Beyond the desk: Designing communication for the realities of frontline work

For years, organizations have focused on reaching frontline employees because they play a critical role in performance and can be a powerful source of competitive advantage. Yet creating the clarity, confidence and connection they need to contribute at their best is not always easy. It requires communication that goes beyond sharing information, helping employees make informed decisions, adapt to change and do their jobs well.

Deskless and frontline employees comprise an estimated 70% to 80%1 of the global workforce, yet have limited access to traditional communication channels. Whether making products, caring for patients, serving customers or working in the field, they receive information differently. A message shared during a shift handoff, team huddle or site briefing may be shortened, misinterpreted or missed altogether. Whatever the setting, employees need to understand what is changing, why it matters and what to do.

Reach is only the beginning

In 2024, Forty1 explored the frontline communication gap in Deskless, Disconnected & Detached, examining why traditional corporate communications can miss the mark and why trust, listening, managers and storytelling matter. Two years later the challenge remains, but our thinking has evolved from why traditional communication can fail frontline employees to how organizations can design it around the realities of this type of work.

Organizations often measure communication success by what was distributed—an email sent, message posted, video published or town hall attendance. But distribution is not communication, nor is attendance understanding.

More channels do not always mean better communication. They can make it harder for employees to know what matters, where to find it and what to do next. Keep the essential message consistent while adapting delivery to how frontline employees work.

If reach is only the starting point, communication must be designed for action. The following five practical changes can help:

1. Build communication into handoffs

Use a consistent format for shift changes and team briefings. What changed? Why does it matter? What happens next? Give supervisors a way to capture and escalate questions so key information carries across shifts.

2. Create one trusted source of information at the point of need

Make information accessible where employees need it. Whether through a knowledge hub, kiosk, visual management board, printed guide or AI-powered search if accessible, employees should know where to find current information and when to act.

3. Match the channel to how the work happens.

On a manufacturing line, that might mean a visual board or supervisor huddle. In a hospital it could be a mobile update or team briefing. On a construction site, a toolbox talk or posted visual.

Put the action first and keep the essential message consistent while flexing the format.

4. Equip managers to make messages relevant

Managers are often employees’ most trusted sources of information. Provide talking points, question and answer documents, and examples connecting enterprise messages to daily work, plus a straightforward way to surface questions and clarify communication.

5. Measure understanding and behavior

Can employees explain the change, take the right action and adopt new ways of working? The measure that matters is whether communication helped people do their jobs better.

The real measure of engagement

Communication is not complete when a message is sent. It is complete when people can act on it.

AI and digital workplace technologies can make trusted information easier to find and use, but they do not solve the frontline communication challenge alone. Employees still need access, trust in the source and information they can apply to their work. When communication is designed around frontline work, employees are better equipped to contribute, adapt and perform, which strengthens their own effectiveness and the organization’s performance.

We’ll be exploring how organisations can better equip people to adapt, contribute and perform in a changing world of work during Human Advantage Week, 9–13 November. Register for the free online sessions.