Making every shift count: Top tips from the Future of Work Conference

Imagine a workday where every frontline employee feels ready to excel—not by luck but by design. At the Future of Work Conference in London, Axonify brought this vision to life, presenting a fresh approach to boost frontline engagement.

Grant McNulty, Axonify’s Account Director for Europe, led a session that reframed the frontline experience as a growth opportunity powered by personalised, daily microlearning. The session tackled the common struggles of high turnover and disengagement among frontline workers and showed how to seamlessly integrate right-fit support into each shift to build confidence and retention.

Why traditional training falls short

Traditional corporate training doesn’t align with how humans naturally retain information. Studies show that people remember and apply information better when it’s delivered in small, timely chunks that reinforce key information repeatedly—something traditional training methods struggle to achieve. McNulty highlighted that the “use it or lose it” phenomenon (aka the Forgetting Curve) is especially critical on the frontline because as deskless workers, a one-time training approach leaves them without resources to immediately address those natural knowledge gaps.Axonify’s solution is purpose-built for the realities of frontline work. It leverages daily microlearning to improve knowledge retention and employee confidence. These short, targeted learning bursts are reinforced by spaced repetition, which adapts based on each employee’s confidence and accuracy.

Moving beyond compliance to engagement

In the traditional setup, many frontline workers sit through lengthy training sessions, only to return to the floor without feeling truly prepared. In contrast, Axonify’s approach is rooted in continuous learning, where employees engage with learning content for a few minutes each day. 

This approach is designed to eliminate the uncertainty that many employees feel in their roles—no more “I don’t know” moments on the job—and build up their confidence so they can perform. 

Axonify empowers managers with real-time insights into each team member’s progress, enabling them to have informed, supportive conversations. For example, if an employee excels in customer service training, their manager is able to recognise their progress meaningfully and identify areas for further growth. 

This shift from simply “training” employees to actively supporting their development brings significant results. A case in point is a U.K.-based retail client that has partnered with Axonify and seen impressive results through a weekly tracking of their key performance indicators (KPIs). The daily microlearning goes beyond the employee’s two-to-three-minute sessions. It empowers managers with real-time dashboards that offer insights into their team’s progress. This added visibility has helped drive stronger engagement and, ultimately, retention across the organisation.

Embracing the frontline’s potential

Ultimately, the frontline requires the right tools, tech and support to make learning a natural, integrated part of their workday. And there’s clear demand: A leading U.K. retailer reported that 94% of its workforce voluntarily downloaded the Axonify app in the first few months. The data supports a clear need among workers for more engaging, relevant and accessible training.

In a market where frontline attrition can soar past 60%, organisations need a proven solution to build a skilled, engaged workforce that thrives on connection, growth and purpose. With the right support, frontline teams are capable of having a great every shift, every day.

Want to dive deeper? Watch the full talk here