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

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

In$pired

As the steam from Avid Andy's coffee fogged his glasses on this crisp January morning, he reflected on last year and thought enthusiastically about the year ahead.   Sometimes the noise of business is deafening, we rarely take the time to contemplate our moves, instead are often thrown one direction or another.   Hey, face it, if you are reading posts to gain perspective you fall in the group of folks who pride themselves as obsequious hoop-jumpers.   We live to help others and expect that all of those around us feel the same way.   I just love Influential Irene.   Okay, it is out in the open, she is an inspiration for me and so many others.   Irene reminds folks every year, without fail, these three statements which she fondly refers to as "the punchline" (although this is no joke).   Businesses, of any size, will be successful if they remember that it is people that make a company.   Put this advice into practice, today: Sincerity |...
Post a Comment
Read more

suggesting is NOT selling

People and companies want to buy from people that they trust.   The individual which possesses the broadest set of knowledge will gain the most credibility and as a result yield high levels of trust.   When I was in the field I definitely had the ear of the customer and for the most part discussed areas that needed improvement or replacement. At no moment was I ever, at least in my mind, selling. Instead, as I think back on those days, I believe I was simply "suggesting". Take an immediate need, add in a trusted advisor and a credible suggestion, you will most likely get a sale. However, this is not selling. From my non-salesman perspective I would sum up the following related to the sales process; sales is not a single event but instead a sequence of connection points which create a positive experience that leads to a purchase . Over the years I've been fortunate to have known many different types of salespeople in different industries and I believe that they a...
Post a Comment
Read more