There is a silent revolution brewing in India’s consumer durables sector—not on the shelves, but behind the scenes. As demand for products picks up and supply chains become more sophisticated, frontline staff have emerged as the most prized asset in a company’s execution strategy. They are the showroom salespeople, the field engineers making installations seamless, the service technicians developing customer relationships, and the warehouse workers getting stock moving. However, recruiting and retaining this critical talent is fast emerging as the most challenging war for brands.
Notably, shortage is not a result of lack of labor—it’s a function of changing expectations. Frontline talent today wants more than a job that pays the bills. They want purpose, a career growth, respect, personal development, and a higher quality of life. Winning this war for talent requires brands to shift beyond compensation competition and reimagine how they connect, develop, and keep the individuals who carry their brands on the frontlines.
Rising competition and limits of pay
The traditional recruitment levers are losing effectiveness in times when the space is filled with new players intensifying the talent war. A higher salary margin may help close a role quickly, but it does little to foster long-term loyalty or performance. Pay is just the starting point—no longer the differentiator.
Today’s frontline workers are highly aware of their options and rights. They evaluate employers on multiple dimensions: workplace culture, career growth, training support, and even how aligned a company’s values are with their own. They don’t just look for a basic job, they want a career development ecosystem that secures their family’s future. As a consumer brand in 2025, you must establish a process involving- open communication of values, equal treatment regardless of positions, and the development of an identity they are proud to be identified with. If individuals feel they are part of something significant, they will stay and put in more effort.
Clear career growth pathways with adequate skill development
Career progression is amongst the strongest drivers for frontline workers. Unfortunately, most brands still work in flat hierarchies, with frontline jobs as fixed. Brands can demonstrate to employees that their careers are progressing by investing in structured career routes like technician to team lead or sales executive to area manager.
Brands can create a robust culture of learning focused on enhanced competence and a dedication to the individual. Regardless of the technical skill, communications, digital skills, or customer service being enhanced, regular training boosts confidence and professional satisfaction. Additionally, training programs that are regionally based and in regional languages bring workplaces closer to being inclusive, giving employees the competencies to excel in their work environment.
Culture of respect and recognition
Respect isn’t an attribute—it’s a baseline in any given occupation and industry. But it gets neglected in frontline roles, where customer interactions are transactional and hierarchical in nature. Brands that build a culture of dignity, belonging, and everyday recognition enjoy improved retention and performance. Small gestures—such as celebrating work accomplishments, acknowledging job problem-solving, or engaging frontline voices on customer issues—go a long way towards building loyalty. People want to be seen and valued, not merely managed.
Flexibility and work life balance
The frontline staff frequently work in inflexible, physically demanding rosters. Providing even relatively small amounts of flexibility—stable hours, equitable leave entitlements, proximity-based deployments—has a major impact on employee wellbeing and loyalty. In an industry where long shifts and seasonality are the norm, brands with compassion for employees’ home lives will automatically get ahead.
Technology as an enabler
As much as customers gain from intelligent, networked devices, technology can also empower frontline workers. Mobile applications for scheduling, performance management, communication, and training make work easier and more interesting. Providing employees with simple-to-use apps or online platforms also simplifies tasks and minimizes manual mistakes—improving both productivity and confidence.
Localized engagement and incentives
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all engagement strategy that can work in India because the country and its labor force are extremely diverse, with local cultures, languages, and incentives widely differing. Incentive programs need to be included within local frameworks—festive reward, recognition within the community, or regional opportunity for growth because this has the potential to create stronger relationships with staff members. Localized actions show sensitivity to local culture and appreciation of what really counts to the labor force within various areas. Let’s check out the pointers on how to do this in the consumer durable space.
Listening, aligning and acting with purpose
A robust feedback mechanism should be deployed to retain and nurture today’s purposeful frontline employees. With continuous sentiment tracking through surveys, check-ins, and feedback loops, brands can remain attuned to changing expectations and act accordingly. The data then can be utilized to take necessary actions for fostering trust among the employees by enhancing schedules, improving safety, or upgrading equipment as per job requirement.
Brands also need to realize the increasing desire of frontline workers, particularly the younger generation of workers, to work for brands that have well-defined and clear values in the form of sustainability, ethical sourcing, or community involvement. Brands that have a specific emphasis on these aspects are likely to create a stronger emotional bond with workers, thereby creating a loyal workforce with increased productivity and commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences.
Collaborating with channel partners for talent loyalty
One of the most important aspects in the consumer durables industry is the synergy with the channel partners. Since the majority of the workforce is employed via third-party partners—retail chains, service agencies, or logistics vendors, brands must make efforts to build long-term loyalty with these partners to ensure consistent employee engagement, training, and recognition standards. There should be provisions such as loyalty programs, training certifications, and shared incentive structures to align interests across the value chain.
Winning the war with experience, not expense
Ultimately, the key to winning the war for frontline talent will be how brands treat their people, not how much they pay them. An end-to-end employee experience involving respect, growth, flexibility and purpose will retain people better than any salary increase ever has.
The companies that get this realignment—and act on it—won’t merely hire more talent. They’ll create better businesses, inside and out.
(The author, Pawan Kumar, CEO of Elista.)
