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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...

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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.

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Michael Blumberg, President of Blumberg Advisory Group and founder of fieldserviceinsights.com discusses some of the most crucial mistakes field service companies can make when utilising contingent or seasonal labour...

Field Service Organizations (FSOs) in North America, UK, and Europe are increasingly turning toward crowdsourcing platforms and subcontractors to augment their field workforce.

This type of outsourcing strategy enables FSOs to become more agile in meeting customer demands for service. As a result, they [FSOs] are able to reduce costs and improve service productivity. In addition, crowdsourcing and contingent labour helps solve the problem of finding skilled labour on a rapid basis.

Turning to subcontractors and crowdsourcing platforms does involve relinquishing some level of control over the labour force.However, turning to subcontractors and crowdsourcing platforms does involve relinquishing some level of control over the labour force. Naturally, questions emerge about the reliability, expertise, and quality of technicians that are sourced through these options.

Over the last two years, we have spoken with dozens of companies who have or currently utilize contingent labour to either augment their existing workforce or gain greater agility and efficiency over the entire field service delivery process. The majority are satisfied with their external providers and report positive results on key performance metrics such as First Time Fix and SLA Compliance/Onsite Arrive Time.   On the other hand, a few anomalies exist where the performance of contingent labour did not meet the FSOs expectations.

Quite often, FSOs who experience subpar performance make critical mistakes when retaining and managing contingent labour.

Here is our perspective on the biggest mistakes they need to avoid:

1. Failure to fully vet individual technicians doing the work

Don’t assume that every contract technician (e.g., subcontractor, freelance, crowdsource) you dispatch has the skills, training, and experience necessary to complete the work properly and in a timely manner. Insist on viewing background checks, certifications, and credentials of every contract technician assigned to your company.

2. Failure to train and onboard technicians

Quite often companies issue work orders without to contract technicians without training or guiding them on how they'd like the work to be performed.

For example, they do not explain how they'd like the tech to greet the customer and/or notify the customer when the work is complete.  Fortunately, Internet-based learning systems make it possible for companies to train and onboard contractors in a cost-effective and rapid manner.

3. Failure to communicate with contractors

This is the biggest mistake that a company can make is hand off work orders as if they were tossing a hot potato over a fence.

This will result in problem with respect to key service performance metrics such as SLA compliance, First Time Fix, and No Fault Found.  It is important that companies provide contractors with detailed and specific instructions about the activities they need to perform on each assignment.

At the same time, contractors also need to communicate with the companies that hire them on the status of calls, issues or problems they are experiencing, and results of their actions.

4. Failure to integrate contract or crowdsourced technicians into their service delivery process

Problems can occur when there is too much of an arm’s less relationship between the company and the contractor.  In other words, there is little accountability, visibility, and control between the company and contractors/technicians, and vice versa.

The key to success lies in treating contractors as an extension of your company.  Companies can achieve this outcome by leveraging communication technology, collaboration tools, and workforce automation software.  Relying on these systems will ensure the company achieves best in class service performance through its contractor network.

In summary, FSOs experience challenges to crowdsourcing when they underestimate the level of due diligence, systems, and processes they need to put in place when utilizing this type of labour. This does not necessarily mean that they must make huge capital investments.

FSOs experience challenges to crowdsourcing when they underestimate the level of due diligence, systems, and processes they need to put in place when utilizing this type of labourRather, they are urged to design and implement processes and procedures by leveraging existing infrastructure when they can.

Devoting the time and effort to this initiative will pay off. Our research suggests that FSOs who have an unpleasant experience with contingent labour do so because they rush into the decision without much thought, planning, and preparation.

Basically, they are looking to solve an immediate problem with no consideration to future. In other words, they are taking a tactical approach to labour shortages where a strategic solution is required.

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  Astea
Title: Outsourcing Field Service

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Synopsis:

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Outsourcing part (or all) of a company’s field service operations is not a new concept; service organisations have frequently turned to third-party providers or independent contractors to help meet seasonal demand or provide coverage in far-flung geographic areas.

But the conversation around outsourcing is changing. Instead of simply handing off work that a company can’t perform (or doesn’t want to perform), organisations are approaching the process from a partnership perspective, and searching for partners that can help meet or exceed customer experience expectations.

This White Paper published by Astea takes a look at the key points for consideration for companies looking to get the most out of their outsourced service delivery. The white paper includes sections on:

• What’s driving the need for outsourcing?
• Why technology is the key to successful outsourcing
• What is the changing mix of outsourcing partners field service companies need to be aware of?

Overview:

This evolving view of outsourcing has also made it critical for service organisations to maintain more control over the customer experience and increase their visibility into outsourced service processes. Extending the service chain to outside providers doesn’t have to result in a loss of visibility into technician and customer activities.

Providing technicians and partners with the right technology to capture customer, product, equipment, and work order information—along with the ability to transfer that data to the primary service organisation—can result in a better connected service network. Field service organisations (FSOs) also have more options available when it comes to structuring their outsourcing relationships, from traditional agreements where third parties agree to complete a set number of work orders, to more integrated scenarios where the third-party provider becomes a true extension of the service organisation and its’ brand

What’s Driving the Need for Outsourcing?

Companies are leaning harder on their service organisations for decreased costs, increased revenues and competitive advantage. Service organisations have turned to outsourcing to increase geographic coverage, improve profitability, reduce labor costs, and to improve workforce flexibility.

At the same time, there is higher demand for service and a shrinking pool of available technicians.

According to research from The Service Council, 55% of service companies reported an increase in total field service activity in 2015, despite the increase in the use of remote service and self-service capabilities.

A Changing Mix of Outsourcing Partners?

Not surprisingly, the majority of service companies (76% according to The Service Council) are already having work done by third parties. For those that are leveraging outsourcing, third party providers are performing roughly 32% of work assignments on average.

Asked what their top reasons were for outsourcing, 63% of respondents said they wanted to increase their overall coverage, while 56% wanted to increase flexibility in order to meet demand fluctuations. Service organisations also outsource to reduce their labor costs (44%) and increase availability (29%). So while there are cost savings to be had through outsourcing, most service companies are trying to improve their ability to meet customer demand.

Connectivity is King

When choosing an outsourcing partner, service organisations generally look at a number of important factors, including presence in the regions/areas where service is needed; the ability to complete specific types of work (including product or industry certifications); performance in key performance metrics; and customer feedback regarding service work.

Partners should provide consistent, quality service. This can be difficult to maintain if the right controls are not put into place. Service organisations often complaint about a loss of service quality when outsourcing work, so it is critical to establish ways to track processes and controls throughout the service supply chain.

Technology: The Key to Successful Outsourcing

As stated above, successfully managing outsourced service requires visibility and connectivity, and an investment in field service automation technology that can link both internal and external resources in the service network seamlessly. Successful outsourcing also requires a different approach to working with third-party service companies.[/unordered_list]

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This great infographic from the team at Astea covers some of the key challenges and some top tips for ensuring any outsourced field service operations continue to uphold your brand standards and ensure your customer satisfaction levels remain high.

Want to know more? Field service professionals can access an accompanying white paper "Outsourcing Field Service" after claiming their free subscription to Field Service News!

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No matter which industry you are involved in, it is almost certain that at the very forefront of your business strategy is the goal to guarantee the very best levels of customer satisfaction.

It absolutely needs to be as in todays climate, where access to a huge array of information about you and your competitors is readily available, customer satisfaction plays an enormous role in the way consumers choose which companies get their business. 

For customers requiring after sales service, more often than not the first port of call is of course a contact centre.  Here, the initial call is logged and whenever possible, resolved.

But do service calls really provide customer satisfaction?  What happens when the problem is not rectified within the agreed time or if the service supply chain is too disjointed to efficiently resolve the problem? What impact can this have on your customers overall satisfaction with your company's ability to deliver the product or service they expect?

Successful customer interaction is vital

Carolyn Wilson, services director of technology support specialist Centrex Services, believes the contact centre process is becoming both outdated and ineffective for today’s technology support.

“It is clear that the role of the contact centre within the service supply chain has evolved rapidly; moving from simply offering support to becoming the driving force behind customer satisfaction. There must be control over the entire journey of the repair, not just an automated process to raise a service ticket. Service companies are now at the forefront of customer service, this unrequited lip-service is no longer just an afterthought.” she comments

She is certainly not alone in this view either. In fact a recent study by the Aberdeen Group showed that an incredible 96% of businesses viewed improving customer service results as their primary goal[1].

Carolyn explains further, “There are two major factors which directly affect the success of customer interactions, namely triage (problem identification) and the ability of the control team to resolve any issues as efficiently as possible.

“Equipping the staff to intelligently diagnose hardware problems over the phone and enabling them to take responsibility for the entire service process results in a huge increase in satisfaction levels, as invariably customers are contacting businesses to gain resolution as quickly as possible.”

This begins with the control representative understanding not only the nature of the call, but being able to identify where the part is located and accurately outline when a correctly skilled engineer can be sent to remedy the problem. In short, they need complete visibility of the service supply chain.

An inefficient control centre, can have a knock on effect across the whole of the service supply chain and will always result ultimately in dissatisfied customers.

An alarming statistic uncovered recently by The Service Council was that less than ten percent of field engineers dispatched had the part required to fix the hardware[2]. Clear evidence of a disjointed, fragmented and simply inefficient service supply chain. Instead, businesses favoured a system where engineers operate in territories and will therefore immediately be called out if the customer’s address falls within their patch; regardless of the parts they have to hand, or the personal skill-sets at their disposal.

Addressing this issue Carolyn added, “If a customer’s problem revolves around a part being sourced and fitted by an engineer, for the traditional contact centre to dispatch an engineer closer to the customer because it is more convenient, is unacceptable. This just shows it’s vital that changes are made to the way businesses view their own contact centres and move to adopt better control throughout the process.”

Why accept failure in your service supply chain?

Technology is evolving every year, indeed at an often bewildering rate. So it comes as a huge surprise and disappointment to learn that the vast majority of organisation are failing to apply the available and required layers of intelligence and responsibility to their contact centres. Layers which can provide the level of insight into the service supply chain that is so badly needed. Instead, we see that outsourcing this process remains a highly popular solution, even though as Carolyn points out, this is an ineffective method that is all too often cited as being the major factor in why poor service is being delivered.

“When contact centres are outsourced, businesses always run the risk of providing a service where staff processing customer calls have little knowledge related to the logistics of the service supply chain. Unsurprisingly, triage is inefficient and service level agreements (SLA) are often missed.

“I remain astonished that businesses continue to offer contracts which allow for a certain level of failure when it comes to meeting SLA’s, which is often the bar used to measure customer satisfaction.

“The current systems in place across the after sales service supply chain are not fit for purpose and the time for change is upon us. There will of course be resistance from those who believe the traditionalist approach works, but accepting failure is intolerable and should not be accepted by business leaders or their customers.” she concludes. 

Centrex, who have redesigned their service processes, began with increasing responsibility within its ‘control’ centre to create a service which is both valuable to the company while offering best practice to the consumer. It put's the 'control' centre at the heart of the service supply chain not a distant cousin looking on from afar. It is a sensible yet breathtakingly simple concept that hopefully others may follow.

Look out for the second part of this feature where we look at why bringing all elements of the service supply chain , including customer support centres, all under one roof is an essential aspect of the Centrex philosophy.