Why HR Must Anchor Business Agility in Frontline Talent

Presented by

FROM COST CENTER TO CORE STRATEGY: WHY HR MUST ANCHOR BUSINESS AGILITY IN FRONTLINE TALENT

The situation in the manufacturing sector is concerning.

41% of frontline workers are considering quitting within the next 3 to 6 months.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) reports that 71% of manufacturers have difficulty attracting and retaining employees.

Attrition is scandalously high, especially in the first 90 days of employment, and in some sectors, it reaches three digits.

What are the causes of such instability? What we see is just the tip of the iceberg.

But below hides a systemic flaw.

Inside this edition

• Why business transformation fails without frontline systems

• The business case for workforce investment logic

• A six-part model for HR to drive readiness and resilience (Just released!)

• Lessons from Nestlé, Flex, Western Digital, and Unilever

• Your downloadable resource: The Change Capacity Metrics Toolkit

🗞️ In case you missed it: Trump asks the Supreme Court to stop a judge’s order, the EEOC and the DOJ Warn Against Unlawful DEI-Related Discrimination, massive layoffs in IBM coming, and the just-released Deloitte’s 2025 Human Capital Trends report.

Read on to understand the root causes of the shocking figures on workforce instability.

SPREAD FOR YOU
📢 THE FRONTLINE WORKFORCE IS BREAKING DOWN

What’s Feeding Workforce Volatility?

Organizations are undergoing massive transformations, from laser-speed AI adoption and automation to demographic changes and complex economic and geopolitical fluctuations.

Amidst these monumental changes, frontline workforce adaptability seems to be failing—and not because of a lack of vision.

The problem is that frontline talent is still viewed as a cost line, not a strategic asset.

The frontline volatility at the base is fed by:

• Stalled mobility. Career pathways are unclear or unavailable, especially for underrepresented workers. Learning is inconsistent or delayed. With the administrative burden on managers, less than one-third can spend time developing people.

• Workforce plans are built on headcount—not capability. Roles are filled, but critical skills remain missing.

• Lack of site-level data. Most organizations are not consistently tracking frontline talent trends at a site level; HR, Finance, and Ops can’t see or act on workforce risk until it becomes a crisis.

• Short-term thinking. Investments in talent are cut first despite being essential to long-term viability.

How can transformation scale when the workforce most responsible for execution is excluded from strategic planning?

REDESIGNING SYSTEMS FOR “STAGILITY”

What’s below the tip of the frontline workers' turnover iceberg?

A just-released WEF whitepaper reveals a persistent mindset: frontline talent is still seen as OpEx—an expense to control—rather than a long-term value driver worth investing in, like capital.

However, transformation becomes possible when organizations treat workforce stability, development, and capability-building as strategic assets.

The goal? “Stagility” (a term coined by Deloitte), aka balancing workforce stability with organizational agility.

This shift doesn't begin with org charts. It begins at the site level and demands a new way of thinking about value.

💰 Finance: Adopt an Investment Logic for Talent

Improving frontline productivity and stability has a tangible return. Companies that invested in targeted workforce initiatives saw an average EBITDA impact of $17,000–34,000 per frontline employee, with 3–5x ROI within 1–2 years.

To unlock ROI from talent, finance teams must move beyond cost accounting and start applying the same rigor to talent as they do to CapEx.

How to do it:

• Create business cases for talent investments: Just like you would for machinery, define ROI metrics (attrition reduction, productivity lift, time-to-fill improvements).

• Standardize a talent investment review process: Design CapEx approval workflows—quarterly or biannually—where site leaders submit proposals tied to measurable outcomes.

• Use scenarios: Model the financial upside of stability and development using scenarios. For example – “If we reduce first-90-day attrition by 20%, we save $X in vacancy costs and recapture $Y in productivity.”

• Benchmark investments: Use internal and external data (e.g., Global Lighthouse pilot metrics) to compare the ROI of talent strategies across sites.

🧭 Leadership: Treat Frontline Investment Like Capital Strategy

When executives lead a comprehensive talent strategy for the frontline, they’re not just improving productivity—they’re shaping culture, reducing risk, and building the kind of organization people want to stay in. 

How to do it:

• Assign executive sponsors to talent innovation pilots: Do this at key manufacturing sites. Sponsor their resourcing and review outcomes quarterly.

• Include talent metrics in quarterly ops reviews: These metrics should be included alongside production, yield, and safety data to normalize "people discussions” in performance conversations.

• Link site strategy to labor market dynamics: As part of any expansion or transformation plan, have local leaders present data on supply/demand, EVP competitiveness, and stability risks.

• Reward long-term thinking: Include site-level retention and development metrics in plant leadership bonus or performance evaluation criteria.

🏗 HR: Architecting the Operating Model for Adaptability

HR must lead from the center and from the site—designing systems, not just delivering programs.

How to do it:

• Run localized diagnostics: Conduct a deep dive on the labor market, EVP, skills gaps, and attrition drivers at each manufacturing site. Present these to Finance and Leadership with proposed initiatives.

• Send talent investment roadmaps to decision-makers: Show what initiatives will cost, their expected impact, and the timeframe for ROI (e.g., “Investing in onboarding redesign will reduce 90-day attrition by 25% in 12 months”).

• Build a cross-functional site talent council: Involve HR, Ops, and Finance. Ensure they meet monthly to monitor capability-building and workforce health indicators.

• Prioritize simplicity and speed: Design low-friction onboarding, training, and coaching systems that reduce admin burden and free up managers’ time for coaching.

• Track and report talent investment impact metrics: Monitor readiness, engagement, attrition, and upskilling outcomes to validate HR’s role as a driver of business success.

HR FRAMEWORKS

A 6-PART MODEL FOR WORKFORCE ADAPTABILITY

Organizations can’t install a workforce model across sites as they do with machinery.

Labor dynamics, skills, and worker expectations vary by region. That’s why leading companies begin with a local diagnostic to understand:

• What’s breaking down?

• What’s needed to stabilize and scale?

• What site-specific levers will move the needle?

From there, HR can activate the six capabilities that build workforce adaptability. Think of them as a modular system—not everything at once, but prioritized based on site needs and business goals.

1. Work Design & Safety: Redesign tasks to reduce burnout and risk. Use automation to remove fatigue-heavy work, rotate roles to protect well-being, and give workers a clear view of their role in the system. Combine ergonomics, tech, and task flow.

2. Talent Planning: Don’t just track headcount—track capability. Map current skills, future needs, and risks. Build dynamic site-level plans to prepare for tech shifts, retirements, and labor shortages. Integrate this into business reviews.

3. Attraction & Onboarding: Drop the “plug-and-play” mindset. Remove outdated filters in hiring. Speed up time-to-hire with structured onboarding and early coaching. Track retention at day 30, 60, and 90 to catch drop-off points.

4. Talent Development: Stop measuring learning by training hours. Shift to in-role development. Build microlearning into daily work. Use skill as—partner to define readiness (not just completion). Partner with tech schools or universities to build custom paths.

5. Talent Effectiveness: Redefine the manager role. Free up time by reducing admin load. Train supervisors to coach, not just enforce. Use huddles, feedback loops, and real-time metrics to connect behavior with business performance.

6. Culture & Experience: Design the frontline experience with the same intent as you do for customers. This includes peer recognition, fair promotion pathways, inclusive leadership, and systems that listen to and act on feedback.

   🧠 HR TRIVIA TIME: According to McKinsey, companies that invested in targeted frontline workforce initiatives saw what average EBITDA impact per frontline employee?

   $3,000–7,000 $8,000–12,000 $17,000–34,000 $50,000–65,000

   Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

💬 Bonus Insight: These investments also delivered *3–5x ROI within just 1–2 years! Yes, you read that right. The frontline isn’t a cost center—it’s a performance engine.

How can you evaluate your organizational adaptability? Check out the metrics below and see where you stand.

YOUR DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCE
CHANGE CAPACITY METRICS TOOLKIT

This practical one-pager gathers the essential metrics to evaluate organizational adaptability in the frontline workforce.

Download the Change Capacity Metrics Toolkit to see where you stand.

Keep reading to see how Nestlé, Flex, Western Digital, and Unilever are turning frontline strategy into business performance.

SUCCESS STORIES
HOW TOP COMPANIES CLOSED THE GAP BETWEEN C-SUITE AND FRONTLINE WORKERS

Nestlé, Flex, Western Digital, and Unilever have one thing in common: they know their workforce (not in theory, but in practice!).

They started with site-level diagnostics and applied the six-part model, activating the capabilities that mattered most.

The result? Lower attrition, faster upskilling, stronger inclusion, and measurable performance gains.

Because when organizations invest in the people closest to the work, they unlock the performance that powers everything else.

Here’s what that looks like on the ground.

🍫 Nestlé – Vila Velha, Brazil

📈 34% increase in certifications

⭐ 0% attrition among deaf employees

At Nestlé’s Garoto chocolate factory in Vila Velha, Brazil, deaf and hard-of-hearing workers made up a significant portion of new frontline hires. It’s important to mention that 2.7 million Brazilian citizens are deaf. And among the employees with disabilities who work at Nestlé, 35% (around 325 employees) have hearing loss.

But they were entering a system that wasn’t designed for them—leading to communication barriers, low training completion, and stalled advancement.

Nestlé didn’t treat inclusion as a compliance checkbox. The company conducted a local diagnostic involving HR, operations, and employee representatives to understand where onboarding, communication, and learning systems were breaking down.

A site-wide reinvention followed: Brazilian Sign Language training for managers, real-time interpretation services on the production floor, and a custom career development program—Chocolates University—designed to support long-term skills acquisition.

Frontline inclusion became a strategic asset, fully aligned with Nestlé’s company-wide commitment to Creating Shared Value. For Nestlé, investing in people (especially underserved groups) is a business imperative rooted in its founding mission: using food, work, and science to improve the quality of life for all.

🤝 Flex – Althofen, Austria

📈 20% increase in apprentice hiring

📉 60% reduction in attrition

🏅 Named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies (2025) — for the third consecutive year

In Althofen, Austria, Flex—a global leader in electronics manufacturing—was facing rising attrition and mounting pressure to address capability gaps in its medtech production lines. Labor shortages, shifting tech demands, and early exits among new hires threatened productivity and operational stability.

Flex didn’t treat this as a pipeline problem but focused on understanding the skill gaps and structural blockers contributing to instability. What they saw wasn’t just a need for more talent; it was a need for better design.

In response, the company built a two-pronged strategy:

• It launched a year-round apprenticeship program to create a sustainable pipeline from local communities—especially among young people without traditional tech credentials.

• It invested in technician development pathways and leadership training for line managers, rebalancing workloads and enabling better coaching on the floor.

The Althofen site became an example of Flex’s broader people-first commitment—one that CEO Revathi Advaithi describes as central to manufacturing’s future: “Skilled individuals are the power behind resilience, innovation, and sustained productivity.”

This wasn’t just a talent win. It was an operational investment rooted in Flex’s global purpose: to make products that improve lives—by investing in the people who make them.

💽 Western Digital – Prachin Buri, Thailand

📈 200% ↑ in training hours | 1,033% ↑ in internship applications

📉 99.9% ↓ in diagnostic time for equipment failures

Western Digital’s Prachin Buri plant in Thailand needed to overhaul its operational processes: Legacy roles were no longer sustainable, and traditional ways of working left frontline talent unprepared for the demands of digital manufacturing. The transformation journey began with an in-depth site-level diagnostic to understand specific labor market dynamics, capability gaps, and infrastructure needs. From there, Western Digital operationalized three of the six capabilities outlined in the WEF framework:

• Work Design & Work Tech: Introduced AI-powered automation and intelligent work redesign, shifting employees from manual tasks to monitoring digital dashboards and smart maintenance systems. Result: 75% increase in automated processes and a dramatic reduction in quality alerts​.

• Capability Pathways: Partnered with universities to co-develop curricula for Fourth Industrial Revolution roles, upskilling employees in IIoT and digital operations. Result: 49% of frontline workers were trained in IIoT, and promotions based on new capabilities​increased by 26.8%.

• Talent Access: Strengthened local partnerships to attract emerging talent, embedding sustainability projects into onboarding and early-career experiences. Result: Over 1,000% increase in internship applications and 16% reduction in time-to-fill vacancies.

Western Digital’s initiative wasn’t top-down; it was purpose-led. Their 2024 Sustainability Report makes the company’s long-term intent clear: “To create shared value for our business and the world around us” through responsible innovation and inclusive growth. Talent is at the core of this strategy, seen not as a cost but as the company’s most valuable growth engine.

🏭 Unilever – Pouso Alegre, Brazil

⭐ 33pp increase in hiring from underrepresented groups

📈 25pp increase in retention | 160% ↑ in project savings

At Unilever’s factory in Pouso Alegre, Brazil, talent retention and inclusion were stalling in a competitive labor market with limited infrastructure to support equity. Traditional recruitment methods and wellness programs were not meeting worker needs, leading to performance and engagement gaps.

• Unilever began with a localized diagnostic, identifying the gaps in workforce inclusion, well-being, and recognition. Rather than deploying a top-down fix, the team co-designed solutions with local leaders and frontline workers.

What followed was a targeted, people-first transformation:

• The Black Panther initiative rewired recruitment to reach underrepresented groups more effectively.

• Healthier U, a holistic wellness program, addressed nutrition, physical activity, and chronic disease awareness.

• The Destaques program brought peer-led recognition and innovation into daily operations on the shop floor.

Together, these interventions boosted performance, morale, and equity while aligning with Unilever’s global goals around inclusion and purpose. Local insight turned inclusion from a checkbox into a competitive edge.

UPCOMING EVENT
THE HR TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION SUMMIT

Join the HR Technology and Digital Transformation Summit, a premier three-day event designed to equip HR leaders with the strategies and tools needed to navigate the future of work.

Explore the latest advancements in AI, automation, data analytics, and emerging technologies while gaining practical insights on optimizing HR platforms, enhancing employee experience, and driving digital transformation. With deep-dive discussions, expert-led sessions, and unparalleled networking opportunities, this summit is your roadmap to leveraging technology for sustainable organizational success.

📅 When: April 1- 3, 2025 (7 am-11 am Pacific Time)
💻 Event Type: Online | Free
 📢 Content Format: Panel | Workshop

TOP PICKS FOR YOU
🗞️ IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Here is what’s happening at the intersection of workforce, policy, and business strategy, headlines HR leaders should have on their radar. 

⚖️ EEOC and DOJ just dropped a warning

Popular DEI programs may violate Title VII if they involve race or sex-based employment decisions—regardless of intent. Read more →

🏭 Manufacturing Activity Slowing Down

According to S&P, US, business activity picked up in March, driven by a rebound in the services sector. However, manufacturers saw a slowdown, and business confidence plunged to near three-year lows. Read more →

😟 Tariff Fears Rattle Consumers

U.S. consumer confidence dropped sharply in March, reaching its lowest level since 2021 amid growing concerns over inflation and trade policies. Read more →

⚖️ Federal Judge Blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive data at multiple federal agencies—citing likely violations of privacy laws and a breach of public trust. Read more →

✨ NEW! 2025 Global Human Capital Trends

Deloitte released its “2025 Global Human Capital Trends: Navigating Complex Tensions and Choices in the Worker-organization Relationship. Read more →

🔻IBM’s Massive Layoffs

IBM is cutting nearly 9,000 U.S. jobs in 2025 and shifting many roles to India as part of a broader global workforce strategy. This will impact cloud, consulting, and sales teams across multiple states. Read more →

Sponsor Daily Jam

Would you like to be featured in Daily Jam? Place your brand alongside deep industry research, actionable tips, and useful resources for HR and other leaders.