Dive Brief:
- New research has found that while 89% of organizations currently offer development opportunities to frontline workers – and 98% of these indicate plans to maintain or grow these programs – the vast majority of respondents (73%) indicate that they either don't know how many frontline workers take advantage of development opportunities or that their organizations don't track that metric.
- The study, by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) and the Aspen Institute's UpSkill America, also revealed that 59% also do not measure and reward managers for developing these workers.
- That data is significant when compared to the study's most important finding: when frontline workers take advantage of development opportunities, it has a high correlation to an organization's market performance.
Dive Insight:
The study, Developing America’s Frontline Workers, included input from leaders at 365 U.S. employers and was conducted in support of the Upskill Initiative announced by President Barack Obama. The objective is to support businesses in their efforts to educate, train and develop low-wage and entry-level workers.
Kevin Oakes, CEO of i4cp, a human capital research firm that helps organizations build and sustain high performance, says that though nine of 10 respondents reported their organizations offer development opportunities to frontline workers, there must be greater emphasis on accountability.
He cites weak follow-through and poor communication as the main reasons 60% of respondents seem to not truly place a high priority on developing this worker segment.
