About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities of frontline workers and the various categories they fall into, emphasizing the importance of tailored HR strategies.

In this podcast I talk with Josh Secrest, VP of Marketing at Paradox (Workday) about how we segment the “frontline” into useful worker categories. As you will hear, the complex issues of hiring, training, managing, leading, and building operational excellence vary widely from role to role. Many companies think “Frontline” is a category. As you’ll discover, this is not really true. Our new research shows that there are more than 800 “Frontline” worker job titles and they are not only industry-specific but also vary by skill type, skills depth, front or back office, licensing, and professional credential. And these dimensions play a major role in all HR, pay, reward, training, scheduling, and retention strategies. This episode sets the stage for our follow-on podcasts where we detail the Five Types of Frontline Work, a body of research you’ll find even more useful in leading this important part of our companies. Remember, Frontline work makes up over 70% of all US (80% global) workers, and commands more than 3 $Trillion of pay and rewards investment. Additional Information Powering the Frontline Workforce: How Frontline-First Companies Thrive (research) Josh Bersin Company…

People in this episode

Host: Josh Bersin

Guest: Josh Secrest

Topics covered

• frontline workers
• HR strategies
• employee management
• workforce segmentation
• operational excellence

Keywords

• frontline workers
• HR
• training
• management
• employee retention
• workforce
• job titles

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Paradox, Workday

More episodes of The Josh Bersin Company

• The Reinvention of Workday: From System of Record to Platform of Agents · April 27, 2026 · 24 min
• Workday's New Strategy, Enterprise AI Maturity, Meta Layoffs, and Surveillance · April 24, 2026 · 22 min
• How One Of The Nation's Largest Universities Uses AI To Revolutionize Education · April 21, 2026 · 25 min
• Important Issues Of Leadership, Trust and Culture Behind Big AI Companies · April 17, 2026 · 20 min
• Why Microsoft Could Outpace Anthropic and OpenAI In Enterprise AI · April 13, 2026 · 21 min
• The Context Layer (Semantic Layer) In Enterprise AI (And Where Business Rules Go) · April 10, 2026 · 13 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Josh Bersin Company podcast page.