In a successful digital transformation, every employee must be completely on board, from executives to Firstline Workers, i.e., those workers who interact with customers, build and test products, or ensure operations run smoothly. Almost every industry depends on them, especially those such as manufacturing, retail, food services, travel, hospitality, and healthcare. And because Firstline Workers are on the front lines, they play an especially important role in any digital transformation journey.

Making Firstline Workers part of your digital transformation is, in one sense, straightforward: give them the tools they need to do their best work, train them well, create and reinforce a culture that includes them in communications, and keep everything secure on any device they need to use.

However, successful transformation doesn’t just happen. As organizations commit to digital transformation, they must invest in the same areas—people, processes, technologies, and tools—for Firstline Workers as they do for all of their other employees. Overall, the challenge is about finding new ways to empower all
employees to do their best work, but it is important to realize that Firstline Workers require particular focus.