50 Things to Say to Your Frontline Employees

Recently, a client shared an online post called 66 Positive Things You Should Be Saying to Your Child. If you Google “positive things to say to kids” you’ll find variations of this list going back several years and even lists for what to say to yourself, what happy people say, and even what not to say at work.

Our client’s point was this: these are truly great things to say to your child…and we should be saying many of these things to our people at work.

Over 50 million people in the US work in customer experience roles. To provide great experiences to their customers, they have to have great experiences themselves. In stores, hotels, and restaurants, many frontline employees are in their first job EVER. They are often under appreciated by customers and by their employers, seen as transient, and sometimes, I shudder to say, disposable.

As their boss, or their boss’ boss, or the leader of the big corporation running all those units, you’re teaching them what it is like to work. This work thing is what they’ll need to do for the next 50 years, so you have the opportunity to make that first level in a person’s career be either a solid brick foundation or a pile of sand. Or perhaps even a pile of something else. Think for a moment about your first boss. Did he or she come to your mind quickly? Is it a positive or negative memory? In 10 years, when someone asks your employees about their first boss, they’ll think of you.

And we all know that we spend more time at work than we do at home, so let’s be sure we are helping our people have great work days, even if they are in our place for only a short time. We don’t want to get to serious here, but don’t we owe it to them as humans?

Make it a better workday by saying these things to front line employees. Follow the words with actions to show that you mean them.

1. I appreciate you.
2. Our team needs you.
3. I believe you.
4. I believe in you.
5. You are important.
6. You are valuable.
7. You are right.
8. I trust you.
9. You matter.
10. Your thoughts and your actions matter.
11. I want to hear your ideas.
12. You are good at that!
13. No one is perfect…
14. …even me.
15. Try something new.
16. You can do this.
17. Push yourself to do more.
18. You can do anything.
19. That was a great choice.
20. We can try a new way.
21. I am interested in what you think.
22. Tell me what you see.
23. Tell me what you hear.
24. I can learn from you.
25. We can learn from you.
26. I am glad you asked.
27. Own it.
28. Be all in.
29. It will be ok.
30. You can make it better.
31. Its not about the mistake, it is about the recovery.
32. You create your path.
33. Do not allow others to take you off your path.
34. You can also take yourself off your path.
35. And you can get yourself back on your path.
36. One at a time.
37. You inspire me.
38. I want to inspire you.
39. Help me know how.
40. I like being your boss.
41. Enjoy this time.
42. Learn something new.
43. Get help and give help.
44. Make it count.
45. Be open.
46. Be kind.
47. Dream.
48. Change is hard. Everything worth it is.
49. Put yourself in their shoes.
50. Thank you.

Inspired by: 66 Positive Things You Should Be Saying to Your Child – by Alessia Santoro

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/50-things-say-your-front-line-employees-heather-lee?trk=mp-reader-card