Up-Front Podcasts

In this episode, Oscar Bolaños, COO of Springs Window Fashions, explains why listening to frontline workers without acting is worse than not listening at all. Learn how real-time feedback, trust, and follow-through break cycles of frustration and unlock higher engagement, quality, and retention.

In this episode, Miguel Medina, VP of Operations at Strongarm Designs, shares how  structured, real-time feedback turns frontline arguments into actions to solve problems. Learn how you can make it easy for operators to flag issues early, give engineers what they need to fix them, and improve quality, speed, and execution on the shop floor.

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Christine Wilsek, Director of Human Resources at Langham Hospitality Group, shares the importance of giving frontline employees a real voice in delivering five-star service at a luxury resort. Learn about treating employees like five-star talent—while holding clear standards to drive trust, accountability, and exceptional customer experience.

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In this episode, Joe Bosch, longtime HR executive and board member at consumer brands like Pizza Hut and DIRECTV, and venture capitalist, shares how boards and executives miss an opportunity and may even lose trust on the frontline when they don’t answer one critical question for their workers: “What’s in it for me?”

In this episode, Erick Avila, Director of Operations at ABM Industries, shines a light on the hardest part of frontline work – the high-stakes real-time decisions that frontline workers make every day that others rarely see. Learn how leaders can improve the quality of these decisions that impacts their business performance and ultimate success.

Stan Boddy, Director of Operations at Rheem Manufacturing, highlights the issue with lack of frontline visibility into how their work impacts others, and also with upstream factors beyond frontline control that affect them. He talks about this lack of context driving disengagement and what leaders can do to create connection and stronger performance on the floor.

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Cameron McKillop of Dogwood Growth Consulting explains why recurring issues tend to persist on the manufacturing floor, especially in small and midsize companies. Learn how you can capture insights directly from the floor, and why better systems are essential at any size company to improve performance, prevent rework, and elevate the frontline experience.

In this episode, Austin Walker, VP of Operations at Veryable, explains why frontline engagement starts with respecting the constraints of the job, like having only a 15-minute break to give feedback or request time off. He talks about removing friction and designing systems around people to boost participation, improve flexibility, and create a better frontline experience.

In this episode, Adam McKinney shares insights from his senior operations leadership role as General Transportation Manager at Walmart. Learn why he believes the biggest impact leaders can make is to ensure clear, consistent communications with the frontline to build trust, reduce friction, boost performance and help workers feel they are really valued.

In this episode, Frankie Jones, VP of People & Culture at Navistar (AKA International Motors), shares that supporting the whole employee is no longer optional and has become a business necessity post-pandemic. Learn why empathy is now a core leadership skill, and how intentional presence, continuous listening and accessible tools can help frontline teams feel supported.

In this episode, Lucy Stockett, Director of Operations at the United States Air Force, shares that even in a command-and-execute environment like the military, frontline personnel need context and buy-in. Without understanding the “why,” motivation and execution suffer. Learn about visible leadership, real-time connection, and simple daily actions that can strengthen trust and elevate frontline performance and wellbeing.

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In this episode, Julio Martinez, COO at Roncadin, shares a story about the importance of real-time communications in preventing costly downtime, the criticality of capturing data, and how breaking down departmental silos creates transparency and trust. Discover practical ways to listen better, respond faster, and empower frontline teams to do their best work.

In this episode, Barrett Hopper, Director of Operations for Americas at MKS Instruments reveals how real-time communication can be the single most powerful way to transform frontline teams. Learn how intentional gemba walks, true round-table conversations and digital tools can build trust, empower employees to speak up and improve team performance and wellbeing.

From lumber yards to manufacturing plants, Will Smylie, VP of Operations & Continuous Improvement at Marmon Holdings (a Berkshire Hathaway company), unpacks the mindset shift needed to truly empower hourly employees — and why the fastest path to trust, engagement, and performance is shortening the timeline for meaningful change that employees can see and feel.