ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘employee-engagement’ CATEGORY

Field Service News' Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland says change is coming, and we should embrace it...

 

It seems that the current Zeitgeist amongst our collective of excellent columnists here at Field Service News, which is usually a pretty good indicator  of the general mood of the industry at large is one of seismic change.

It seems that in one way or another the vast majority of our commentators have zoned in on change in one form or another.

The technology is perhaps the easier bit to get our heads around. We all have a vague understanding of how AI, IoT and AR can work together to improve our service delivery.

We do need to understand how we handle the data that new technology reveals though as Aly Pinder states in his article around convergence of man and machine  “To turn emerging technologies such as the IoT into the promise being trumpeted, organizations must transform the way they manage this data.” And in terms of the strategy, how many of us can say we have such a firm grasp around the nuanced challenges of embracing servitization?

Yet, the future of field service will inevitably be one of servitized business models and outcome based service offerings - so we had better get our ducks in a row sooner rather than later in this regard. Although it is easier said than done, as Bill Pollock comments in his article, we are essentially going to have to write a whole new book when it comes to understanding what the next iteration of field service efficiency looks like, with a whole new set of metrics and while we are at it, whole new ways of monitoring them.

Bill is of course, an old friend of mine as I have often referred to in this column, and he is without doubt the go-to guy when it comes to analysis into benchmarking KPIs in use by field service organisations - so I hope to catch up with him on an episode of the Field Service Podcast to discuss our own research into this topic and get his ‘Analysts Take’ on our findings.

Speaking of which if you haven’t yet taken a look at our new dedicated online home for Field Service News Research, then you can find it here where you’ll be able to check out all of our latest research reports and also join our list of respondents - each of whom get rewarded handsomely (well they get a Starbucks voucher) for taking part in our ongoing research programs.

Talking of change, I’d also like to just take a moment to wish Zack Bergreen a very, very well deserved, long and happy retirement as he steps down from his role as CEO of Astea after 40 years.

Zack has been a pioneer within the service management industry and is as well respected as he is well liked, so I am sure I am not alone in wishing him all the very best as he steps down.

One thing is for sure, Zack will have seen some incredible change in the 40 years he has been at the helm of Astea. There wasn’t even an internet back then, just things. And remote work really was remote.

But I’d put a hefty wager that the change we are embracing now is more radical and game changing than ever before. As Pollock says, “What we have gotten used to is all about to change.”

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Check out the latest issue of Field Service News with all of the features referenced above by clicking the link below now! 

Field Service News' Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland, offers opinion on what 2020 could bring for the service sector...

Maybe it’s just the bluster of a new year, magnified but a whole shiny new decade, and not just any decade, 2020 an iconic turning point for an ageing Xennial like me old enough to remember the exciting future that Doc Brown showed us back in the 80’s, yet young enough to harbour the distinctly millenial disappointment that actually the early part of the twenty first century was pretty much the same as the end of its predecessor - just with more anxiety a far, far worse movies.

But I can’t help but feel a tinge of anticipation and excitement as we cross into 2020. Sure, I might have been massively let down by ‘hover boards’ but wont stop my enthusiasm for celebrating the future with the vim and vigour of someone raised on a diet of sci-fi movies that are almost all now set in the past.

But stepping away from childhood flights of fancy and back into my grown up job I actually think there is a huge amount of potentially very rapid development that is going to take the FIeld Sector by storm in the next twelve to eighteen months. And this, dear reader is why this issue is entitled “it’s all coming together” comes from.  Let me take a moment to explain further. 

"It feels much less like a crisis now and more of an objective to be undertaken..."

To begin I think it is become increasingly clear that we are moving away from an age where technology existed in silos. The concept of the technology stack is not a particularly new one, but it has finally begun to really take root in our broader consciousness in terms of how we view the tools we need to improve on our field service efficiencies.

As Amit Jain comments in this issues Big Discussion which is on Artificial Intelligence: “Ultimately, I think the days of viewing technologies in isolation are rapidly becoming a relic of the past. In today’s modern systems and solutions, you should expect to see a wide range of technologies all sitting alongside each other working in harmony towards an improved outcome.”

This echoes my own thinking I couldn’t have put it better myself. In another area of pressing concern again I feel we are coming together to overcome challenges - this time namely the ageing workforce crisis.

We are now quite some way into to dealing with this and many of us have gone through the process of replacing the retiring ‘boomers with incoming millennials to the point where the look and feel of the field workforce has begun to change and as the blended workforce gains traction that evolution will continue.

But it feels much less like a crisis now and more of an objective to be undertaken.

It’s an important objective make no mistake, but nothing we can’t handle.

Steve Zannos, Senior Director of Customer Care at Electrolux, suggests an open channel of communication between corporate leadership is crucial and urges senior execs to join their team in the field more often as well...

In the latest Field Service Podcast, Cheryl Anne Sanderson, Operations Director at G4S FM UK and Ireland, discusses the struggle in attracting the next generation of technicians and engineers and suggests influence must come from the top of a business to change perceptions of those looking in who are considering a career in service.

 

In this  special episode, Field Service News' Deputy Editor Mark Glover, speaks to the brilliant, forward thinking Cheryl-Anne Sanderson ahead of her keynote address at Field Service Connect next month; enticingly titled, Making Field Service Sexy. How to redefine industry perceptions to attract the next generation of bright minds and propel your field service into the digital era.

Cheryl is passionate about getting young people into the sector and this eye opening podcast goes deep into the issues behind the current workplace disparity and what can be done, if anything, to remedy it.
An essential listen!

You can find out more information about Field Service Connect which takes place on 15 and 16 May at Celtic Manor, South Wales here. 

Study shows deskless workers will engage more with videos, private messaging and comment functionality when using firm's employee communication tool.

Research by Speakap, has revealed frontline workers - those not desk-based - engage more positively with their employees internal social intranet if it carries instant messaging and commenting functionality. The report also claims workers productivity is improved if such applications are used.

The ability to communicate directly with colleagues rather than on an open forum, the report says, encourages more open, confident and clear direction between teams and managers.

“If messages are too vague or are not filtered to target and reach the most relevant users, it can lead to clutter, confusion, less productivity and even poor results/performance," Patrick Van Der Mijl, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Speakap said. "By understanding their employees’ communications behaviours, organizations can effectively build and adjust their employee engagement and experience programs to better serve the needs of their workforce.” 

You can download the report here. 

 

Laurent Othacehe, CEO, Cognito iQ looks at why employee engagement is a critical pillar for achieving field service excellence and offers some crucial advice for field service companies seeking to how best to ensure they are getting the most out of their most important asset - their field service staff...

Field service is not just about IT and processes, nor is it just about parts and engineering. It is about people, this is why employee engagement is one of three fundamental aspects, alongside improving productivity and meeting customer expectations, that can lead to what we view at Cognito iQ as flawless field service.

If you want to know more about this topic there is a white paper available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Not a subscriber? If you are a field service professional you can apply for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription.

Click here to apply for your subscription and we'll send you a copy of the white paper Flawless Field Service: Employee Engagement as thanks for your application

To find out more about the many benefits of being a fieldservicenews.com subscriber and to understand how we store and may use your data please visit our subscriptions page here

What is employee engagement?

So what do we mean by employee engagement?

If you Google it, you’ll get any number of definitions, but we like this one from not-for-profit organisation Engage for Success.

“Employee engagement is a workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organisation to give their best each day, commit to their organisation’s goals and values and contribute to the organisational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being. Employee engagement is based on trust, integrity, two-way commitment and communication between an organisation and its members”.

It’s also important to say what employee engagement isn’t. It isn’t manipulative. It’s not a cynical attempt to wring productivity from employees with spurious benefits. It isn’t an annual employee engagement survey – although it can be measured - and it should only be measured if doing so leads to positive change.

This means that employee engagement must be win-win for employees and their employers. It can’t be imposed from above. It’s about creating a cultural shift in the way organisations behave.

Key drivers of employee engagement include the following:

• A culture of trust, fairness and respect for employees and management
• A culture of teamwork and co-operation
• Clarity on goals, constructive feedback and support to succeed
• Quality training and clear job progression
• Work-life balance and work that makes the most of people’s skills
• Empowerment, autonomy and a sense that people’s ideas are valued

Why employee engagement matters

In the UK, only around a third of employees are ‘engaged’. Engaged employees tend to be happy in their jobs, enthusiastic about their work, committed and driven.

This matters, not only for the wellbeing of the remaining two thirds of UK workers, but also because study after study has linked employee engagement to improved productivity, customer satisfaction, growth and profitability, as well as a whole raft of other business metrics, including employee retention; innovation; safety incidents; product quality and defects; shrinkage and theft; and sickness and absenteeism. And whilst engaged employees can bring business benefits, the reverse is also true.

A US study found that there are 51% of US workers who are not engaged, and a further 16% who can be defined as ‘actively disengaged’; whilst workers who are ‘not engaged’ tend to be indifferent – they are just showing up for their pay-check - those that are actively disengaged can be resentful and disruptive, taking up managers’ time, seeking out ways to ‘cheat the system’ and even sabotaging the work done by others.

Employee engagement in field service

1. The nature of the work:

Remote workers can feel isolated, which reduces engagement. It is important to ensure that they feel connected to the main office, and also feel part of a team, whether that is at a local or regional level, or by job specialisation.

Field service has traditionally been low-tech which has meant a lot of tedious paperwork – necessary but not as satisfying as helping customers and solving service issuesAs back-office management don’t always have good visibility of how work is actually done in the field, they might not understand how to empower and enable workers to do their jobs and may have created processes that are unhelpful or counter-productive.

In addition, field service has traditionally been low-tech which has meant a lot of tedious paperwork – necessary but not as satisfying as helping customers and solving service issues – so it is important to automate some of these admin tasks, as well as give workers electronic access to the information they need to do their jobs, such as product manuals and parts databases.

2. The nature of the workforce:

There is an ageing workforce, with the average age of the field service worker being 40 years old – and many of the older baby-boomer generation engineers are starting to retire.

To fill the skills gap in field service will mean both keeping older engineers on for the long haul by retraining and re-skilling them, as well as attracting and training new younger engineers. Engagement is essential here as it is costly to train up new workers only to have them job-hop to a competitor for a slightly better rate pay or better benefits.

3. The nature of the industry:

As products become commoditised, companies are relying on the quality of their service to differentiate from competitors. Field service workers are the face of the brand and often the only company representative that customers interact with. Engaged employees are more likely to give great customer service than disengaged employees.

The most forward-thinking companies are wise to the potential of field service workersThe most forward-thinking companies are wise to the potential of field service workers. They are considering ways to upsell other products and services during their visits and are turning field operations departments into profit centres. Technology is also changing the skills needed on the job. Connected devices are reducing some of the tasks that field workers need to do, such as routine maintenance checks, but they are creating new data, which means that workers will need analytical skills.

Technologies such as virtual or augmented reality are also changing the ways that workers carry out their tasks. Workers may see these new skill requirements as a threat – however, companies that are good at engaging their employees see these developments as opportunities to offer training, career progression and the satisfaction that comes from being part of an up-to-date and modern company.

If you want to know more about this topic there is a white paper available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Not a subscriber? If you are a field service professional you can apply for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription.

Click here to apply for your subscription and we'll send you a copy of the white paper Flawless Field Service: Employee Engagement as thanks for your application

To find out more about the many benefits of being a fieldservicenews.com subscriber and to understand how we store and may use your data please visit our subscriptions page here

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Resource Type: Written Guide
Published by:  Cognito iQ
Title: Your Guide to Flawless Field Service - Perfecting Productivity

 

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Want to know more? Access to this resource is available to Field Service News subscribers only - but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription!

 

Field Service Professional? Click here to apply for a complimentary industry subscription to Field Service News and get the resource "Your Guide to Flawless Field Service - Perfecting Productivity" sent directly to your inbox now

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Synopsis:

Outside of the field service industry, the growth of big data and analytics is old news. The most advanced organisations have already gone beyond the hype and have developed strategies that are delivering exciting performance-enhancing results. For example, Leicester City’s surprise Premier League win was based on the club’s expert use of football data analytics. Stories such as this are why Gartner say “Data and analytics are taking centre stage as the single most powerful catalyst for change in the enterprise”.

However, field service companies have been slower to achieve similar levels of success from the use of advanced analytics. Whilst in many organisations there is plenty of data available, it can be hard to use effectively: the data may not be sufficiently accurate or timely, and service professionals may lack the skills and tools they need. But this is changing. Field service organisations are getting smarter with both the data they collect and how they use it.

Over this series of three special guides, Cognito iQ demonstrate how simple analytics can make a significant difference to three key components of field service excellence:

• Customer Satisfaction
• Employee Engagement
• Productivity (the subject of this first instalment)

 

Overview:

Topics covered and addressed in this white paper include:

Expectations of field service have never been higher

Customers are used to the speed of delivery and quality of service that they get from consumer companies such as Amazon; this has raised the bar for all service companies. Customers want a service appointment quickly, they want smaller appointment windows and they expect your field worker to have the right information as well as the skills, knowledge and parts to resolve their issue first time.

So how do field service organisations provide a better service to their customers, with fewer resources?

So how do you improve productivity?

To answer that question, you have to know what productivity means to your business. All businesses will have a different definition and an individual approach. For example, would you be happy to drive up the number of visits per day your field workers attend if that meant fewer first time fixes, or reduced customer satisfaction scores?

The old adage is that you can’t manage what you can’t measure but, these days, companies know that it is a bit more complicated than that – measurement for its own sake or using the wrong metrics to set targets can be counter-productive.

 

It is vital to know how to measure success: which metrics are useful and which aren’t, which can be accurately determined and which can’t, how metrics interact and how setting goals and targets will affect how employees go about their jobs.

Perfecting productivity

Continual improvement is a well-established practice that seeks to increase customer value, reduce waste and optimise resources via incremental change, feedback and analysis. These techniques originated in manufacturing; on a production line, it is relatively simple to measure variables such as number of defects, as you can easily see how the work is being done and you can observe the impact when you make changes to the process.

But as continual improvement methodologies have developed, they have been profitably applied in many other industries, so why not field service operations?

With the right data, it is possible to adopt a proactive, systematic approach, breaking down the processes within the operation.

 

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Want to know more? Access to this resource is available to Field Service News subscribers only - but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription!

Field Service Professional? Click here to apply for a complimentary industry subscription to Field Service News and get the white paper "Your Guide to Flawless Field Service - Perfecting Productivity" sent directly to your inbox now

 

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