Retain women in frontline jobs with these strategies

Employee turnover is incredibly expensive for companies — especially for often hard-to-fill frontline roles. Based on some estimates, the departure of a frontline employee can cost companies $52,000 a year to recruit, train, and onboard a replacement.¹ Catalyst’s survey of 6,145 frontline employees, supervisors, and managers across nine industries based in the US and Canada shows that providing opportunities for professional development and career growth can mean the difference between retaining employees — especially women — and losing them to competitors.

Enhancing employees’ prospects of job growth in frontline jobs is an essential strategy for improving business results and becoming an employer of choice. Doing so leads to better work engagement, improved organizational commitment, and reduced intent to leave — results that are good for companies and all frontline employees. But our data show that women are less likely than men to be promoted to a higher-level managerial or non-managerial rank, or to move into a better paying frontline position at their company. This type of advancement is crucial for frontline employees to improve their income, gain better benefits, leverage their skills, and open the door to higher-quality jobs.²