Centering Worker Voice in Employer Engagement and Program Design: A Guide for Workforce Organizations

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened appreciation for the critical role frontline workers play in keeping businesses running and communities safe. Business leaders increasingly recognize that listening to workers isn’t just an equity imperative; workers hold unique expertise that can improve business performance. Engaging workers and creating the conditions for them to fully contribute not only unleashes productivity, but reveals that the high cost of turnover need not be tolerated as a cost of doing business. Workforce organizations can serve as a key catalyst in unlocking worker expertise and engagement in ways that strengthen job quality, equity, and the business bottom line.