time to shift your focus to the front lines.
The Problem: A Workforce Left Out
Most frontline workers aren’t sitting at laptops all day. They’re moving fast, working shifts, and making real-time decisions with real impact. And yet, they’re often the last to get updates, praise, or visibility from leadership. That’s what happens when communication depends on a top-down cascade and an already-burned-out middle manager.
It doesn’t just hurt morale. It hits your bottom line—through higher turnover, missed training, safety gaps, and customer experiences that fall flat.
The opportunity: connect where it counts
Performance reviews are fine, but they aren’t enough. Culture isn’t built in annual check-ins. It’s built in the everyday. And the companies that win? They’re embedding communication and gratitude into daily workflows—especially for the frontline.
Here’s how to make that happen.
1. Stop saving recognition for the holiday party
Gratitude isn’t seasonal. And if employees only hear they’re appreciated once a year, don’t be surprised when they stop caring.
Managers should recognize great work as it happens—and tie it to bigger company goals. It’s simple: when people see how their work connects to purpose, performance goes up. In fact, the Employee Communication Impact Study says 77 percent of employees who feel that alignment also say they’re engaged. Coincidence? Not likely.
Fix the middle manager bottleneck
Most frontline comms go through middle managers. The problem? Nearly a third of them are disengaged, too.
Give them the tools and training to stop being human firewalls and start being force multipliers. That means mobile-friendly platforms, plug-and-play huddle templates, and guidance on leading real two-way conversations, not just readouts from HQ. When managers show up better, so do their teams.
Design for real life, not desk life
Your frontline doesn’t live in email. They live on shop floors, in kitchens, on delivery routes. Communication has to meet them there.
Keep it short. Keep it mobile. Make it actionable. When employees get timely, clear updates—on their terms—you’ll see faster adoption, fewer misunderstandings, and a workforce that’s actually in the loop.
Close the feedback loop
Frontline employees are full of insights. But only 35 percent say their feedback is taken seriously during periods of change.
You can do better. Go beyond surveys. Make it easy for team leads to gather real-time input, then communicate to employees how you’re using it. “You said, we did” builds trust. It also reduces resistance the next time a change occurs.
Celebrate wins that aren’t in the C-suite
Success doesn’t just happen at HQ. Spotlight wins from the floor, the field, the frontline.
Create channels (in an employee app, for example, a gratitude “wall”) where anyone can recognize a peer. Whether it’s a customer compliment, a safety save, or a killer team effort, public praise goes a long way. Bonus: it doesn’t have to come from a manager. When everyone can contribute to the culture, you get more buy-in and less burnout.
Frontline focus impacts the bottom line – it’s not optional
Internal communication isn’t “nice to have.” It’s a must-have – and your frontline employees deserve to be at the forefront. If your frontline is disconnected, your whole business feels it.
Employees are paying attention. Gallup found that employees’ connection to the company’s purpose declined from 38 percent in 2021 to 30 percent in early 2024. That’s the lowest on record.
Let’s turn that around.
The end of the year is the perfect time to rethink what communication really means—and who it reaches. You don’t need a 200-slide comms strategy. You need action. Make it easier for frontline teams to access information, share feedback, and feel valued.
Because gratitude isn’t what you say in a memo. It’s what you build into the experience.
Start with your frontline. Start now.
