Get Your Frontline Teams Performing with Consistency and Confidence
Discover how a leading national grocery retailer closed execution gaps and boosted productivity; lessons in frontline excellence from a real-world pilot.
Across the retail and logistics industry, high turnover, ongoing labor shortages, and constant onboarding are putting relentless pressure on frontline performance. Standard operating procedures may be in place—but translating them into consistent, on-the-floor execution is another story.
So how can operations leaders meet performance targets when the workforce is in constant flux?
Company Snapshot
Name: Leading National Retailer (National Grocery & Retail Chain)
Industry: Retail Distribution &
Fulfillment
Size: 5,000 frontline employees across multiple U.S. facilities
This large-scale operation represents the complexity and workforce challenges faced by many leading retailers, making the results of this pilot especially relevant to peers across the industry.
Key Challenges
1 Inconsistent Execution of Standard Operating Procedures
While SOPs were documented and distributed, actual floor behavior often diverged from the standard. Associates believed they were following the process correctly, but deviations went unnoticed until outcomes suffered. This “execution gap” led to inefficiencies, missed steps, and uneven performance, especially in critical processes like selection, loading, and replenishment.
2 High Turnover and Constant Onboarding
The site faced a common industry challenge: frequent staff turnover and a constant influx of new associates. With limited time and resources to onboard at scale, new hires struggled to ramp up quickly. The lack of structured, ongoing floor coaching contributed to slow proficiency gains, operational delays, and increased supervisor workload.
3 Limited Visibility into On-the-Floor Behavior
Without real-time, process-level insights, leadership had little visibility into what was actually happening on the floor. They lacked the data needed to pinpoint breakdowns, coach effectively, or validate whether performance issues stemmed from individuals, training, or systemic inefficiencies. This created reactive management rather than proactive improvement.
4 Safety Risks and Communication Barriers
Critical safety concerns were being underreported. Associates admitted to witnessing unsafe behavior but hesitated to speak up due to fear of retaliation, peer pressure, or lack of anonymous feedback channels. These issues (combined with poor visibility and procedural lapses) contributed to near misses, rising injury risk, and low safety engagement scores.
5 Productivity Blockers Hidden in Plain Sight
Associates identified several persistent roadblocks: equipment malfunctions, poor slotting, traffic congestion, and unclear product locations. These issues caused repeated delays and rework. But without a structured mechanism to surface and quantify these inefficiencies, they remained unaddressed and continued to undermine productivity and morale.
The Hidden Cost of Manual Management
Prior to implementing Smart Access, the facility relied on traditional methods to manage frontline performance: printed SOPs, verbal coaching, and ad hoc supervision. Supervisors were stretched thin, balancing task management with reactive problem-solving. Coaching was inconsistent, observational data was anecdotal, and feedback rarely made it back to the floor in a structured or timely way.
There were no tools in place to systematically capture how work was actually being done in real time. As a result, process deviations accumulated quietly, undetected until they impacted output, safety, or morale. Associates often believed they were following procedures correctly, while supervisors lacked the visibility and bandwidth to intervene effectively.
This disjointed system created friction across the operation:
- New hires struggled to ramp up quickly without on-the-floor reinforcement.
- Supervisors lacked actionable insights to coach effectively or prioritize support.
- Leadership had no way to measure standardization or accountability across shifts.
- Safety culture stalled, with issues going unreported due to fear or lack of follow-up.
In short, frontline execution was left to chance, leading to uneven performance, missed opportunities, and operational blind spots.
Solution: Bringing Structure to the Frontline
To address execution gaps and operational blind spots, the team introduced Smart Access, a digital performance management platform purpose-built for frontline environments. The goal: create a system that not only reinforces SOPs in real time but also empowers supervisors and associates with tools to stay aligned, accountable, and safe.
Rollout Approach:
The pilot program ran from May 12 to June 8 and was deployed across key operational roles and shifts. Supervisors were equipped with tools to conduct structured observations, deliver targeted coaching, and track compliance in real time. Associates received consistent feedback and had access to digital guidance tied directly to task execution.
Smart Access provided:
- Peer led, on-the-floor skill building embedded into daily workflows
- Searchable SOP guidance accessible via mobile devices
- Centralized performance content to standardize coaching across all shifts
- Real-time feedback loops to identify process deviations and correct them quickly
- Data-driven insights for supervisors to focus coaching where it matters most
The solution didn’t require replacing existing tools or systems—it enhanced them. With minimal disruption, Smart Access created a foundation for scalable consistency and measurable gains.
Outcome & Impact: From Inconsistency to Improvement
The results of the pilot were immediate and measurable, proving that structured coaching and real-time visibility can dramatically elevate frontline performance.
Key performance
improvements included:
20%
increase in LTO performance for observed associates
18%
overall improvement across observed roles (Selection, LTO, and Loading)
12%
increase in Units Per Hour (UPH) in selection and loading
7
percentage point boost in task performance when associates were observed
69
proactive safety actions reported, revealing critical safety gaps previously untracked
Supervisors shifted from reactive task managers to engaged development coaches. Associates who received feedback performed measurably better than those who did not, and the data proved it.
Even more powerful? These results came from a pilot. With just a small slice of the workforce observed, Smart Access demonstrated what’s possible when coaching is consistent, performance is visible, and SOPs come to life on the floor.
Smart Access didn’t just uncover problems, it unlocked missing potential.
Ready to Close the Execution Gap?
Whether you're in retail, 3PL, or food distribution, the challenges of frontline performance are universal—and so are the gains. Smart Access turns your SOPs into action, your supervisors into coaches, and your frontline into a consistent, high-performing team.
See what’s possible when every shift runs to standard.