Skip to main content

Out with the old!


Isn’t our job in the service industry to provide solutions to our clients? For years we have had a myopic perspective on the work that we can deliver, generally limited to our areas of expertise.  Last month I was doing research on demographic trends, the results are stark:

  • Based on information from 2012 regarding the age of workers in the trades; 53% are between 45 and 55, 19% are between 55 and 64.  Statistically 96% of workers retire close to the age of 65.  We’ve all known for years that labor was going to be our issue in the future, the future is now.
  • The new “normal” for workers less than 35 years old stay an average of 4.4 years at their jobs. This is quite a contrast from those workers in their 50s and 60s.
  • Between the years of 2010 to 2014 28.8% of all jobs added were from contingent workforces, also known as “gig workers”.  Odds are the service industry numbers are lower; however, this is a clear sign of things to come.

It's next to impossible to continue exceeding your customers’ expectations without considering the use of a blended workforces (internal and external labor). I’m not talking about the occasional subcontractor used here and there, instead a keen focus on who has what skills and where they can be best applied.  Start considering strategies for the maintenance and growth of your workforces:

  • Digital hippies | how are you can handle these nomadic workers; qualify them at the activity level; insure them in the field
  • Staff augmentation | extend your services and workforce management practices to assist your clients, no better way to create a tight relationship
  • Partner eco-systems | fortify and build your subcontractor networks, including single person companies; wrap your head around how you will engage retirees and disabled veterans; mechanisms will be required for engaging, assigning, and paying for services executed by partners

Get started now as I guarantee your competitors have already begun.



-----

Next post:  in the "people" business can you really measure performance?-
-----
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

why transform?

Why do I want to change, who said anything was wrong with my stack of papers and sea of Excel files?   We solve problems, that is a key characteristic of any successful service organization, if it isn't broke why fix it?   Often, when discussing a transformation from paper or cobbled together systems to a cohesive digital approach, folks struggle with the gap between what they currently do and how digital tools can help.   You really need to look at where the pain points are in your organization and how these compare to your business objectives.   Consider writing down these points on the whiteboard in no particular order, spend a few days shuffling and consolidating into a prioritized list.   Once you have the "why" and the "what" identified, the old remaining step is "how".   Some of the most popular observations over the years have been; Slipping through the cracks :   you know, not the major muscle movements, instead those little i...
Post a Comment
Read more

expert at everything...not a problem

Well... I would say sometimes there certainly is a perceived notion that one person is an expert at everything. For the worker "everything" may be defined as the specific area in which you were hired or are constantly scheduled. Our opinions are frequently influenced off of past experience, or information we've received from their coworkers. Unfortunately this only gives us partial insight to that workers expertise and often is limited to their most recent history. Narrowly focused accounting is made of the skills that this individual possess. Come on, can't we figure out a way to leverage all of the skills of a particular worker? One of the challenges has always been that relationship between the activities which need to be accomplished and the myriad skills of individuals within your workforce. In addition, even if you could inventory and get a pretty good handle on the skill sets, they are constantly changing (with any luck) and thus the ineffective process of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Digital distance

As influential Irene entered the dispatch department this hot July afternoon all that she heard was the tapping of keyboards.   The energy felt like a controlled, almost clinical environment.   It wasn't that many years ago when the sense of chaos, wrapped in genuine human concern for our clients, filled the room with a much different feeling.   Could it be that our ambitions to become more efficient, by leveraging technology has simply created a reason for us not to communicate verbally with one another?    Hasn't the idea all along been centered around our ability to spend more time with our customers? Making each and every one of them feel as if they are our most important client?   Certainly I'm not suggesting we go back to big chief tablets and number two pencils.   Yet, we need to reflect and strike a balance between digitization and delivery. By pure coincidence, avid Andy was composing a memo attempting to give his opinion, without tr...
Post a Comment
Read more