Front-Line Operations:

Working in the Limelight

MS. JUDITH GRACE B. AWATIN, MSHM
Roles of FRONTLINE STAFF

▶ deals directly with customers

▶ one of the most important representative of the business
▶ engages and handles customers is what creates the first
impression about a company and impacts brand image
▶ Should excel in all the necessary customer service skills in
order to offer better experience and create positive brand
perception.
Four most essential skills every Frontline
Employee should have
▶ Excellent Communication - sets the tone of the business
▶ Exhibiting Patience - deal with a number of different
kinds of people, you have to be ready to face all kinds of
situations
▶ Showing Empathy - build an emotional connection and
trust with the company.
▶ Being Proactive - one step ahead to assess what your
customer’s next demand or query might be is always an
added advantage
The two commandments

▶ do unto your internal customers as you would have them

do unto your external customers. In other words, take
care of your employees … be concerned for their well-
being, and invest in them
▶ always treat customers as though they will remain
customers, “never as though this is the last time you’ll
see them

EFCJ,MBA OLFU CHIM Antipolo

Challenges
▶ Employee recruiting and selection is critical - good recruiting and
selection programs are essential to a firm’s ability to provide superior
service at the frontline
▶ Data mining – detects useful and non-obvious trends in data, will have
a distinct advantage over their competitors
▶ Making the job easier for frontline staff - other ways to assist
frontline staff
▶ Motivating employees - understanding how role ambiguity, role
conflict, and lack of psychological empowerment
▶ Staying one step ahead of competitors -offerings and develop
service innovations that will delight customers at the frontline and
that competitors will find hard to beat

EFCJ,MBA OLFU CHIM Antipolo

Identify individual responsibilities

Role of teams and individuals

▶ Each team or group will have a purpose for its existence,

with a set of objectives it is trying to achieve

▶ Naturally each group will have people who have been

chosen for a reason

▶ Each of these people will have their own

strengths and weaknesses

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Team responsibilities

Team responsibilities

Each work team, whether as a whole or as individual

members, have responsibilities that must be adhered to.

▶ What are these responsibilities?

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Team responsibilities

Team responsibilities

▶ Obeying lawful orders

▶ Confidentiality and privacy requirements

▶ Safety and care with respect to occupational

health and safety requirements

▶ Terms and conditions of own employment

▶ Responsibility of providing a safe

environment

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Identify individual responsibilities

Identifying individual responsibilities within a group

▶ Organisational hierarchies

▶ Contract

▶ Job Description

▶ Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

▶ Policies

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Identify individual responsibilities

Identifying individual responsibilities within a group

▶ Procedures

▶ Daily Task Sheets

▶ Direct requests

▶ Observation

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Identify individual responsibilities

Consulting with relevant others

There may be a need to consult with ‘relevant others’ when

determining what needs to be done, either for:

▶ A team as a whole

▶ Individual team members

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Clarify work allocation

Considerations

▶ The urgency associated with the task

▶ Staff preferences

▶ Distribute workloads and opportunities

equally

▶ Considering staffing availability, experience, skills and

work habits

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Communicate information to team
members
Whilst communication and information may primarily come
from managers, it is important to remember that all
colleagues within a team will communicate and share
information on a daily basis.

▶ What information do team members need?

▶ What is the best way to communicate this information?

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Assigning tasks

On a day-by-day basis, you may be required to allocate

tasks to staff as a result of matters brought to your attention
by:

▶ Internal communications

▶ Workplace observations

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Communicating instructions

Primary requirements

The communication of instructions regarding task assignments

must address the following three elements:

▶ They must be clear, specific and

unambiguous

▶ They must be directed to nominated

individuals

▶ They must be explained

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Communicating instructions
Supplementary requirements
▶ A statement of what the desired result
▶ A nominated deadline and timeline for
completion
▶ Accountability
▶ Checklists

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Communicate information to team
members
Types of information to be communicated

There are endless amounts of information that will be

communicated between team members and to team members
by management.

▶ Clarifying the organisation's preferred

task completion methods

▶ Potential hazards or changing

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)
requirements

▶ Discussing concerns

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Communication avenues

Conduct staff debriefing sessions

▶ General discussion

▶ Thank staff for their hard work

▶ Acknowledge areas that went well

▶ Acknowledge good performance by staff

▶ Acknowledge areas that did not go well

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Communication avenues

Holding regular team meetings

▶ Get people together

▶ Get alignment towards a specific range of topics

▶ Provide information

▶ Brainstorm ideas

▶ Exchange ideas and thoughts

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Communication avenues

Discussions

▶ Most communication of information is often done through

informal discussions between management and staff
members or between team members themselves

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Sources of poor performance

Before counselling an employee on poor performance or

inappropriate job behaviours it is worth considering the likely
causes of work problems.

Poor performance normally results from:

▶ Employee qualities

▶ Organisational qualities

▶ External sources

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Sources of poor performance

Employee qualities
These sources stem from the employee themselves and can
include:
▶ Problems of capacity, where the employee does
not have the required aptitude or orientation
for the tasks
▶ Family related problems
▶ Psychological problems, such as drug abuse gambling,
irrational fears, depression, aggressive behaviour stemming
from self image problems
▶ Physical problems, such as lack of energy, restricted
movement, pain or illness
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Sources of poor performance

Organisational sources

▶ Bad communication or instruction

▶ Inappropriate managerial standards or criteria

▶ Discrimination

▶ Lack of managing diversity

▶ Harassment and bullying

▶ Problems with team cohesion and acceptance

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