ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘workforce-managemnet’ CATEGORY

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined by Mark Belenky, CEO Software Outsourcing Solutions and a specialist in workforce management solutions to work through some of the key findings of an exclusive Field Service News Research project that spoke to over 100 service leaders from the field service sector and beyond to understand the key trends in workforce management.

During the discussion, the two discuss a number of key insights revealed from the data including the key metrics that define workforce management success, how companies are optimising the costs of managing the workforce and what tools and processes are being used for best-in-class workforce management.

In this excerpt from that full interview, the conversation focuses on the industry data revealing that, for service-centric companies, the biggest issue regarding workforce management is overwhemingly staff utilization.

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Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium.  If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more. 

 

Further Reading:

• Read more about Manage the Mobile Workforce @www.fieldservicenews.com/managing-the-mobile-workforce
• Read more about Workforce Management @ www.fieldservicenews.com/workforce-management
• Learn more about Software Outsourcing Solutions @ www.s-o-services.com
• Connect with Mark Belenky on LinkedIn @ linkedin.com/in/markbelenky

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined by Mark Belenky, CEO Software Outsourcing Solutions and a specialist in workforce management solutions to work through some of the key findings of an exclusive Field Service News Research project that spoke to over 100 service leaders from the field service sector and beyond to understand the key trends in workforce management.

During the discussion, the two discuss a number of key insights revealed from the data including the key metrics that define workforce management success, how companies are optimising the costs of managing the workforce and what tools and processes are being used for best-in-class workforce management.

In this excerpt from that full interview, the conversation focuses on the types of solutions used by organisations to manage the workforce in the ever-changing field service sector.

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Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium.  If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more. 

 

Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about Workforce Management @ www.fieldservicenews.com/workforce-management
• Learn more about Software Outsourcing Solutions @ www.s-o-services.com
• Connect with Mark Belenky on LinkedIn @ linkedin.com/in/markbelenky

In the third and final excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at four solutions for effectively building the new service workforce...

In this second article of a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at two major service challenges to overcome when it comes to the service workforce...

 

In the first article of a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at the disruption and the challenges presented by he ongoing generational shift for service organizations of all sizes...

 

Your most seasoned service techs are retiring. Do you have a plan to replace them? And how do you know how to transfer years of experience to junior staff quickly?

How can organizations like yours attract, retain, and quickly bring up-to-speed younger workers before your seasoned pros retire? The solutions to these challenges, according to industry experts and leading service leaders, include:

• Leveraging the latest digital technologies that empower less experienced employees to succeed by democratizing knowledge
• Promoting continuous learning and development on your service teams
• Setting your people up for success in a post-pandemic world filled with uncertainty and accelerating change

 

 

An Ongoing Generational Shift

Further Reading:

Richard Pratley left behind the beaches, scenery and weather of New Zealand to head-up SimPRO’s UK arm. Seven months into his new role, he spoke to Field Service News Deputy Editor Mark Glover about apprenticeships, health and safety and the state of the service sector in his homeland...

So isolated is New Zealand it was one of the last lands to have human settlement. As well as avoiding human interaction for so long more, it has also avoided the shockwaves spread from the global financial market. Seemingly exempt from the volatile effects of the recession, it is now seen as a ‘rock-star’ economy, immune to the peak and troughs of the downturn.

Investment in apprenticeships, particularly field service apprenticeships however has taken a hit here in the UK, globally and even New Zealand and the sector currently faces a discrepancy in new entrants joining the sector. Richard Pratley, Managing Director at SimPRO UK and a New Zealander is well placed to comment on the issue, which he did as a recent guest on the Field Service News podcast.

I asked him what challenges both countries – New Zealand and the UK – are facing in field service. He was forthcoming on the current employment imbalance. “I think the biggest one [challenge] is the skills labour shortage and how it’s impacting our industry,” he says. “Finding good people and keeping good people is getting increasingly harder.”

He suggested that New Zealand is reacting to the disparity, but it may be too late to plug the current gap. “A lack of investment in apprenticeships is a common trend across both geographies and I think we’ve underestimated how strong apprenticeships were,” he offered.

“Certainly, from a New Zealand perspective, it’s now well-recognized, and there is some heavy investment going in, but of course, it’s all a little bit too late. It’s not going to help us right now but it will help us in a few years’ time.”

“I think the biggest challenge is the skills labour shortage and how it’s impacting our industry...”

Richard headed up SimPRO’s New Zealand office for three years before relocating to these shores to take up his current position at the firm’s UK arm and he tells me there’s never been a better time to adopt an operational software platform or operational job management system.

But with a wide range of outfits to choose what should a service firm be looking for? “The thing we’re trying to do is to get more billable hours and more out of the existing workforce,” Richard says. However, I wonder if owner-based companies, used to ‘pen and paper’ procedures can find the change to a cloud-based OS rather overwhelming?

“Certainly, in New Zealand - and I’m guessing it’s the same in the UK too - there are a lot of large established service businesses that are owner operated,” he says.

“They have been run for a number of years and at some point, that individual may be looking to retire, and have some sort of exit strategy. The challenge is, that without some sort of systemisation, it’s all in somebody’s head and that’s a very difficult thing to get out.”

One area of work traditionally associated with pen and paper (and clipboard) is health and safety. Legislation and regulation require a strong paper trail, something that can be a laborious – yet important process.

Surely then, the cloud-based software in job management systems can assist in this? “We have a number of workflows and tools within apps that allow technicians to do those risk assessments on their devices, to record those results and to actually make some health and safety decisions before they go ahead and do any part of a job,” Richard says.

He pauses slightly before saying: “And I think that’s fundamentally important.” 

You can listen to the Field Service Podcast with guest Richard Pratley here.

 

Across recent weeks here on fieldservicenews.com we've published a series of features analysing an exclusive research project run in partnership with Si2 Partners, WorkAmmo and Service People Matters.

Previously we reflected on Si2 Partners founding partner Nick Frank's initial commentary on some of the headline findings of the research which were first aired in a recent episode of the Field Service Podcast.

Now in the final part of this exclusive research analysis, we dig deeper into the findings and see how the trends the research has revealed support Frank's Si2 Partners initial hypotheses...

 

The Key Characteristics of a Service Manager

So, to begin let’s explore what the key characteristics field service organisations are looking for when recruiting new service managers.

We asked our survey respondents “What are the key attributes you look for in a service manager” with a list of 14 options to select as well as the option to submit additional information - and we asked respondents to list any options that were applicable to them.

Interestingly, and very much in line with Frank’s comments, the most common response was leadership capability in which 86% of respondents stated was a key attribute they sought within their service managers.

This in itself is a particularly intriguing insight given that as Frank alluded to, leadership capabilities may not be particularly evident based on past performance if organisations are promoting from within and selecting their new service managers from a pool of their highest performing field engineers.

This is not to say that they won’t necessarily exist within that pool, however, the skill set of strong leadership is as we have mentioned in the introduction a different skill set to what makes an excellent field service engineer.

 

"The most common response was leadership capability in which 86% of respondents stated was a key attribute they sought within their service managers..."

 

Yet it seems indeed that leadership is absolutely viewed as pivotal within the role of service management today - something that is surely a reflection on the strategic importance of service delivery as a growth driver that Frank refers to.

However, whilst the research findings reveal that whilst leadership skills are the most commonly sought after trait when recruiting service managers, it seems that many service organisations continue to seek out similar attributes within their service managers as those that are often highly valued within field service engineers and technicians.

Specifically, field service organisations were commonly looking for potential service managers to show technical knowledge and application (77%) and be good problem solvers (50%) both key traits often sought after in field service engineers and technicians.

Additionally, both an ability to fight fires and demonstrated performance delivery were both identified as key traits by just under a third (30%) of field service companies look for when recruiting new service managers - again highlighting how the roles of service managers are seen as being a linear progression from field-based roles.

However, given that this number is relatively low, it could also be argued that this could indeed be indicative of a changing tide and that this is part of the evolution which Frank described as service becomes a strategic growth drier rather than merely a cost centre.

Yet, when we look for the skills and attributes that are more firmly in line with what Frank describes as business management skills, again the data sits very much in line with his hypothesis, that perhaps not enough service organisations are showing the levels of ambition that one might expect given the large shift towards service as a profit centre we have seen in recent years.

 

"A third of companies (33%) who stated that a good head for business is something they look for in a service manager, whilst slightly more (40%) stated that an important trait they look for in service managers is for them to be analytical and metric driven..."

 

In fact, again it is a third of companies (33%) who stated that a good head for business is something they look for in a service manager, whilst slightly more (40%) stated that an important trait they look for in service managers is for them to be analytical and metric driven - another attribute that is perhaps more aligned to business management than the traditional requirements of service management.

What these findings to appear to reveal is that we do seem to be in the midst of an evolution within the role of the service manager, with some companies still leaning towards selecting the best performers within their field service teams, whilst others are adopting a slightly more ambitious approach to selecting their service management personnel in looking for traits that are more aligned with the strategic business aspects of the role.

There are of course merits in both approaches, as Frank points out, however, there are also a number of traits that are fundamental to being able to ensure that field service operations are delivered optimally and this was also evident in the research findings.

One big attribute that was commonly cited as important for field service companies to seek within their service managers was a customer-centric outlook - which was, in fact, the second most frequently cited of all the options within the survey with 80% of companies stating this is something they look for within a potential service manager.

Alongside this, a large percentage of companies felt that potential candidates for their vacant service manager roles should ideally have a good operational understanding, which two thirds (66%) cited as well as a good rapport with their service engineers which over half (55%) cited.

Whilst both of these latter two attributes could, of course, be developed by an external candidate these are both areas where an internal recruit would certainly have an advantage.

 

Service Manager Development

So, based on the research findings around the desired attributes of service managers, there remains a strong case for hiring from within, yet at the same time we are certainly starting to see a developing appetite for and a gradual shift towards the more business focussed service management role that Frank describes.

So does this mean that field service organisations are looking to recruit within and then develop the layers of business acumen required for managing a service business as a profit-generating entity?

The research would appear to suggest that this may not yet be the case and the role remains to be seen as being both technical and supervisory rather than being focused on business performance and strategic thinking.

Having  asked our respondents ‘What training do you give to your service managers?’ we found out that indeed, leadership training was the most popular response being cited by just over half (53%) of respondents, whilst technical training was also cited by half (50%) of respondents.

 

"Less than a quarter of our respondents (23%) stated that they gave their service managers any financial or business acumen training..."

 

In addition to these attributes ‘coach-the-coach’ style training and also ‘soft-skils’ were both cited by 30% of companies, is another attribute that fits more within a supervisory focused service manager role.

In contrast to this, less than a quarter of our respondents (23%) stated that they gave their service managers any financial or business acumen training.

This would certainly suggest that whilst aspirationally many companies may be beginning to see service as a driver for revenue growth, in reality, the majority of field service organisations still see the role of the service manager as being one firmly rooted in the operational side of the business.

Of course, one answer for this could simply be that many organisations see the more business-focused aspects of service management as belonging within the realm of the service director, rather than the service manager - but that begs the question as to whether we are developing the necessary characteristics within our service managers to make the necessary step up to become highly effective service directors who can drive both a service operation and business growth forward simultaneously?

Could it be that as field service delivery continues to becoming increasingly interwoven within business strategy - particularly as the trend towards servitization and outcome-based contracts become more prevalent that we are seeing demand outstrip supply in terms of service managers who are equally comfortable being operationally efficient, business savvy and who also have a natural proclivity to customer-centricity?

 

"Over two thirds (70%) of respondents stating that they didn’t feel there were enough candidates to meet demand for service managers roles..."

 

The research would again certainly add weight to this argument with over two thirds (70%) of respondents stating that they didn’t feel there were enough candidates to meet demand for service managers roles given the fact that field service has become increasingly important operation within many companies wider business strategies.

This lack of suitable candidates again asserts the validity and importance of being able to recruit from within - in essence, to be able to grow your own service management leaders. However, if companies are to do so and to do so effectively, then it would appear that many need to rethink how they approach their management level training programs to incorporate more focus on the business aspects if they are to truly align the role of service manager, with the premise of service as a profit centre.

Yet it is by no means an impossible task and the fact that just under half (44%) of the field service organisations who participated in the research involve their service directors within the recruitment process would suggest that these concepts may well filter down over time.

It seems that there is a small portion of field service organisations who are one step ahead of the pack in terms of developing their service managers to not only be able to deliver operationally but also strategically. The question now must be how long before the rest catch up? how long before the rest catch up?

 

Executive Findings: 

 

• 86% of field service companies state that Leadership Capabilities are a key attribute they look for in potential service managers
• 77% of field service companies state that Technical Skills are a key attribute they look for in potential service managers
• 80% of field service companies believe their Service Managers must have a customer-centric outlook.
• 55% of field service companies expect their Service Managers to have an excellent rapport with their service technicians
• 23% of field service companies provide their Service Managers with business or financial acumen training.
• 70% of field service companies believe that there are not enough suitable candidates to fill the demand for Service Managers

 

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.

 

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