ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘advanced-field-services’ CATEGORY

The threat of a genuine ageing workforce crisis is being discussed by field service organisations across all industry sectors and in all corners of the globe. Field Service News in partnership with Si2 Partners, Workammo and Service People Matters undertook research to establish exactly how real this threat is to ongoing service operations and how recruitment, development and progression trends within field service are evolving...

Part one of this research report which is available here explored the findings of this research exploring the reality of the ageing workforce crisis, how field service companies are tailoring their recruitment and development programs to court millennials and whether outsourcing is an answer to help field service companies meet increasing customer demands.

Now we turn to the second part of this report...

Reducing the time from classroom to customer site

Of course, when we consider the issues many companies are facing in replacing their existing workforce it is imperative that the time it takes to onboard a new recruit is minimised as much as possible so that the newly appointed service technicians are adding value to an organisation as quickly as possible.

Whilst, of course, this is somewhat dependent on the industry in which an organisation operates, with some service engineer roles requiring far more knowledge and training than others, it is interesting to see in broad strokes the average time service engineer on-boarding takes.

The most common amount of time stated was between three and six months which was the on-boarding time for just over half of companiesThe most common amount of time stated was between three and six months which was the on-boarding time for just over half of companies (55%) whilst 34% of companies took between one and two years.

One obvious solution to both reducing onboarding times and increasing the longevity of those engineers approaching retirement age is to actively utilise your more experienced service engineers in a mentoring capacity for new recruits.

This is a well-established practice within the field service sector which is evidenced by the fact that 93% of companies stated that this is a practice they have within there workplace.

A more recent introduction to this concept is the ability for the more seasoned engineer to deliver assistance remotely using tools such as video conferencing or augmented reality.However, a more recent introduction to this concept is the ability for the more seasoned engineer to deliver assistance remotely using tools such as video conferencing or augmented reality.

The advantages of such an approach are two-fold. Firstly, it allows for one experienced engineer to support multiple newer engineers at the same time.

Secondly, it also allows the older engineer to work either from a central location or even from home - something that can be a big lure in convincing them to stay within the company.

Again this was an area we explored in our previous research where we identified that 20% of companies were using their older engineers within a remote expert capacity and we have seen similar numbers again in this current research with a further 35% of the total respondents stating they are in the process of putting such a system in place.

What is particularly interesting here is that of those companies that currently do have such a system in place a fifth of them (20%) are utilising Augmented Reality (AR).

We have long been advocates of the use of this technology in exactly this manner at Field Service News for some time now, but across numerous research reports, we have been seeing that the uptake for AR has been to date somewhat stunted.

Yet with the AR market within the field service sector becoming increasingly competitive it seems that we may now eventually be seeing the first real signs of increasing adoption amongst field service companies.

Developing the next generation of service leaders

Of course, whilst it is important to understand where the next generation of field service engineers are coming from and how they are being developed it is equally important to understand how the next generation of service leaders are entering into our sector as well.

Anecdotally many of the service directors one might encounter within the industry do tend to have come from a service engineer background, often having been promoted from within and our research would appear to indicate that this is still a common development path.

59% of the companies that participated in the research stated that when looking to fill a service management role their organisation tends to predominantly try to recruit for the role internally. In fact, 59% of the companies that participated in the research stated that when looking to fill a service management role their organisation tends to predominantly try to recruit for the role internally.

So let’s take a look at some of the common skill-sets that companies are looking for in their service managers.

It is perhaps of little surprise that when we asked our respondents “what are the key attributes you look for in a service manager?” That the most commonly cited response was ‘leadership capabilities’ which 86% of companies identified as a key attribute.

What is interesting and perhaps indicative of the growing importance the field service division plays in generating excellent customer experiences is that the second most valued attribute was ‘having a customer-centric outlook’.

In fact with 79% of companies stating that this was a key attribute they look for in their service leadership this was not that far behind leadership capabilities - certainly suggesting that customer-centricity is a fundamental aspect of what makes a great service manager.

Another big aspect of the role is, of course, the ability to communicate with the technicians and to be able to relay the wider operational picture of the business to them as well as be a conduit for them to engage with the business.

This was again quite clearly referenced in the research findings. For example, 59% of companies stated that having a good rapport with the field engineers was a key attribute they look for in their service leaders whilst over three-quarters of companies (76%) identified strong technical knowledge and application - which is of course, crucial for service managers to understand their engineers challenges and identify weak spots and highlights within their performance.

Two-thirds of companies (66%) stated that they thought their service managers should have a strong operational understanding.Additionally, two-thirds of companies (66%) stated that they thought their service managers should have a strong operational understanding.

This again is important as it allows the service manager to not only see the bigger picture but also translate that to the field engineers - which is an important means of gaining company loyalty - something that is more important than ever considering the challenges that many companies are facing replacing their ageing workforce.

The need for these key attributes is also corroborated in the areas that field service companies are focussing their attention on when it comes to training their service managers.

Again we see leadership and technical skills as the most common area of training with 52% of companies offering such training to their service managers.

Just under a third of companies also provide FSM systems training for their service managers - again an important area for them to grasp as the FSM solution is generally at the heart of how their department will run so a reasonable understanding of how such a system works, what it is capable of and even what it is lacking, can be the key to driving as much efficiency via the FSM solution as possible.

In terms of how the training was applied the vast majority of companies tend to deliver training in an ongoing manner when on-site - an approach over three quarters (79%) of companies within the research adopt. However, only a quarter of companies (25%) offer regular off-site training.

The danger here for those that solely rely on on-the-job training is that by its very nature field service is a dynamic operation with many moving parts, often seeing the service manager fighting fires as part of his regular routine.

With the immediate need of ensuring the customer stays happy the obvious priority - how often will training sessions get pushed down the to-do list?

Initial Conclusions

Firstly, it certainly does appear that the threat of an ageing workforce remains a significant concern and this is something that must be addressed swiftly before that concern truly turns to crisis.

Outsourcing appears to be a sticky plaster that many companies are turning to and it could well be that we see a gradual shift in workforce dynamics across the next few years whereby the role of the field service engineer becomes increasingly outsourced.

But in a world where customer experience is sitting at the heart of business strategy, one might question if handing over control to one of your most important assets in the customer service equation - namely your engineers themselves, is actually the right path to head down.

For those companies that are facing the challenge of replacing their workforce - but are not keen to outsource their field service work, then the reality is they must adapt both their recruitment and development plans to be more in line with the incoming workforce of millennials.

In terms of management for the time being, at least, it seems that we are seeing less disruption of the status quo, with many companies still seeking to employ from withinIt is surprising that so few companies have actually undertaken this process as yet, although what is perhaps somewhat encouraging is a similar amount of companies are at least considering doing so.

In terms of management for the time being, at least, it seems that we are seeing less disruption of the status quo, with many companies still seeking to employ from within and the traditional blend of skill-sets being required - namely technical knowledge, rapport with engineers and operational understanding all still highly sought after.

However, the one element that has been really raised to the fore is the need for our service managers to understand customer-centricity, for whilst this has always been an important asset for service managers, the fact that it has become a key attribute on such a pervasive scale is perhaps the greatest signpost of where the field service unit’s most important role in the future - not just as a maintenance team, but as true brand ambassadors also.

It’s therefore perhaps vital to bear this in mind during all points of talent acquisition be it for technician, engineer or management.

Key statistics: 

• 53% of field service companies state that replacing an ageing workforce is a challenge for their organisation...
• 21% of field service companies have adapted their training and development to be more suited to millennials...
• 80% of field service companies who outsource their service engineer work state that they have increased the amount they outsource within the last three years...
• 55% of field service companies have an on-boarding time of between 3 and 6 months for new service engineers...
• 93% of field service companies are now using their more experienced engineers as mentors for new recruits...
• 59% of field service companies state that replacing an ageing predominantly try to fill service management roles from within their organisation...

 

Be social and share

The threat of a genuine ageing workforce crisis is being discussed by field service organisations across all industry sectors and in all corners of the globe. Field Service News in partnership with Si2 Partners, Workammo and Service People Matters undertook research to establish exactly how real this threat is to ongoing service operations and how recruitment, development and progression trends within field service are evolving...

The threat of a genuine ageing workforce crisis is being discussed by field service organisations across all industry sectors and in all corners of the globe. Whilst the technology that is developing within our industry is creating unprecedented opportunities for improving efficiencies and increasing productivity, it remains a maxim of our profession that it is a people led business.

Simply put without field service engineers, there can be no field service.

So it is of significant concern when we here of field service companies across the globe facing up to an ageing workforce crisis.

But just how much of this crisis is a genuine reality and how much is headline grabbing hyperbole?

Field Service News in partnership with Si2 partners and Service People Matters have undertaken a research project to establish the magnitude of the problem and to assess how field service organisations are recruiting and developing both field service technicians and managers.

Here are the findings...

About the research:

The research was conducted over a six week period reaching out to fieldservicenews.com subscribers as well as the respective audiences of our partners - inviting recipients to complete a detailed online survey. In total there were 131 respondents.

In addition to this Field Service News Editor-in-Chief conducted a live polling session at the recent Field Service Connect event, held at the Belfry, UK which was hosted by WBR at which an additional 33 senior field service executives were present bringing the total respondent level to 164 field service professionals - a sufficiently large enough response base to provide a fairly robust snapshot of the current trends around recruitment and development amongst field service organisations today.

The respondents represented a diverse range of industries including; Heavy Manufacturing, Healthcare, Consumer Electronics, Power Generation and Facilities Management. There were respondents from all across the globe including the UK, Belgium, Germany, UAE, Canada, Spain and the USA and there were responses from companies of varying sizes ranging from those with less than 10 engineers through to those with over 800 engineers.

The reality of the ageing workforce crisis

Of course, the first fundamental issue that we wanted to address was just how many companies were facing an ageing workforce crisis.

In a previous fieldservicenews.com research project conducted in late 2017 we identified that for 48% of field service companies the threat of an ageing workforce was indeed a genuine threat to their service operations - so has this challenge become more pressing across the last 8 months?

53% of respondents stated that replacing an ageing workforce is a challenge for their organisations Our research indicated that indeed it has, with 53% of respondents now stating that replacing an ageing workforce is a challenge for their organisations.

Of course, this means that 47% of companies stating that they do not have a challenge to replace their greying workforce - so then just how severe this crisis could be to our sector as a whole remains in question - but certainly the 5% increase of companies facing this issue across such a short period of time would indicate that this is an issue that is beginning to become increasingly prevalent.

Courting Millennials

Of course, the issue that field service companies are facing in terms of their workforce isn’t only exacerbated by the fact that many of the existing service engineers are coming close to retirement age, we must also consider the fact that the incoming generation of potential new recruits, often dubbed the 'Millennial generation' has a vastly different set of desires when it comes to job selection than the generation they are replacing.

A study by Fidelity Investments found that Millennials are the first generation ever to prioritise work-life balance over financial remuneration for example. Similarly, the linear career progression that was a lure to Baby Boomers and Generation X alike, is of less appeal to Millennials who value diversity within their career and regular fresh challenges within their working lives.

Millennials are the first generation ever to prioritise work-life balance over financial remunerationGiven this dramatic shift in culture within the incoming generation of workers should we be tailoring the way we approach talent acquisition to be more attractive for the Millennial market?

Surprisingly very few of the companies involved in our research are currently doing so.

In fact, just over a fifth of companies (21%) stated that they had adapted their training and development programs to take into account the cultural differences Millennials bring to an organisation compared to almost two thirds (62%) who had not done so.

However, there does appear to be a shift towards adopting such an approach developing though as 17% of companies stated that they were currently in the process of revising their recruitment and development programs to be more geared towards Millennials.

It is also interesting to note that over a quarter of respondents (27%) specifically target graduates when attending jobs fairs, whilst 7% go one step further and target school leavers directly. In comparison, 13% of companies target ex-service personnel.

Is outsourcing the answer?

One potential route to overcoming the loss of in-house engineers due to retirement could be to outsource some of the field service function to a third party.

In fact, exactly half of the companies we spoke to outsource some of their service work.

Of these, the most common breakdown of outsourced staff compared to in-house was a 25:75 ratio in favour of in-house staff which was the mix for 40% of those companies that outsourced some of their service operations.

34% of companies have seen the amount they outsource change across the last three years - with 80% stating that has increased What was of particular interest, however, was that amongst those companies who do use outsourcing as a means of ensuring they can meet their service demands 34% of companies have seen the amount they outsource change across the last three years - with 80% stating that they have increased the number of field service engineers that they now use within this period.

This increase is both dramatic and significant as it seems many field service companies are increasingly turning to outsourcing as a means of maintaining their field technician levels.

Whilst this could be a solution in the short term, it is justifiable to question whether such reliance on outsourcing is unsustainable across the long term?

Look out for the next part of this feature where we explore how field service companies are reducing the time from classroom to customer site, what are the key trends in developing the next generation of service leaders and draw some clear conclusions on the research.

Be social and share

Your field service engineers are the most important element of your entire workforce. Your entire company's reputation in their hands. Your field service engineers are the public face of your business and in many cases, they may be the only representative of your company that the customer ever sees.

In this feature adapted from Advanced Field Service's Service Management Handbook 2014 we look at 7 wtools you should be applying to arm your field engineers to defend your reputation and deliver field service excellence

You can download a copy of the full 45 page Service Management Handbook by clicking this link

Your reputation, spread by word of mouth or increasingly through social media and online reviews, is founded on the experience your customers have of your engineers. Unfortunately, customers seem more likely to broadcast a negative experience than a positive one, especially in the consumer or domestic service sector. Some disgruntled customers have even taken to posting video blogs of their experience of poor service. A video goes viral; word spreads like wild fire; and your reputation is permanently damaged. So how can you equip your service team to build your company reputation?...  

Arming your team

 

1. Free Engineers to do what they do best -  A happy engineer more often than not results in happy customers. What motivates them best is using their time in deploying their skills rather than in endless form-filling.  Consider ways to free your service team from the routine dross that saps their time and motivation, and empower them to be more productive and efficient.

 

1. Talk to your workforce - It may seem obvious, but communication with your workforce, holding regular face-to-face group meetings on the status of the business and sharing any development plans will all help build a work team ethos, visibly improve productivity and make individuals feel valued and part of the bigger picture. Consider holding workshops between management and the workforce to maximise the knowledge of the entire company and boost morale.

 

1. Make your engineers your eyes and ears - With their close, on-the-ground contact with your customer base, even the most junior engineer can be a source of intelligence, such as feedback on how your customers regard your products and services: are they generally happy or are there murmurings about changing their supplier or service provider? Your field team is also a valuable channel for communicating your vision of service quality and also for publicising forthcoming product updates or new releases.

 

1. Encourage self monitoring - Some service companies are using modern technology such as GPS tracking to weed out the worst instances of misconduct among their engineers. Others are adopting a more complementary method where their engineers choose their priorities and self-monitor their performance, an enlightened approach that can pay dividends. Whatever you decide, consider the culture of your organisation. You may choose a halfway stance – after all, you don’t want to be seen as Big Brother, but it’s likely you’ll need some sort of process in place to support your growing business.

 

1. <Information: the vital tool in your engineers’ kit -  It’s essential that your engineers have the right tools for the job, and not only their physical toolkit, to arrive on-site fully armed and hit the ground running. They need information about the product, such as parts, diagrams, nature of the problem and known workarounds, as well as information about the customer, including their service history and essentials such as their contact details and location. In addition, alert your engineers to any issues that the customer has, such as a recurring problem with a particular product, so that they can handle the situation with all due sensitivity.

 

1. Mobilise your team - Information should also travel in the reverse direction: from the engineer back to base. Using their mobile device, engineers can send the customer’s sign-off back to the call control centre, along with any photographs or other supporting evidence, and details such as time to arrive on site and time to complete the job. This information can be sent immediately to the contract manager to provide an instant report. A mobile solution is also a useful way to record exceptions to your usual high standards. In some cases, your engineer may be prevented from getting to the root of the problem. Was the equipment inaccessible due to a physical obstruction or the machine being unavailable for servicing? A photo will provide supporting evidence should there be a query from the customer at a later date.

 

1. Room to grow - To keep staff retention to a maximum, it makes sense to build a happy and rewarding work environment where employees can flourish and grow. A clear and defined development strategy and regular career mentoring is likely to make employees more inclined to stay at a company. Mixing up experienced engineers with new engineers will also speed up the learning curve and give individuals the opportunity to advance.

 

 

Want to know more? You can download a copy of the full 45 page Service Management Handbook by clicking this link

 

be social and share this feature!

Resource Type: eBook
Published by: Advanced Field Solutions
Title: The 2014 Service Manager Handbook
About: One of the most detailed and comprehensive resources to be published for the field service industry this year. This excellent eBook covers an exhaustive range of topics to help you get to grips with managing your mobile workforce, improving productivity, increasing efficiency and improving your bottom line.
Download: Download the white paper by clicking here

Overview:

The field service industry is subject to constant change and it’s vital to keep an ear to the ground on the latest hot topics to embrace the changing business landscape and keep up with the competition.

Intelligence on your business and its status, not to mention the highest levels of customer service, is absolutely pivotal to survival in tough trading times and even the savviest players need to ensure they have the right tools in play to keep up with their rivals.

To remain successful and dynamic, service managers need to be resilient to change and have the ability ‘to think outside of the box’ to ensure their organisation is best placed to drive their business forward.

They need to keep their finger on the pulse on many different aspects of the running of the organisation from innovating ideas, investing in IT, and seeking and exploring opportunities for further growing the business.

Having the power to access critical data across all areas of your service business, make informed instant decisions and manage your operation – from the first inception of the call all the way to its happy conclusion – will highlight the strong players from the weak.

If you want to make your business stand out from the crowd in 2014 and beyond, having the correct systems and processes in place will need to be a high priority on your agenda.

This essential handbook takes a glimpse at the key areas that all service managers need to address to give your organisation the power to evolve from ‘field service burnout’ to ‘best-inbreed’…

Topics include:

Modelling the perfect profitable client - In an effort to maintain business viability – and keep your engineers working out in the field – some field service businesses may be tempted to take on clients with narrow profit margins.

However, to build a sustainable business, you need to focus on the jobs, contracts and clients that
are most profitable, rather than trying to be all things to all clients. So it’s worth stepping back and analysing your client base.

Turning work away is never easy to do, but it can also free up your expensive resources to focus
on where they can bring best return. Your service management solution should give you the
advantage of arming you with the evidence and information you need.

Scheduling Challenges - Scheduling your field engineers is undoubtedly one of your core key performance indicators (KPIs), central to your business profitability, and a key target on which your staff are measured.

But it’s a delicate balance between meeting the needs of both your staff and the business. Get it right and the chances are the business will be highly successful. Get it wrong and the consequences can be disastrous.

However many UK service businesses find big savings, both in terms of costs and time, simply through getting the properly skilled technician to the job with the minimum of fuss. So when scheduling your field resources, it is key to get it right.

Empowering your workforce - Your engineers are the public face of your business. In many cases, they may be the only representative of your company that the customer ever sees.

Your reputation, spread by word of mouth or increasingly through social media and online reviews, is founded on the experience your customers have of your engineers.

Consider ways to free your service team from the routine dross that saps their time and motivation, and empower them to be more productive and efficient.

Reviewing your customer service strategy - It’s a given that the customer is your number one priority, however, to satisfy and retain your clients, field service companies need to repeatedly provide a professional service.

Typically, customer service is impacted by a combination of factors that result in the customer not getting what they want, when they want it.

So what can service businesses do to really ensure that what you are delivering is adding genuine value to your clients? And what can you do to ensure your value-add is fully recognised by the client?

Setting realistic budgets and timescales - Today’s customers are flexing their buying muscles and putting increasing pressure on suppliers to meet their strict SLA.

To establish your reputation as a customer service leader and gain full control over your job profitability, it’s vital to gain full visibility over your contracts and tighten controls over your SLA management.

Having access to accurate information on the actual cost of similar past projects, contracts and large installations helps to ensure that future bid costs and resource requirements are accurately assessed.

There are many factors that will determine the price of the bid to the client. This is quite often the main focus when putting the estimate together, with the cost and resources that are needed to deliver the contract not always being fully considered at the bid stage. Without formal systems in place, many service organisations find it difficult, time consuming, if not impossible to compile this historical information.

Unleashing cash flow - To maintain a healthy cash flow, it is important not to tie up cash unnecessarily in stock. Getting a hold on your stock is a sure-fire way of gaining significant savings in cost and time.

If your organisation handles stock, you will be all too aware of the dangers of stock piling.

Having cash tied up in stock is a dangerous tactic when cash flow is so important. Rather than relying on a ‘crystal ball’, organisations should automate the stock forecasting process so that sales and usage of stock can be predicted, avoiding the pitfall of holding more stock than required.

Your service management systems should give you the power to analyse stock history, so you can recognise trends and fluctuations to ensure that stock levels fall within the desired optimum range and anticipate demand at peak times.

Turning data into insight - Having distinct performance mechanisms in place enables management to recognise and react to emerging trends, whether positive or negative. Without these, performance may be overlooked in areas that could be optimised and yield greater return.

The importance of the KPI - KPIs are a vital performance tool for all service organisations of all sizes. To effectively track, monitor and evaluate success to ensure your business is growing in a sustained way, a best practice method needs to be adopted.

It is vital to identify which KPIs align to your business success. Standard service management KPIs include: first time fix rates, SLA adherence, engineer productivity, job costing, call rates, net profit margin, stock value and customer satisfaction/retention.

Without pro-actively monitoring KPIs, service management businesses are vulnerable to problems that can seriously undermine both performance and profitability. For example, a company that does not regularly monitor sales margins could discover at year-end a repeated mistake that has cost thousands.

 

Get your copy of this resource now!