Navigating the Pitfalls of Frontline Leadership: The Missing Link in Manufacturing Success

Pitfall was a smash hit video game on Atari back in 1982. It features Pitfall Harry—an Indiana Jones-like treasure hunter who must traverse numerous pitfalls, including alligators, quicksand, and venomous creatures, to reach his goal. Players learn what to do throughout the game by learning what not to do. For leaders, learning from pitfalls and experiences is invaluable to shaping the type of leader they will become.

However, with Pitfall Harry, many of his pitfalls are avoidable or would be a lot easier to navigate if the player only knew what to do beforehand. The same goes with leaders. Training them to have difficult conversations, build trust, and ensure they know how to create the right environment for employees to thrive is like a cheat code to enhance leadership effectiveness and confidence.

Despite being in a leadership role for some time, we find most leaders have never attended leadership training, or it has been a long time since they had. Harvard Business Review shows that fifty percent of organizations fall short of helping align new leaders with their teams. Additionally, high-performers often get thrust into leadership roles because they are excellent at leading themselves but struggle when encountering a new dynamic of leading others.

The consequences or the fear of potential pitfalls can also stifle a leader’s growth and effectiveness and even lead to burnout. For instance, leaders may be unclear about how to have a difficult conversation with an employee or a peer or struggle to create a culture of consistent accountability. These deficiencies erode the leader’s confidence and hinder team and organizational performance. When leaders lack confidence in their abilities, they create pitfalls by taking on more than they should, “winging it”, or, even worse, ignoring problems.

The Leadership Gap No One Talks About

The leadership impact at the frontline is just as critical as leadership in the boardroom, if not more. Frontline leaders run day-to-day operations, handle problems in real time, and set the tone for team culture. Yet, many of them aren’t given the right tools to lead effectively. The reality? If you don’t invest in your frontline leaders, you’re leaving performance, morale, and retention to chance.

According to Deloitte, nearly two-thirds of manufacturers cite the inability to attract and retain top talent as a primary concern. Furthermore, the National Association of Manufacturing (NAM) highlights that the manufacturing industry is up against an unprecedented talent shortage in the next decade. Today’s work environment requires leaders to go beyond KPIs and other metrics. A study by LHH shows the importance of soft skills such as emotional intelligence and psychological safety for developing leaders, which are critical components for attracting and retaining talent.

Good employees leave for many reasons, including pay, opportunity, and, yes, their leader. An article by Harvard Business Review states that attrition costs an organization somewhere between six months and two years of the employee’s salary. However, underperforming or mediocre employees can be even more costly. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report highlights how disengaged employees are a nearly $9 trillion dollar problem. Employees stay this way because leaders license unproductive behaviors by failing to motivate or hold employees accountable

Equipping frontline leadership is essential for organizational success and driving employee engagement. Despite this, frontline leaders often lack proper training, leaving critical outcomes to chance. After years in chemical manufacturing, I’ve seen firsthand how much frontline leaders impact safety, productivity, and morale. When you can create an environment where employees trust and believe in their leadership, that’s when companies win, and winning is contagious.

At Double E Workplace Solutions, our frontline leadership programs directly improve safety, enhance productivity, and boost morale by preparing leaders to navigate common pitfalls effectively. We lean heavily into active learning, and our blend of content and shared learning keeps the participants engaged and motivated. Participants report thankfulness for the investment in their development and wish they had gone through this type of training earlier in their leadership journey.

Why We’re Betting on Frontline Leaders—And You Should, Too

If your frontline leaders aren’t fully equipped to lead, your organization is at risk. We developed our leadership training programs because frontline leaders deserve better, as do their employees. Teams perform better when they have strong, confident, and well-informed leaders guiding them. Our team of content creators and facilitators draws on years of hands-on leadership experience to design an impactful training event that provides benefits beyond the classroom.

Investing in frontline leadership directly contributes to a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence. 92% of our participants report gaining knowledge and actionable skills, with 100% feeling motivated to leverage new skills as a priority in their day-to-day roles. The bottom line? Better leaders create better businesses by lowering turnover, elevating performance, building stronger teams, and ultimately delivering higher quality and productivity. Investing in frontline leaders provides a significant return, surpassing even the best software or hardware. Great organizations don’t wait for their leaders to stumble into pitfalls; they proactively equip them with the skills to leap right over them.

Double E Workplace Solutions equips organizations with training and tools to turn civility into a competitive advantage. Let’s build a workplace where talent stays, teams thrive, and productivity soars. Contact us today to get started.