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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.



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