Dr. Bronner’s

Creating space for frontline employee voice to grow

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps is a producer of organic soap and personal care products and has 350+ employees. The company identified a fundamental challenge that affects most organizations: communication bottlenecks. They recognized that ensuring that information flows effectively throughout all levels of the organization and is properly understood by everyone was a critical operational challenge. This communication gap was preventing the company from operating at its full potential and limiting employee engagement.

While Dr. Bronner’s already had an executive council, the concept of creating a frontline council was introduced as a way to bridge the communication divide and give frontline employees a meaningful voice in company operations. The initiative was elevated to a business goal, recognizing that addressing communication challenges could unlock significant organizational potential.

The approach to building a frontline council rested on the vital need to create and foster psychological safety. Leadership understood that simply forming a council wouldn’t be sufficient—employees needed to feel genuinely safe to be open and transparent, or the initiative would fail to achieve its intended impact.

This innovation story was made possible through funding from The James Irvine Foundation