Research Report

THE NEW DECISION MAKERS

Equipping Frontline Workers
for Success

Sponsored by
SPONSOR PERSPECTIVE

Customers determine the success of every business. In any organization, the only
group that interacts with customers on a daily basis is the front line. It’s truly where
the rubber meets the road. Smart organizations know they need to empower these
frontline workers with the ability to make informed decisions in the moment. The
reality is that few organizations are able to deliver on this, because until recently,
there has been a dearth of resources required to empower knowledge workers to be
more autonomous.
SUDHEESH NAIR
Data-driven insights are critical to all business activities, whether it’s delivering a CEO
tailored customer experience, bringing a new product to market, or streamlining THOUGHTSPOT
operations. When the data exists but a company lacks the tools or culture to enable
employees to effectively access and analyze it, businesses miss out on opportunities,
employees wind up frustrated, and customers suffer. Enterprises must leverage their
most valuable asset for decision making—they owe it to themselves and to their
workforce.

ThoughtSpot sponsored this report by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services to

give leaders an understanding of why they must not only empower their workforces
and equip them with the tools they need to make informed business decisions but
also provide a blueprint for how to do so. Hundreds of business executives weighed
in on their approach to creating a data-driven environment—or not—and the impact
it’s having on their business.

If you’re a business leader and find you’re constantly confronted with the directive
to be more data-driven, it can be scary. But you’re certainly not alone. You need
clarity around why and how to make this change. Fortunately, the data provided in
this report shows exactly how the “leaders” (those organizations whose frontline
workers are both empowered and digitally well equipped) are able to maintain
their front-runner positions and the corresponding business benefits compared
to their “laggard” peers (those whose employees are neither empowered nor well
equipped).

Data can uncover truths we didn’t even know to look for. In this report, we see how
organizations that are moving toward a more distributed and autonomous way
of working are getting ahead, while those that deprioritize data-based decision
making for frontline workers are failing to realize the same rates of productivity and
customer satisfaction, among other metrics.

While what needs to happen for optimal business success is clear, it’s not
necessarily an easy shift to make. For some organizations, it means overhauling
entire frameworks and hierarchies to accommodate a new way of doing business.
But I hope you will take inspiration from this report, learn from those on the front
lines of this data-driven culture shift, and recognize the long-term dividends this
adoption will deliver.
THE NEW DECISION MAKERS
Equipping Frontline Workers for Success

Organizations across industries are under pressure to operate more HIGHLIGHTS

quickly and with greater intelligence than ever before. Armed with
new digital tools that enhance the capabilities of frontline workers,
companies in the manufacturing, technology, financial services, 87%
energy, and health care sectors, among others, are extending their OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS SAY
THEIR ORGANIZATION WILL BE MORE
digital reach to the edges of their business and beyond. Becoming more SUCCESSFUL WHEN FRONTLINE
WORKERS ARE EMPOWERED TO
data-driven “has changed dramatically the work and types of people MAKE IMPORTANT DECISIONS IN THE
MOMENT.
who can do the work,” says Kerry Small, who leads global commercial
and operations for Vodafone Business. For Small, that includes
commercial and sales teams, delivery teams, and customer service
professionals. “It’s absolutely transformational for the world of work,”
86%
SAY FRONTLINE WORKERS NEED
she says. BETTER TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED
INSIGHT TO BE ABLE TO MAKE GOOD
DECISIONS IN THE MOMENT.
The challenge now is to empower frontline workers in a way that creates both
free agency for them and proper controls for the organization. What makes this
possible is the ready availability of high-quality information and insights at the
point of contact with customers and operations, along with the digital tools
72%
SAY PRODUCTIVITY HAS INCREASED
and procedures to ensure compliance with company guidelines and industry THROUGH EMPOWERING FRONTLINE
regulations. But we’re still in early days. WORKERS.

Eighty-seven percent of the 464 business executives responding to a recent global

survey from Harvard Business Review Analytic Services say their organization will
be more successful when frontline workers are empowered to make important
decisions in the moment. Until recently, however, even companies that wanted to
empower their frontline employees to work more autonomously haven’t had the
necessary data and tools to make that happen. Eighty-six percent of respondents
say that frontline workers need better technology-enabled insight to be able to
make good decisions in the moment.
Only one-fifth of organizations in the survey have frontline workers who are
both empowered and digitally well equipped to succeed in this way. These are
the leaders. Thirty-seven percent are followers, with workers who are somewhat
empowered and digitally equipped, and 43% are laggards—neither empowered nor
well equipped.

Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success Harvard Business Review Analytic Services 1
 Leaders are substantially more likely to Respondents across the board
FRONTLINE WORKERS:
have benefited from the investments strongly believe that both work
Employees who are the first point they have made in their frontline quality and productivity will increase
of contact between organizations workforce, with at least one-third as more data-based insights are
and their customers or who work of respondents claiming significant made available to frontline workers.
in a company’s product or service increases in both customer and Ninety-two percent say the quality
operations. These include salesclerks, employee engagement and satisfaction of work of frontline employees in
nurses, flight attendants, maintenance and in the quality of their products their organization would improve in
workers, electricians, store managers, and services. FIGURE 1 They’re also much the long term, and 73% say it would
service technicians, field salespeople, more likely than other respondents to improve in the short term as well.
and more. report significant gains in productivity,
While most respondents (81%) also
innovation, top-line growth, market
anticipate some gains in productivity
position, and profitability from
in the short term, only 27% expect
these efforts.
the short-term gains to be significant.
However, that figure nearly triples
to 74% for the long term. FIGURE 2 That
increase won’t just happen by itself.
FIGURE 1
There are some key steps organizations
FRONTLINE EMPOWERMENT BOOSTS BUSINESS RESULTS must take to get there, according
Leaders find this to be especially true with customer engagement to survey findings and interviews
with a dozen senior business and
[ALL SAYING “SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED”] analytics leaders.
• LEADERS
• FOLLOWERS
• LAGGARDS
In addition to equipping employees
with new digital tools and information,
Customer engagement/satisfaction
41% frontline champions need to enlist
29% company leaders to drive culture
19% change. Training and change
programs must engage all parts of the
Employee engagement/satisfaction
36% organization, from leaders to middle
19% managers to the frontline workers
21% themselves. “Frontline employees
Product/service quality have a better understanding of how the
32% business works,” says a senior strategist
19% at a large investment company about
18% its change efforts. “It’s leveling the
Productivity/efficiency playing field between leadership and
28% frontline workers.” This is a massive
14% change for everyone.
16%
Many companies will have to redesign
Innovation or override existing organizational
26% structures to accommodate new lean,
14%
9% cross-functional ways of working.
And as they push data, insight, and
Top-line growth decision-making ability out to frontline
22% workers, organizations will need
9%
11% to make sure that data security and
governance practices keep up with the
Market position new reality.
21%
8%
8% The Two-Sided Coin:
Profitability Empowerment and Enablement
17% There are two critical aspects of
8% creating an empowered and data-
10% driven enterprise. The first involves a
culture shift. Leaders are more than
SOURCE: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES SURVEY, JANUARY 2020 twice as likely as laggards (51% versus

2 Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success
“Data is powerful when it is in everyone’s hands,” says Kerry Small,
who leads global commercial and operations for Vodafone Business.

23%) to say a data-driven culture is FIGURE 2

a critical part of their organization’s
corporate strategy. For data-driven
PRODUCTIVITY INCREASES SIGNIFICANTLY OVER TIME
Respondents see some short-term gains and dramatic increases over the long term
decision making to become ingrained
in the culture requires moving from
a hierarchical to a more distributed
• SHORT TERM
• LONG TERM

Significant increase
way of working—many refer to this as
27%
the democratization of data. Frontline 74%
employees must be empowered at the
point of need.
Some increase
54%
The other side of the coin requires 22%
equipping employees with the right No impact
data, insight, and technology to 7%
enable faster, more distributed, and 2%
higher-quality decision making. Some decrease
“Data is powerful when it is in 11%
everyone’s hands,” says Vodafone’s 1%
Small. Leaders are more than twice Significant decrease
as likely as laggards (58% versus 24%)
1%
to strongly assert that their company 1%
is increasing its investment in digital
capabilities to transform the frontline
SOURCE: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES SURVEY, JANUARY 2020
workforce, their technology, and their
environment.
“It all starts with the data,” says benefits, with 72% saying productivity
Small. “If you don’t have the right has increased at least moderately
structures in the beginning, it’s going by empowering frontline workers,
to be difficult.” Vodafone made a 69% saying they’ve increased both
large investment up front in data customer and employee engagement/
dictionaries, data hierarchies, and satisfaction, and 67% saying they’ve
having a single record for everything. increased the quality of their products/
That investment, she says, was “the services.
right thing to do.”
GE Healthcare in Brazil has seen an
increase in both patient satisfaction
Compelling Benefits and profitability (by reducing the
Respondents have high expectations number of service visits required,
for the business benefits of investing in along with variable costs to service
analytics for the front line. They believe clients). Top-line revenue has
it will increase customer engagement also increased, and with reduced
and satisfaction (named by 65%), equipment downtime, they’ve seen a
productivity and efficiency (62%), direct correlation between customer
employee engagement and satisfaction satisfaction, increased sales, and
(49%), and product/service quality market share.
(45%). These findings underscore the
Vodafone’s Small is expansive about
importance of equipping the front line
the business benefits of increased
for success.
empowerment. “We’re a service
Respondents who have started down business,” she says. “How we deliver
that road are already reaping the is paramount. Our people are the

Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success Harvard Business Review Analytic Services 3
At the most empowered organizations, frontline employees are not
just able to take action based on data and insight provided to them;
they’re encouraged to go beyond the scope of what their jobs
encompassed in the past to operate more autonomously.

face of the organization.” According infrastructure data. In the future, this

to Small, engagement levels have will include the history of an asset
increased tenfold among the (the machinery in a pump station, for
employees who have been part of the instance) and its prior maintenance
company’s transformation efforts and problem profile, says Juan
to date. This engagement boost has Reyes, the department’s assistant
resulted in greater commitment to director. The old manual approach
the business, discretionary effort, and is inadequate for increasingly
accountability as well. sophisticated civil infrastructure
equipment and controls. With the
new asset management system,
Different Degrees of technicians will be able to pull up
Empowerment the manufacturer’s schematics for all
Not all organizations view
components, review recommended
empowerment in the same way. At
maintenance intervals, access repair
the most basic level, it simply means
manuals, and more. At the same time,
getting the right information to
the system will manage the workflow
frontline workers in a form they can
and what actions are required by
use when they need it. For instance, at
the municipality. Actions taken and
the operations of a global equipment
repairs made will be captured in
manufacturing and service company
the system from the field as well.
in Hungary, employees repair a
As a result, technicians will be able
variety of devices like laptops. They
to service more equipment more
need specific information about the
effectively. “The system turns data
unit they’re working on and what to
into information and knowledge,”
do about it. “The need for real-time
says Reyes. “It’s more than just
information is critical,” says a business
empowering; it’s adding to their
unit director there. “Every unit is an
capacity.”
individual case.” Knowing right away
what is wrong with a unit and what to GE Healthcare in Brazil takes this
test before starting a repair improves capacity expansion up a level, using
quality and saves time. It also makes sensors and artificial intelligence
reporting to customers more efficient, (AI) for predictive maintenance on
AS PROCESSES AND THE enabling some program managers to
handle two programs instead of one.
its medical equipment installed in
hospitals and clinics, according to Luis
DATA THAT UNDERLIE In this example, frontline workers’
Paulo Souza, principal. Much of the
diagnostics happen in the background.
THEM BECOME MORE jobs aren’t changing significantly, but
they are working more efficiently and
When an engineer goes to a site to

SOPHISTICATED, effectively because they have access to

better information faster.
make a repair, he or she already knows
what the problem is and has been

ORGANIZATIONS MUST Such systems apply in fieldwork

provided with insight about how to fix
it. An AI-enabled workflow will refer
ENSURE THEY DON’T as well. In the United States, the
public works department in Fairfax,
a specialist to assist the technician if
necessary. For the sales workforce,
CREATE UNMANAGEABLE Va., is equipping operations and
maintenance workers with handheld
robotic process automation is being
put in place to streamline commercial
COMPLEXITY. devices that provide field access to processes and approvals.

4 Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success
Simplifying Complexity and FIGURE 3
Enabling Autonomy
As processes and the data that underlie
DIGITALLY ENABLING THE FRONT LINES
Technologies respondents expect frontline workers to be using over the next two years
them become more sophisticated,
organizations must ensure they don’t Unified communication/collaboration tools
create unmanageable complexity. 55%
Empowering frontline workers often
“requires more complex consumption Self-service analytics
of information,” says the vice president 54%
of IT enterprise architecture at a
global automotive supplier. “We need Learning and performance management systems
to provide information to workers 47%
digitally on the spot in a way that it is
Artificial intelligence
easy to consume.” This is a challenge
41%
with a large hourly workforce. The
company uses analytics to “optimize Virtual/remote workspaces
the gap between how we think people 41%
should work and how they really
work,” he says. And the company is Tablets
using AI to automate and optimize 34%
more of its processes.
Security and protection for every employee, device, and end point
At the most empowered organizations, 30%
frontline employees are not just able to
take action based on data, and insight Smartphones
provided to them; they’re encouraged 27%
to go beyond the scope of what their
Software bots
jobs encompassed in the past to
27%
operate more autonomously. The large
investment firm is using new digital Internet of things (IoT)
capabilities to eliminate bottlenecks at 26%
the point of contact with customers.
Armed with the right information, Mixed/augmented/virtual reality
frontline workers can resolve more 17%
issues on the spot without the
Wearable devices
intervention of a supervisor. They
14%
also have become a critical part of
getting the voice of the client back to Physical robots
the manager team and R&D as quickly 7%
as possible. “We’re now able to pivot
and make changes where necessary,”
SOURCE: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES SURVEY, JANUARY 2020
says the senior strategist, rather than
waiting for limited customer surveys
to be sorted. “As the world changes,
we need more analytic problem
solvers,” she says. Training and Development: New
To take on this new role, frontline
Tools Are Just the Beginning
Frontline employees have become
employees may be required to think
the new user base for digital tools.
about the business in a new, more
Communication and collaboration
expansive way—more like managers
tools and self-service analytics top
than foot soldiers. For example,
the list of technologies that survey
when an issue crops up, managers
respondents expect frontline workers
will consider how many clients it will
to be using over the next two years,
affect and whether the issue should
with both named by more than
be prioritized over other things. “We
50%. FIGURE 3
want to get that same kind of decision
making into the heads of our frontline Much of this technology will be new
employees,” she says. for frontline workers. Given the nature

Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success Harvard Business Review Analytic Services 5
FIGURE 4
of the work and the workforce—
TRAINING FOR APPLYING INSIGHTS NOT KEEPING PACE especially when it comes to hourly
workers, where there is likely to be
Respondents more likely to prepare for using tools than data-based decision making
higher turnover—it is imperative that
frontline tools be as accessible and
intuitive as possible and that training
be built into the process.
The good news is that 68% of
USING APPLYING respondents say their organization
TOOLS INSIGHT invests in training and development
programs to teach frontline workers
how to use innovative technology
tools. However, knowing how to use
the tools is just the first step. Frontline
workers also need to know how to
68% YES 46% YES
effectively apply the technology-
26% NO 44% NO enabled insight the tools generate. A
6% DON’T KNOW 10% DON’T KNOW smaller percentage (46%) are teaching
this capability to their frontline
workers. FIGURE 4
SOURCE: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES SURVEY, JANUARY 2020
The ability of workers to apply insight
is an area that needs attention. Nearly
a third of respondents (31%) cited
frontline employees’ lack of skills to
FIGURE 5 make appropriate use of technology-
LACK OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT IS TOP BARRIER enabled insight as a top-three barrier
to their ability to make good decisions
Percentage of respondents who named these obstacles among their top three
in the moment. The only barrier that
rated higher in importance was a lack
Lack of effective change management and adoption processes
of effective change management and
44%
adoption processes. FIGURE 5
Frontline employees lack skills to make appropriate use of technology-enabled insight At multinational telecom company
31% Ericsson, “we’re really focused on
helping frontline employees work in
Cost of rolling out digital technologies to broader employee base
a world that is data-driven and more
31%
automated,” says Drew Abbey, people
Top management doesn’t want frontline workers making decisions business partner for Supply Americas
25% at Ericsson. “Training to define how to
use the tools is secondary.”
Lack of support from middle managers
German loyalty program provider
25%
Payback devotes 20% of its training
Frontline employees aren’t qualified to make more decisions to how to use the tool and 80% to
17% using the data, according to Andreas
Kretschmer, director of analytics. This
Available tools are too complex for frontline workers involves one-to-one peer coaching in
17% how to get the most from the insight.
The “trainers” are people who have
Frontline employees aren’t interested in more responsibility cycled through the analytics function,
16%
have received more intensive training,
Insufficient security and governance practices as more data and decision making are pushed to the frontlines and are very knowledgeable about
15% the data. These people team up with
account managers and show them
The need to comply with changing worker regulations what information to look for and how
9% to get it through the tool.
One of the challenges with training for
SOURCE: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES SURVEY, JANUARY 2020 a large user base is how to scale the

6 Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success
“We’re really focused on helping frontline employees work in a world
that is data-driven and more automated,” says Drew Abbey, people
business partner for Supply Americas at Ericsson.

learning. In addition to a “train the Making “courageous, fact-based

trainer” program for analytics, Verizon decisions” is one of five key focus
provides field managers with a social areas of the company’s current
platform to ask questions, according transformation. The others relate
to Ansar Kassim, consumer analytics directly to empowerment, including
leader. If a particular question has cooperation and collaboration;
already received an answer, that speaking up, with everyone having a
answer pops up. If not, anyone from voice; empathy; and a willingness to
the community can respond. Kassim’s execute quickly. The transformation
team watches the forum, and if a effort began with engaging all 7,500
question isn’t getting answered by the of the company’s top leaders over an
community, one of them will step in. 18-month period. These principles are
now being activated through the rest
Leader organizations also build
of the 100,000-person organization,
instruction into the tool or process
with leaders encouraging their
itself. The global automotive supply
teams to think differently and
company provides on-the-spot micro-
providing recognition for people who
training delivered digitally at the
demonstrate the new behaviors.
time and place it is needed. This is
in addition to up-front training for Some see the shift to a data-driven
new manufacturing methods and culture as an even more fundamental
procedures, as it combines all its shop- challenge—the fact that a lot of people
floor systems “into one streamlined simply don’t like numbers or math—
user experience,” says the vice which can be a problem in statistics-
president of IT enterprise architecture. driven industries like insurance.
“Outside some core areas such as
actuarial and underwriting, a lack
Shifting to a Data-Driven Culture of data literacy is the single largest
While training frontline workers in
enemy we are fighting,” says Bill
the skills needed to operate more
Zhang, chief data and analytics officer
effectively is a good start, it’s not
at insurer AIG Japan. “As the world
enough in itself. The shift to a data-
becomes increasingly driven by data,
driven culture and way of working
it’s an even bigger challenge. Everyone
goes beyond learning specific skills.
has to understand the basics, and we
The Fairfax public works department have to be able to convey that in a way
is changing work processes that are that is intuitive and fun.” To that end,
decades old. “That’s culture change,” the company uses quizzes and daily
says the department’s Reyes. Engaging life scenarios that are not necessarily
frontline staff up front to get their work-related but that allow employees
input and demonstrating how the
new process helps them do their jobs
to easily connect and grasp the
relevant concepts. THE SHIFT TO A DATA-
better are both essential to help people
over that hurdle. Ongoing training
AIG Japan uses data influencers—
people who are deeply passionate
DRIVEN CULTURE AND
reinforces the change.
about data—to serve as champions WAY OF WORKING GOES
Ericsson is building a culture in
which “people are empowered to
throughout the business. After going
through a training camp with the BEYOND LEARNING
make decisions based on facts and
good information,” says Abbey.
analytics group, these people go out
into the business to run operations or
SPECIFIC SKILLS.
Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success Harvard Business Review Analytic Services 7
Rigid organizational design can stall the process, says Small. Where
traditional hierarchies are siloed, “agile breaks that model completely,”
she says. “It takes people time to realize they have been empowered
to work outside their function.”

work on the front line, where they can employees to directly access the data
Five Steps to Empower Your influence others in their peer group. they need, Verizon is creating scale
and deepening the intelligence of the
Frontline Workforce At Vodafone, data champions hold
organization overall. “In the past, we
webinars, teach groups of employees,
Leaders point to five key enablers of a could answer a few hundred questions
share success stories, and help
productively empowered front line: a month,” says Verizon’s Kassim. “Now
build confidence throughout the
around 2,000 questions are answered
organization.
1. Leadership every month. What used to take two
Top management must buy into The importance of change days or sometimes two weeks can now
and demonstrate support for management programs at all levels of happen in a few hours.”
frontline empowerment, given the the organization cannot be overstated.
At Vodafone, half the legacy job titles
organizational change required. Survey respondents named the lack of
in commercial teams have changed
such programs the greatest barrier to
to the point where they are now
empowering frontline workers, with
2. Data 44% choosing it as a top-three barrier.
“unrecognizable,” as people have been
A data-driven culture must be a given more autonomy for such things
But only 38% of respondents say their
critical part of the corporate strategy. as making pricing decisions, says
organizations have change programs
Small. “In some cases, it’s changing
in place to facilitate a shift to a more
3. Governance entire structures, creating a new
self-sufficient workforce. Leaders are
Security and governance must be organization at the end.”
doing more, at 63%.
built into new processes to provide New methods entail crossing silos and
frontline workers with both autonomy blurring lines. For instance, to better
and controls. Frontline Engagement accommodate customer requests,
Transforms Organizations GE Healthcare in Brazil is combining
Becoming more data-driven often
4. Training requires changing existing processes
traditional roles of operations and
Training should be a priority—not customer satisfaction, providing
and even organizational structures
just to teach workers how to use new those employees with information
and roles. This shift affects both
technology tools but also to show about installation, operation, and
frontline employees and the analytics
them how to effectively apply the satisfaction. This data makes workers
team as they shift from being report
insights that this technology provides. more intelligent, improving patient
generators to serving as coaches and
experience and increasing uptime.
facilitators. Now when the Payback
5. Facilitators analytics team gets requests to answer Rigid organizational design can
Frontline managers and supervisors questions, they instead show account stall the process, says Small. Where
are key contributors and also need managers in the business units how to traditional hierarchies are siloed, “agile
new tools and training to empower get the answer for themselves. Now breaks that model completely,” she
frontline employees. they can spend more of their own time says. “It takes people time to realize
on higher-level problems. they have been empowered to work
outside their function.”
Verizon’s analytics team used to
generate around 600 reports daily. Both GE Healthcare Brazil and the
They eliminated these reports last large investment firm use a lean
year, and the team trained people management approach to ensure that
how to get the information they the strategic goals of the company
were looking for by themselves. If translate into action at every level.
someone still needs a report, they are Vodafone and others are engaging
taught how to create it. By enabling frontline employees in the design

8 Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success
 FIGURE 6
process, using design thinking and
agile methods to identify the business LAGGARDS DON’T SHARE DECISION MAKING
problem and the outcome they They are ten times more likely to refuse to let frontline workers make decisions
want to achieve, creating wireframe
designs, and taking the lead on user
testing. “They are 100% involved and Percentage that say management doesn’t support frontline work decision making
accountable,” says Small. The groups
review lessons learned at the end of 42% 17% 4%
each 12-week sprint and discuss how to
make things better next time.

Creating Accountability LAGGARDS FOLLOWERS LEADERS

through Change
With so much changing, organizations
need to make sure their data security
and governance practices keep up.
There may be new exposure from a
technical perspective as more devices SOURCE: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES SURVEY, JANUARY 2020
and data are distributed throughout
the organization. And policies about
and controls over who has access without commitment and leadership
to what information and who has from the top of the organization, and
decision rights will have to be revised this is one area where there are stark
and updated. Less than half of differences between leaders, followers,
followers and laggards (47% and 48%, and laggards.
respectively) say they have sufficient
security and governance practices as Respondents from leader organizations
more autonomy is introduced into are more than three times as likely as
the frontline workforce. Leaders are laggards to strongly agree with the
much better positioned, with 75% statement “My company’s leaders
saying they have enough security and (CEO, line of business leaders, etc.)
governance. promote a more digitally connected
and empowered frontline workforce,”
The Fairfax public works department at 53% versus 16%. Followers fell
sets parameters for the type of work somewhere in between, at 36%.
field crews can carry out without
requiring a supervisor’s approval One reason for the discrepancy is
and periodically reviews these as that executives at laggard companies
capabilities are enhanced. “If a job is simply don’t believe in the value of
extensive and requires going above a having their frontline workers make
certain limit, that’s going to require decisions. Respondents at laggard
some vetting,” says Reyes. Within companies are 10 times as likely as
those parameters, however, crews leader respondents to say their top
have more flexibility than in the past. management doesn’t want frontline
workers making decisions (42% versus
Armed with much more detailed 4%). FIGURE 6
customer and product information,
Analytics proponents can help by
Vodafone’s commercial and sales
engaging company leaders from the
teams have greater latitude to make
start. For instance, Payback involved
pricing decisions in the field. But
board members and executives
built-in controls delineate “floors
before making the investment in new
and ceilings” within which they
can operate.
analytics capabilities. “We said, ‘We’re
going to invest in this tool, but if we
ANALYTICS PROPONENTS
Laggards Have a
don’t have your support, it won’t
work’”, Kretschmer, the company’s
CAN HELP BY ENGAGING
Leadership Problem
Of course, empowering and equipping
analytics director, says. “We had to
convince them of the benefits from
COMPANY LEADERS FROM
frontline workers won’t happen the start.” THE START.
Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success Harvard Business Review Analytic Services 9
91% of respondents say that managers and
supervisors play an essential role in
empowering frontline workers.

50% say managers and supervisors are not

well equipped to empower frontline
employees appropriately.

10 Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success
Those that recognize the extent of the change required are making
a commitment that starts at the top and extends throughout the
entire organization.

Changes at the investment company Conclusion

have gone well beyond the use of There is wide-scale agreement across
new tools, says the senior strategist, industries that empowering frontline
requiring “mindset changes among workers with information and insight
top officers, and shifting deeply is key to future success. For the IT
held behaviors—from command enterprise architect at the global
and control to servant leadership.” automotive supplier, empowerment
This transformation included a more is the “easy consumption of data in
data-driven, inclusive, test-and-learn daily life.” While reports still may
approach to problem solving rather have their place, they are static.
than leaders having all the answers. Becoming data-driven means being
able to “ask questions and get answers
With senior leaders on board, it
in a dynamic way with an easy user
becomes much easier to engage the
experience,” he says.
middle part of the organization—
in particular, frontline managers. Organizations that want to empower
Nearly all respondents (91%) say that their frontline employees to work more
managers and supervisors play an autonomously now have the means
essential role in empowering frontline to do so. But transformation requires
workers, yet half (51%) say managers more than just adopting new digital
and supervisors are not well equipped tools. Those that recognize the extent
(with the right tools, training, and of the change required are making
knowledge) to empower frontline a commitment that starts at the top
employees appropriately. and extends throughout the entire
organization. In the process, they
The senior strategist at the investment
are increasing the engagement and
firm refers to this as the frozen middle.
effectiveness of their frontline workers
“These are people who have been
and improving their most important
successful with certain behaviors in
business metrics—from productivity to
the past. Now we’re asking them to try
customer and employee satisfaction to
different behaviors. Habits are hard
the bottom line.
to change.”
Frontline leaders will learn and evolve
But change they must. A quarter of
as they go. “As we become more versed
respondents say that a lack of support
in how data drives decision making,”
from middle managers is a top-three
says Ericsson’s Abbey, “we will see
barrier to empowering frontline
new and novel ways to make decisions
employees.
and define new ways of working.”
Payback got traction with its frontline
managers by getting them engaged.
“What convinced them most was
showing them how to answer their
day-to-day business questions in the
tool,” says Kretschmer. “When they
saw what they would get out of it and
that it would simplify their job, then it
became easy.”

Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success Harvard Business Review Analytic Services 11
METHODOLOGY AND PARTICIPANT PROFILE
A total of 464 respondents drawn from the HBR audience of readers (magazine/
enewsletter readers, customers, HBR.org users) completed the survey.

SIZE OF ORGANIZATION
41% 31% 28%
10,000 OR MORE 1,000 – 9,999 100 – 999
EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEES

SENIORITY
21% 40% 28% 11%
EXECUTIVE SENIOR MIDDLE OTHER GRADES
MANAGEMENT/ MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT
BOARD MEMBERS

KEY INDUSTRY SECTORS

15% 13% 13% 10% ALL OTHER SECTORS
FINANCIAL MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY HEALTH CARE LESS THAN 8% EACH
SERVICES

JOB FUNCTION
14% 11% 10% 10% 8% ALL OTHER FUNCTIONS
OPERATIONS/ SALES/BUSINESS GENERAL/EXECUTIVE HR/TRAINING ADMINISTRATION LESS THAN 8% EACH
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT

REGIONS
44% 22% 20% 7% 7%
NORTH AMERICA EUROPE ASIA/PACIFIC MIDDLE EAST/ LATIN AMERICA
AFRICA

Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

12 Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Research Report | The New Decision Makers: Equipping Frontline Workers for Success
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