sarah.nicastro@ifs.com, Author at Future of Field Service

By Sarah Nicastro, Founder and Editor in Chief, Future of Field Service

On August 9^th, after 91 years full of life, Dame Stephanie “Steve” Shirley passed away. The life Dame Stephanie led was not only inspiring but forged the future for all women in tech. I learned of Dame Stephanie just this past January, hearing Jake Humphrey of the High Performance podcast speak about her at an IFS event (their interview with her is a wonderful watch). What he shared moved me to order her memoir, Let It Go, on the spot. Reading her story left me moved, awed, and inspired – so much so that I wanted to honor her by sharing some of what stood out to me with you.

Dame Stephanie was a child refugee of the Holocaust – one of thousands of Jewish children fleeing the Nazis that came to Britain as part of the Kindertransport (a British rescue effort in the months preceding World War 2 ). At just five years old, she arrived in the UK and met her foster family. “I was five years old. My nine-year-old sister and I had been travelling for more than two days, on a grim, tearful journey from Vienna. We knew scarcely half a dozen words of English between us, and I, at least, had only the vaguest idea of where we were going and why,” she says in Let It Go. As she describes the impact her early start had on her, she goes on to say, “Without my being fully aware of what was going on or why, a large number of good-natured strangers took it upon themselves to save my life. It took me some years to digest this fact and its implications. But once I had, a simple resolution took root deep in my heart: I had to make sure that mine was a life that had been worth saving.”

I won’t use this space to attempt to retell her entire story; not only could I never do it justice, but it is well worth your time to read Let It Go yourself. But I’ll share just enough to illustrate that it’s evident how seriously she took her resolution. As a student, she showed an interest and promise in math that wasn’t “of the time,” and followed this passion ruthlessly until she fell in love with computers.

As a young adult, Stephanie continues to unfold her education and professional journey while in parallel grappling with the psychological impact of the early experiences of her life. All the while, with grit, she vied for roles that women typically wouldn’t/never had and she succeeds in breaking barriers. She says in Let It Go, “Perhaps my fractured upbringing had given me a sense that, if I wanted to make anything of my life, I needed to take control of it myself. It doesn’t surprise me at all, in retrospect, that some people saw me as pushy. A kinder analysis would be to say that, like all refugees, I had been forced to develop a strong sense of independence.”

Forging a Future for Women in Tech

At age 29, after earning her Master’s degree and marrying her husband, Derek, Stephanie decides to start her own software company. She says in Let It Go, “While I could hardly have been less qualified for the task, I did have the crucial asset of unlimited enthusiasm.” Her company, Freelance Programmers, and son, Giles, were born around the same time. It was shortly thereafter she adopted the moniker “Steve,” a suggestion from her husband since she was likely to get a better response to business outreach if people didn’t realize they were communicating with a woman.

Freelance Programmers (which was later known as FI Group and later still Xansa) was designed around providing jobs to women with children. Dame Stephanie pioneered remote work and flexible working practices, believing firmly that women not only have a place in IT, but don’t need to conform to “standard practices” (often impossible for mothers, especially in the 1960s) to add value or succeed.

Like many entrepreneurs, Dame Stephanie faced tumultuous times with Freelance Programmers but, like she did in all things, persevered. Over time, the company grew to employ 8,500 people and was ultimately valued at almost $3 billion.

As that journey was unfolding, so was Dame Stephanie’s journey of motherhood. Her son, Giles, was diagnosed with severe autism around age 3. She poured herself into understanding his diagnosis, determining how best to meet his needs, and finding him proper care. Sadly, Giles passed away at age 35. Throughout his life and beyond, Dame Stephanie championed and supported related causes, including being an early member of the National Autistic Society and funding many autism projects through her charity, the Shirley Foundation.

In fact, Philanthropy became a huge aspect of Dame Stephanie’s legacy. According to her website, “Dame Stephanie’s life has been dedicated to IT and autism, so it’s in these two specific areas that she chooses to invest her philanthropic energies. She has given away the majority of her wealth, nearly £70 million in total, causing her to be the first person to drop out of the Sunday Times Rich List as a result of her philanthropy.”

This short synopsis is a mere glimpse into her truly amazing story – if you’ve never read her book, Let It Go, I urge you to do so. Her willingness and ability to offer such self-reflection as she documents the different phases of her life, her wise words of advice, her at times unfathomable strength, all make not only a compelling read, but one that will leave a lasting impression on you.

Lessons from Let It Go

Here are a few of my personal favorite quotes from the book:

On selling service/power of listening: “The idea of a service industry – which is what we were – barely existed in those days…Jack Bungard taught me many things, the most important of which was how to sell. He taught me to rein back my instinctive desire to show off my insight and technical expertise and, instead, to listen.”
On flexible work: “We paid people for the work they accomplished rather than the hours they put in. Compared with a conventional company, we were treading our freelancers like adults: trusting them, as intelligent, motivated people, to make the best use of the time available to them in order to achieve the goals that had been set.”
On innovation: “I suspect, however, that the most important factor that shaped Freelance Programmers in its early years was, simply, my naivety. Deep down, I still didn’t know what I was doing. Not knowing what the rules were, I was free to innovate – as, indeed, was everyone else involved.”
On outside-in: “Because I was talking the clients’ language rather than ours, it formed me to see things from their point of view – something that the IT industry is notoriously bad at doing.”
On surrender: “I have struggled all my life with an instinct to hang on to the things that matter most to me, to control and protect them myself. Yet the art of surrender is, I am convinced, a key to many kinds of success- and fulfillment. And many lives are limited by a failure to master it.”
On leadership: “The older I get the clearer it becomes to me that empowerment is the key to business success...It is people, not assets, that make the modern business world go round. It is their creative drive that sparks new enterprise and innovation, their professionalism and dedication that ensures quality, their energy that makes things happen – and, always, it is teamwork that carries forward the vision. Yes, by all means lead from the front, if that is your style, but always remember that leadership is nothing unless those who are led give the best of themselves. Like love, leadership is, at its best, about giving, not taking.”

If I were able, I’d say: Thank you, Dame Stephanie, for your inspiration. For the hard work you tirelessly took on so that all the women who’ve come after you can walk a different path. For your generous giving. May you rest in peace knowing you most certainly lived the definition of a life worth saving.

Episode 320

In this episode of UNSCRIPTED, host Sarah Nicastro shares key takeaways from last week’s Future of Field Service Leaders Meetup and IFS Connect North America. The episode explores critical themes including balancing AI automation with employee empowerment, understanding regional customer value differences, and leveraging artificial intelligence for improved knowledge management with practical perspectives from industry leaders at TOMRA North America and Tampa Electric.

In this episode:

[00:00] Intro: Live from Nashville - Insights from Future of Field Service Meetup

[01:48] Building Community: The Power of Service Leadership Networks

[03:03] Balancing AI Automation with Employee Autonomy in Field Service

[06:26] Understanding Regional Customer Value: From Canada to US Service Preferences

[09:07] AI-Powered Knowledge Management: Revolutionizing Tech Training

[11:44] Developing Your Service Mantra: Creating a Compelling Value Proposition

[14:58] Service Industry Trends: Beyond Technology to Human-Centric Solutions

[17:02] TOMRA's Journey: Modernizing Service Platforms with an Evergreen Approach

[18:41] Data-Driven Excellence: Achieving 97% First-Time Fix Rate

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By Sarah Nicastro, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Future of Field Service

Technical debt is an issue that is rapidly growing in importance – an issue that many businesses have avoided for far too long but must begin to reconcile. Gartner defines technical debt as “work that is ‘owed’ to an IT system when teams ‘borrow’ against long-term quality by making short-term sacrifices, taking short cuts, or using workarounds to meet delivery deadlines.”

MIT Sloan Management Review states that, “technical debt is an anchor, dragging down business leaders’ efforts to run a tight ship. The accumulated costs and effort from IT development shortcuts, outdated applications, and aging infrastructure sap a company’s ability to innovate, compete, and grow.” They point out that a degree of technical debt is inevitable, which I think is important to note – and possibly another challenge to overcome, in determining exactly when debt becomes “too much.”

Anecdotally, I’ve had numerous conversations with leaders who bemoan the situation of knowing their existing technology stack isn’t aligned with what their business needs. Many of these leaders feel they have no choice but to “make do” for now (and often now ends up being years).

While ripe with risk, technical debt exists for many reasons that are easy to understand – I’m sure each of you can imagine a handful of reasons the need to “make do” arises (and often persists). With the rapid evolution of the digital landscape that’s taken place over the last decade, many business – and even IT – leaders have been left, heads spinning, to digest the reality that world they once knew and loved – where systems could statically service their purpose for five, eight, even ten years – no longer exists.

The Realities of Today’s Digital Ecosystem

But not only has the reality of the digital ecosystem changed, the AI era that has taken the world by storm is creating a compound effect of technical debt. Technical debt forces a compromise of what’s most effective versus what “will do.” It means contorting what your business has become into the limitations of a system that was created for what your business was a handful of years ago, if not more. But moreover, if your business is inching by on a legacy foundation that should have been replaced by now, you are constricted in your ability to modernize at the pace innovation is demanding – you are not able to properly step into the AI era.

Now, many will try to force band-aids on the problem, versus addressing root cause – some of that is delusion, some born of necessity. But these band-aids are nothing more than more short-term solutions. To truly thrive not only in today’s landscape, but to be prepared for what comes next, you need to dig in and do the hard work of ensuring a strong, capable, modern foundation. Try as one might, there simply are no shortcuts or workarounds that will make an outdated platform fit for purpose in today’s fast-paced landscape – and layering even more passable-but-not-ideal solutions upon a shaky foundation is a recipe for disaster.

Meanwhile, the world isn’t waiting for you to catch up – your customers are already expecting you to somehow match the experiences they get from leading consumer brands. Many of your competitors are already delivering these experiences. Your employees are demanding a more modern employee value proposition, one that is nearly impossible to offer if their workdays are fraught with the burdens of outdated technology. And none of these variables are staying still, so it isn’t enough to catch up; you must determine how you modernize your systems, your processes, and your governance to be what today’s businesses have to be to succeed: agile.

U.S. Air Traffic Control Grapples with Technical Debt

A very real and especially scary example of technical debt is what’s currently happening as a result of the antiquated technology in use by the United States air traffic control. I flew through Newark earlier this month in the midst of its “multi-day meltdown,” and the far reaching and potentially detrimental impact of these issues weighed very heavy on my mind. While there are additional factors beyond the technology, the systems in place are decades old and rely on things like copper wires and floppy disks.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has spoken to the fact that outdated technology is a major factor in the issues affecting the nation's air traffic control systems, saying “What we have right now is the old-school flip phone. You can't update the flip phone.” In the same article, Paul Rinaldi, Vice President of Safety and Operations at Airlines for America and a former traffic controller, agrees with Duffy, referring to the existing system as “archaic.”

Duffy has proposed a four-year plan, estimated to cost more than 12.5 billion, to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system. He says in this article that “A lot of people have said: This problem is too complicated, too expensive, too hard.” All adjectives that those grappling with extreme technical debt have likely felt the weight of.

While many of the reasons technical debt persist can be valid, the risk of continuing to delay addressing it is simply too significant. This Gartner article lends some further insight on how technical debt hinders an organization and advice for how to manage it. And this MIT Sloan Management Review piece calls attention more specifically to how technical debt prevents organizations from deploying AI solutions that could reshape how they compete and what do to about it.

If you have a story to share about how your organization has handled the management or reduction of technical debt, I’d love to hear from you!

by Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I’m just returning from a four-day retreat hosted by Natalie Kuhn at MEA outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. MEA is a retreat center founded by Chip Conley, TED speaker and New York Times bestselling author of Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder. The Santa Fe campus is on Rising Circle Ranch, a regenerative horse ranch that spans nearly 2,600 acres of wildlife, hiking trails, winding arroyos, ancient petroglyphs, and awe-inspiring beauty.

As part of the experience, we were ushered by the Ranch Manager, Lee Johnson, to an experience with the ranch’s horses. I have never spent a lot of time with horses, so I learned quite a bit throughout the afternoon and was struck by how much of what I was taking in correlates to today’s business landscape: what makes for an effective leader, how crucially important culture is, and the many forms resilience can take.

Lee and his colleague Maryann began by sharing some facts about horses, including that horses have existed for 56 million years, which is just incredible to ponder. They explained some of the facets that make it possible for a species of prey animals to have existed so long, one of which is the way horses herd. As they explained the relational nature of the herds, they shared that horses have a very specific culture that is centered around five key tenets:

Safety
Connection
Peace
Freedom
Joy

How incredible is it that horses find crucial these very things that we as humans do, too? Moreover, that these tenets have served as the foundation for how these herds have engaged and lived for millions of years. Learning about how central culture is to how horses live got me thinking quite a bit about the growing significance of company culture. When we consider resilience, whether of the horse species or of a business, having these core principles to anchor around is vital. But the principles can’t simply exist; they must be genuinely and consistently embodied. I know nearly every business today has cultural values they can point to on a wall or on their website, but I do question how many are weaving those values into the fabric of how the business is run and how its people are treated.

Leaders Create Power with Teams

Another very specific point I found powerful is when Lee shared that the herd leader, which is almost always a mare, focuses on creating power with – not over – the other members of the herd. If that doesn’t perfectly summarize what’s needed from leaders today, I don’t know what will. Gone are the days of command-and-control leaders; what’s required today are those who can expertly curate a team of diverse and well-honed skills and then empower that team to rally around the company’s values and objectives.

Finally, Lee spoke at length about the almost inconceivable perceptiveness of horses. He explained that when horses interact with humans, they don’t respond well to incongruence. Meaning, if you’re fearful of a horse, that’s OK – but if you’re pretending not to be, the horse senses that incongruence with unease. This brought to mind the importance of authenticity; leaders who create influence by being themselves and by connecting with their teams in a genuine manner are far more effective than those who are guarded, overly poised, or have thinly veiled motives.

During the retreat we not only spent time with the horses but also exploring the beautiful land of New Mexico and learning about its native people and rich history. While there’s certainly value in reading leadership books and attending seminars, it can also be quite profound to tap into some of these other sources of insight for not only leadership lessons, but really life lessons.

Taking the time away from my family and from work to attend this retreat reminded me of my recent conversation with Laurie Battaglia after her keynote at Field Service Palm Springs, driving home the importance of leading yourself first. It can be quite challenging to invest the time, but we need to nurture our inner selves if we want to create external energy that will benefit our loved ones and also our teams, our customers, and the wider communities beyond. Doing so is also key to resilience. However you disconnect, unplug, and reconnect with yourself, continue to invest in your peace and your perspective; it will pay dividends.

Episode 311

In this solo episode, Sarah provides a brief update on Future of Field Service events for 2025 plus a sneak peek into a few other exciting things in the works!

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by Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

In an era where innovation is consistently ranked as a top three priority by corporate leaders, would you be shocked to hear that 80-90% of innovation centers fail? As last week’s podcast guest, innovation expert Amer Iqbal, pointed out, this devastating success rate would be unthinkable in any other business function. “Imagine telling your sales team that a 10% success rate was acceptable – you'd be laughed out of the room,” he says – and he’s not wrong.

Amer founded 5 Ways to Innovate after earning some serious experience in roles such as Head of Digital Transformation for APAC at Meta and Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation at Deloitte Digital. In studying why companies with massive innovation ambitions consistently struggle to execute, Amer’s research, spanning 100 companies, reveals a fundamental truth: the gap between innovation ambition and execution isn't about ideas or investment – it's about systematic approach.

When it comes to one of the biggest missteps that large organizations make with innovation, it is to try to act like a startup. "I think when large companies try to be a startup, they're selling themselves short because large incumbent corporates have so many advantages that startups don't,” says Amer. “They're not scrapping for VC money, they have revenue models, they have strategic modes. They have partnerships, they have all of these capabilities in place that startups can't possibly compete with."

Amer suggests using "speedboat" initiatives like startup studios to explore new opportunities while the core "battleship" business maintains stability. Leaders can fund small, agile teams to test innovative approaches without disrupting established operations. This balanced approach allows organizations to benefit from startup-style innovation while maintaining their strategic advantages in scale, resources and established customer relationships.

Another issue contributing to the innovation execution gap is related to breadth. “Organizations put all their eggs in one basket instead of treating innovation as a portfolio,” explains Amer. “Innovation is not a project, it's a portfolio.” Depth also presents challenges, Amer points out, because often innovation success is measured by inputs (training programs completed, POCs launched) rather than outputs (actual business impact).

5 Approaches to Innovation

The research Amer has done has revealed that successful innovators use five common approaches to innovation. While it isn’t necessary to use all five approaches, the best success is achieved when a business is consistently implementing at least three of five fundamental approaches.

Upskilling with Purpose. Rather than generic innovation training, successful companies create structured programs aligned with specific business objectives. This isn't about checking boxes – it's about building practical capabilities that drive results.
Innovation Hubs That Actually Work. The key difference between successful innovation hubs and the 90% that fail? Integration with core business objectives and clear metrics for success. They're not innovation theaters – they're profit centers.
Startup Studios: The Internal Venture Builder. Think of this as "entrepreneurship as a service" within your organization. Amer shared how one bank successfully launched six simultaneous internal startups, each with blended teams of internal talent and external experts.
Strategic Incubators. Unlike internal startup studios, strategic incubators focus on external startups with minimal corporate interference. The goal? Let innovators innovate, then invest in what works.
Ecosystem Plays. This passive but powerful approach involves systematically scanning the startup ecosystem for partnership opportunities. It's about being a smart investor rather than trying to build everything in-house.

In addition to incorporating three of the five innovation approaches, Amer suggests companies consider the right mix of invested vs. divested approaches, emphasize the importance of clear metrics focused on outcomes vs. inputs, and moving beyond the familiar efficiency-only thinking.

Keep Innovation Customer-Centric

Amer and I also discussed the importance of outside-in innovation and some of the shortcomings that occur in companies with even the best of intentions around customer-centricity. “Too many businesses are still running their planning process inside-out,” he says. “This is what the business processes need to be, this is what the regulations are, this is what our business model is. And then right at the final point when it's time to launch a product, launch an app, or whatever it may be, that's when we go do some customer research."*

True customer-centric innovation requires integrating customer needs into products, business models, and user experience - not just the final interface. And companies must move beyond traditional customer feedback to understand unexpressed needs through observation and data analytics. "There's in-context inquiry where you're shadowing customers, you're observing, you're collecting data through digital platforms,” Amer says. “There are so many ways of understanding those latent customer needs that a customer may not express and sometimes may not even know themselves. That's how great companies actually do customer research."

As traditional industries face disruption from digital natives and AI-powered competitors, the ability to innovate systematically has become a make-or-break capability. If you’d like to hear more of Amer’s advice, you can listen to the full podcast conversation.

Episode 310

In this episode of UNSCRIPTED, host Sarah Nicastro welcomes Amer Iqbal, a sought-after speaker who has spent the last 20 years leading innovation at some of the world’s top companies including as the Head of Digital Transformation, APAC at Meta and Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation at Deloitte Digital. Amer joins Sarah to discuss some of the themes from his upcoming book, The 5 Ways to Innovate.

What You'll Learn:

- How the "Five Ways to Innovate" framework helps to systematically drive innovation success

- Why traditional companies should embrace startup methodologies while leveraging their established strengths

- The three-pillar approach to AI implementation: efficiency, growth, and transformation

- How to balance invested vs. divested innovation strategies based on organizational characteristics

- Why customer-centric innovation must extend beyond user experience to product development and business models

- The New York Times transformation case study: maintaining core values while revolutionizing delivery methods

- How to overcome the "we've always done it this way" mindset while respecting organizational legacy

- Why innovation success requires systematic approaches rather than isolated initiatives

This episode provides practical insights for service leaders looking to transform their organizations while maintaining their core strengths, with specific emphasis on balancing traditional business values with modern innovation approaches.

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by Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Keeping pace with change is challenging for many of today’s service organizations. But the conversation of last week’s podcast proves how much of meeting that challenge head on has to do with mindset and commitment.

Michael Potts, Executive Vice President at ACCO Engineered Systems, brings a refreshing perspective to what it takes not only to remain relevant and competitive, but to lead the charge. ACCO Engineered Systems has one of the largest and most experienced service departments in the nation, specializing in HVAC, plumbing, and specialty services. ACCO was founded in 1934 in Los Angeles and provides service and long-term maintenance agreements to over 8,000 accounts throughout the Western United States. Michael oversees a $2 billion+ operation with 550 service vans across eight states and has learned that service excellence in today’s landscape demands a fundamental rethinking of how the business approaches people, culture, and service delivery. Here are four key areas ACCO is prioritizing in its quest to lead its industry.

#1: Creating a Culture that Challenges the Status Quo

Throughout its company, ACCO is focused on practicing open communication and creating a culture where everyone feels they have a voice. While many businesses would make this claim, Michael gave multiple examples of how this commitment is practiced at ACCO.

Perhaps most striking is ACCO's commitment to creating what he calls "safe spaces for accountability." Their committee-style interview process involves multiple leaders who can openly disagree and challenge each other's perspectives on candidates. This approach extends beyond hiring into day-to-day operations, fostering an environment where constructive disagreement is valued.

One of the statements that stood out to me from the prep call Michael and I had for our podcast was his point that, “As a leader, I feel it’s my responsibility to challenge the status quo. How can I do that if I don’t welcome others to challenge me?”

#2: A Bold Talent Strategy

Many organizations are stuck in outdated approaches to talent acquisition and retention. While some leaders hope for a return to "simpler times," ACCO is making strategic big bets that are transforming how they attract, develop, and retain top talent in field service.

Michael emphasizes that running lean is preferable to hiring people who aren't the right cultural fit for ACCO. "I would rather run lean in our groups, whether it's our field teams, our sales teams, or our operations teams, and wait to find the right people that are going to fit those roles than to hire people just because we need bodies," he explains Potts. While this approach might seem risky in today's tight labor market, ACCO's experience shows that rushing to fill positions with misaligned talent creates bigger problems. Poor cultural fits don't just impact immediate team performance – they can erode company culture and damage customer relationships.

The strategy focuses on seeking candidates with core traits like work ethic, integrity, and willingness to learn rather than just technical skills. This patient, selective approach has helped ACCO build stronger teams. "I don't want somebody to come to work for ACCO that is just looking for a job. I want somebody to come to work for ACCO that's looking for a career, and then we can help build their career," Michael emphasizes.

This shift represents a significant departure from the company’s approach five years ago, illustrating its willingness to evolve beyond its historical norms to adapt to new circumstances. For service leaders looking to transform their talent strategy, ACCO's approach offers several key lessons:

Prioritize Cultural Fit: Be willing to run lean rather than compromise on cultural alignment.

Invest in Development: Focus on core attributes and provide comprehensive training for technical skills.

Create Safe Spaces: Foster an environment where open communication and constructive challenge are welcomed.

Balance Innovation and Tradition: Embrace new technology while maintaining personal connections.

Lead with Emotional Intelligence: Invest in EQ training to develop more effective leaders and teams.

#3: Leaning in to EQ

One of ACCO's most successful initiatives has been their company-wide emotional intelligence (EQ) training program. Initially focused on leadership teams, the program has created organic demand throughout the organization as employees experience benefits both professionally and personally.

"When I started down this emotional intelligence path, my perception was ‘I'm going to learn tools to figure out how I communicate with you better.’ What I found was it's not an external opportunity... it's really an understanding of your behavior and how you react to the situations around you," reflects Michael.

ACCO's commitment to EQ training represents a strategic investment in developing more effective leaders and teams. The program focuses on helping employees understand their own behaviors and reactions rather than just improving external communication. The initiative has sparked additional wellness programs and demonstrates ACCO's holistic approach to employee development. This investment in people skills provides a competitive advantage in both talent retention and customer service.

#4: Balancing Technology and Human Touch

While ACCO embraces technological advancement, the company maintains a careful balance between automation and personal connection. "While we want to be more efficient, we still have to have that personal touch. We're a very large service business, but I believe our customers in all of our markets feel like we're still a mom-and-pop shop," says Michael.

When implementing IFS, ACCO succeeded by prioritizing employee buy-in and transparent communication. Despite warnings from internal skeptics of losing 50% of technicians during deployment, they only lost two employees and Michael makes the very valid point that you have to accept the realities of some attrition when it’s tied to an unwillingness to evolve in ways the business must.

ACCO actively involved field leadership in the development process to gather input about must-have features as well as addressed concerns proactively rather than forcing change from above. This collaborative method helped dispel rumors and maintain team stability during a major technological transition. The success demonstrates how proper change management can minimize disruption while advancing necessary organizational evolution.

While embracing automation and AI, ACCO maintains that personal connection remains essential in service delivery. Their approach focuses on using technology to improve efficiency while preserving that "mom and pop shop" feel that customers value. The strategy requires careful consideration of how new technologies impact both employee and customer experience. They emphasize staying nimble and ready to pivot as technology evolves while maintaining their industry leadership position.

Conclusion

The waves of change, especially related to the talent war in field service, aren’t going away, but organizations that make strategic investments in people, culture, and leadership development will have a significant advantage. As Michael demonstrates, success requires bold moves and a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom.

The future belongs to organizations that can balance efficiency with humanity, technical excellence with emotional intelligence, and individual growth with company success. ACCO's experience shows that while this balance isn't easy to achieve, it's essential for sustainable success in modern service operations and it is attainable with effort.

Episode 309

In this episode of UNSCRIPTED, host Sarah Nicastro sits down with Michael Potts, Executive Vice President at ACCO Engineered Systems, to explore strategic 'big bets' in talent acquisition and retention. From prioritizing cultural fit over quick hires, to embracing disruptive change and investing in emotional intelligence training, Michael shares how ACCO's $2B business is leading rather than following industry evolution. Whether you're struggling with recruitment challenges or seeking to build a more resilient service culture, this conversation offers actionable insights on creating an environment where top talent wants to stay. Tune in to discover why challenging the status quo might be your best strategy for long-term success.

What You'll Learn:

- How to prioritize cultural fit over immediate staffing needs and why running lean is sometimes better than hiring wrong

- The power of committee-style interviews and creating safe spaces for honest feedback in talent assessment

- Why disrupting rather than following is crucial for industry leadership, even when it means some attrition

- How to balance traditional "promote from within" approaches with bringing in outside perspective

- The importance of emotional intelligence (EQ) training in developing stronger leaders and teams

- Why career progression needs rethinking to match modern workforce expectations and desires

- How to maintain the human touch while embracing technological advancement and automation

- The critical balance between driving efficiency and investing in people-centric approaches to service excellence

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Also, subscribe to our newsletter right here.

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Transcript:

[00:00:11] Sarah: Welcome to the UNSCRIPTED podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Nicastro. Today, we're going to get an inside look at ACCO's strategic big bets to win the talent war. I am joined today by Michael Potts, who is the Executive Vice President at ACCO Engineered Systems. Michael, welcome to the podcast!

[00:00:35] Michael: Thank you, Sarah. Appreciate you having me on.

[00:00:39] Sarah: Yeah. I'm thrilled to have you. So, before we get into the conversation of today, just tell everyone a little bit more about yourself, your role, and ACCO's business.

[00:00:51] Michael: Okay. I've been in this industry, the HVAC construction industry, for about twenty-eight years. I'm the Executive Vice President of ACCO Engineered Systems. We have offices in eight states across the Western United States, and we're a $2B-plus company. And I have roughly 550 service vans on the on the road every day. I run the service division of our of our company. So, we're made up of service, controls, and construction.

[00:01:38] Sarah: Okay. Great. , and how long have you been with ACCO?

[00:01:44] Michael: I've been with ACCO twelve years now.

[00:01:46] Sarah: Okay. Yeah. I knew it was quite some time, but I didn't think it was the whole 28. Okay.

[00:01:53] Michael: No. No. And, interesting thing, we have we have a lot of longevity at ACCO. I'm still considered one of the new people after twelve years. And, so that that's a testament to our to our culture, I believe.

[00:02:10] Sarah: Yeah. Absolutely. So, Michael and I had a call a couple of weeks back, talking about doing this podcast together, brainstorming ideas, you know, the way that we usually do. And we landed on this talent discussion because there were a lot of paths that kept taking us back to some of the opinions you have, some of the things about the approach that ACCO is taking around this, and, you know, that ties in with culture, leadership, you know, a lot of different aspects. So, we're going to talk through some of those during our conversation today. But to start, we're talking about some of these big bets. Right? And so, I think this is great. It's a great conversation to have because what I get frustrated by seeing is organizations and leaders who are not taking big enough bets when it comes to what's going on in the talent landscape. They're either just way too complacent within the organization or they're hoping that things are going to go back to the good old days, you know, whatever it is. And so, I really enjoyed talking about some of these more strategic opinions and these big bets that that you're betting on to make progress in this area. So, one of the first that you shared with me is you said you would rather run short of optimal efficiency than hire people you know are not a good fit for the business. Can you explain can you explain this a bit?

[00:04:03] Michael: Well, I believe that an employee/company relationship is exactly that. It's a relationship. If we're accepting people into our organization that don't fit into the role and aren't going to excel in the position that we were trying to place them, they're going to fail. And as a leader in our organization, if people around me are failing, I take that personally, and that's a reflection of myself. So, I would rather run lean in in our groups, whether it's our field teams, our sales teams, or our operations teams, and wait to find the right people that are going to fit those roles than to hire people just because we need bodies. Whether it's a dispatcher or a regional vice president, it doesn't matter. I you have the wrong person in in the role, you know, you're not going to get the efficiencies that you're that you're striving for. So, being patient, being selective. I will say prior to the pandemic, we were just trying to hire bodies and get people in the door. And I feel like our business suffered a little bit because of that. And then the pandemic hit. We had to lay a lot of people off, and it got me thinking about, you know, we have to change our approach when it comes to recruiting and hiring people. Now that doesn't mean that you let your business go backwards because you're being selective. That just means be patient. There are a lot of really good people out there that will fit your needs. You just have to put in the work. You have to put in the work to find the right people.

[00:06:18] Sarah: That's what I was just going to say. You know, the call for patience is spot on, but you're not just being patient and then waiting for the right people to come to you. You're being patient and you're being proactive in how you're changing your approach to get more of those right people to you, which we're going to talk more about. So, it's both. It's being patient, but it's also being open to, okay, how do we need to change? What do we need to change? You know? What how has the dynamics changed, and how do we adjust? Right?

[00:06:56] Michael: Correct. Correct. And ACCO, we're an employee-owned company. So, I'm challenging everyone in our in our organization. We should all be recruiting, every single day. It doesn't matter where you're at in the organization. We should always be looking for that next quality person to bring into the group.

[00:07:21] Sarah: Yeah. And when we think about the service part of this conversation, you know, you were talking about this principle applies for you whether you're talking about service or sales or operations. But, I mean, really, not only service, but any role in any organization that would be customer facing. There's a real opportunity cost of just bringing in bodies, you know, in terms of how that can affect the customer experience if they're not actually the right fit and they're not invested in, you know, the brand and the experience you want to portray as an organization. Right? So, I think that's another side of it is, I think sometimes because the talent landscape is very challenging today, there can almost be this air of desperation to your point of just bringing in bodies, bringing in bodies. Right? And I can understand where that comes from, but just how you have that realization, it's kind of a Band-Aid on a bigger problem. And it's a Band-Aid on doing the work the organization needs to do to bring in more of those right people.

[00:08:47] Michael: I think it could actually be a detriment to the organization because you're diluting the product that you're putting out if you don't have the right people in the right chairs.

[00:08:58] Sarah: Mhmm. And potentially poisoning the culture. Right? If you have people that, you know, don't want to be there or don't care about the work they're doing, the people that you have that do care and do work hard. You know? It's not a good addition to the overall morale and team feel to have those types of people filling in those spots.

[00:09:35] Michael: Absolutely. And my take on hiring is, I don't want somebody to come to work for ACCO that is just looking for a job. I want somebody to come to work for ACCO that's looking for a career, and then we can help build their career. That's the focus that we're taking now, and that's kind of a departure from where we were, you know, five years ago.

[00:10:04] Sarah: Yeah. So, you know, when I asked you about some of the traits that you're looking for when you're looking for the right fit, you talked about work ethic, integrity, willingness to learn, and they all make sense. My question is, what have you found works in assessing those things when you are finding the right people? Because all of those traits make sense that you would want them, but I think they can also be hard to accurately assess. So, what have you learned in, you know, the evaluation process of how you try and get a good feel for if someone does have these traits and will ultimately be an asset to the business?

[00:10:56] Michael: Well, I believe, you know, traditionally, when we're interviewing people, we go through a list of questions. And, you know, HR provides the list of questions, and you have to you have to check all the boxes. My approach to it, and I believe most of my leadership team's approach to it is I would rather sit down with a candidate and have a conversation with them and not necessarily go through a list of questions. One of the things that we've done is, we're trying to do more, how would you phrase it, I guess, committee type interviews. So three or four ACCO leaders can get a better feel for an individual. And when we come out of those interviews, you know, everyone has a different take on what they heard. So that's been pretty successful. And having a safe place for sharing the opinions of what we've learned in the interview is paramount to success. If other leaders aren't comfortable going against mine or another leader's opinion, then it's not a good solution to finding the right people. S, that comes back to culture. My take is if a person has work ethic, integrity, willing to learn, you know, wanting growth in their career, we can teach all the technical side of the business. Those are some of the things that are hard to teach. And, if I can find somebody with those traits, it's really easy to get them to progress in their career and be a be a successful employee at ACCO.

[00:13:12] Sarah: Yeah. And, you know, even that piece in and of itself, right, it's an evolution. I mean, going back probably ten years, you didn't have to do that. You probably could find people that had these traits and had some of the technical skill you already needed them to have, and, you know, you just put them in place. And I think that's where what I mentioned earlier is, you know, some companies are having a really hard time adapting to what this looks like today because they haven't figured out, okay. Well, we just have to do more work. You know? We have to try harder to find the right fit, and then we also have to do the work to train them up on, you know, the technical aspects. But there's just no way around it. Right? It's a good point that, you know, those things are more a priority and the technical piece is more easily taught. And you can put a training program in place. You can put an apprenticeship or a mentorship in place to make sure that you feel those employees are getting to where they need to technically. It's a lot harder to instill some of these traits in into people. Right? So, it makes sense why you would be seeking those over the experience or the technical aptitude.

[00:14:35] Michael: Absolutely. You know, our customers' requirements are changing almost daily. So, it's not just the company needs different types of employees. The customers are demanding more of service companies, so the service companies have to demand something different of the employees. And technology, while it is wonderful and has helped us advance, it's also put more pressures on our employees that maybe are in the forefront of our management skill sets.

[00:15:20] Michael: So, we have to understand that, you know, with technology, our employees are behaving different because our customers are behaving different. So, the end result is the company has to behave differently. And that's kind of what we're going through right now is an evolution of how we're interacting with our employees based on what our customers' needs are.

[00:15:45] Sarah: Mhmm. What would you say are is the biggest or a couple of the biggest shifts in what the customers are expecting?

[00:15:54] Michael: In the in the HVAC service industry, ride share apps are you know, that's everyone expects it now. Home delivery companies are setting expectations for individuals which are translating into what the customer needs are. So, that's really driving our customer experience or customer's expectation of their experience. And, and then, you know, that relates back to what the employee's experience is. That's the, kind of the genesis of the customer's changes.

[00:16:41] Sarah: Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. So, we talked about how you are what you're sort of prioritizing in looking for new talent and then how you're assessing that. What are you doing to ensure that ACCO is giving these new employees an experience and a company culture that they will, you know, want to be a part of, want to apply those traits to?

[00:17:13] Michael: Well, I think it starts with the top down. It's a leadership thing. And, personally, I have to live the culture that I'm expecting from the people around me.

[00:17:30] Sarah: Mhmm.

[00:17:30] Michael: So, I think setting the example from the top down, that's how you drive the cultural changes. I spoke about a safe space for the managers to share their opinions, and I think that works throughout the whole company.

[00:17:48] Sarah: Mhmm.

[00:17:49] Michael: You know, you have to have a place where people are allowed to share their opinions with leadership, or you're not going to be able to drive that culture. So, the ability to drive conversation through the whole company, that that's our culture.

[00:18:14] Michael: Our CEO to our dispatchers, there's this ability to have conversations across the organization, so I think that really helps set the tone for a new employee coming into the organization. Peer-to-peer contact. People that are in the organization and have some longevity, know what the expectations are. If we can pair them up with a new employee, then they show them the ACCO way, if you will. So I think there's quite a few things that would set the culture and set the experience for a new employee. We're working hard on all of those things.

[00:19:07] Sarah: Yeah, that's really good. And so, the second big bet I want to talk about is, we talked about betting on change. And, you know, you saying that you have to make these strategic bets on changing the approach, changing the expectation, changing, you know, the business, whatever it is that the customers are demanding that today's landscape demands. You have to figure out how to adapt to that, but you also said that, when you're betting on change, you know that it will bring some attrition. So, in a talent landscape that is already challenging, why is it important for you to take that risk of changing things in a way that could lead to attrition?

[00:20:08] Michael: If we don't continue to change with our customers' needs…Now, we don't want to have change for change's sake.

[00:20:16] Sarah: Sure.

[00:20:16] Michael: It's really driven by customer needs, and technology plays a role into it as well. But if we don't continue to get better and improve our processes and procedures and improve the customer's experience, then we're going to be left behind because our competition's doing the same thing every single day. As an employee, a lot of times people get set in their ways, and, you know, we've always done it that way. Why can't we continue to do it that way? Well, that's not going to get us to where we need to be. So, we have to continue to change, and sometimes that does lead to heartburn for long term employees. And, you know, my expectation was x, and now we're moving in y direction. And we as leaders have to be disciplined enough to go, here's the end goal. This is what I'm trying to get to. And, you know, maybe we've lost a couple people along the way, but we have to be disciplined enough to continue to drive to that goal.

[00:21:31] Sarah: Mhmm. Yeah. Now one example you shared with me is that someone made a statement to you when ACCO was deploying IFS for service management that it would lose 50% of its technicians, and you lost two. So, I'm curious, you know, how you effectively closed the gap of risk in that example, from what that initial statement was to what the reality ended up being.

[00:22:05] Michael: Transparency and getting employee buy in. We really brought the field leadership in when we were developing the mobile piece of the IFS platform.

[00:22:20] Sarah: Mhmm.

[00:22:21] Michael: We brought them in and basically asked what their needs are and why and help us develop this tool for all of our technicians. Granted, we were much smaller then, but that it did come back to me that we're going to lose half of our technicians if we have that kind of oversight. And doing their time in a live environment, they're not going to buy into that. So, we did bring the field leadership in, said, what are the must haves for the field teams? How can you guys be involved in the development of the of the mobile? And I think that really helped stop some of the noise that was out there. You know, there's a lot of rumors when you're deploying a new software or you're providing any change in an organization. And if you can dispel those rumors by getting people involved, I think that really was the catalyst for our retention of our field teams.

[00:23:35] Sarah: Yeah. Absolutely. And, I mean, you know, the two people that that you did lose, you know, you can't not evolve as an organization just to appease people who don't want to change the way that they're working or aren't willing, you know, to change how they're working. Because, to your point, it's not change for change's sake. It's change to keep pace with what the customers need. It's change to keep pace with what the technological environment is. It's changed to keep pace with, you know, the talent landscape and needing to do things differently. Right? But I do think that's quite impressive that somebody said half, and it ended up being two. That's a pretty good success rate to go back with. So, the third big bet that I want to talk about is your commitment to drive, not follow. So, to disrupt rather than being disrupted. There's a lot of risk, but also a relative ease to following. Right? What, knowing that, what makes driving the charge worth it in your opinion?

[00:24:56] Michael: I'm really passionate about our industry. The HVAC and plumbing service space has a lot of really, really talented people in it. It's provided a very comfortable lifestyle for my family. ACCO's one of the largest mechanical contractors in the country. I believe that we owe it to our industry to drive the industry as opposed to following someone that's, you know, sixteenth of our size to drive the industry. So, I look at it as I want to do what's right for the industry. There are a lot of small businesses that are starting up every single day that that are looking for ways to grow and build their business, and I want to be the example of that across the country. You know, my goal is if ACCO does something on the West Coast, I want our East Coast competitors and peers to go, why did ACCO do that? We should look into that.

[00:26:13] Sarah: Mhmm.

[00:26:14] Michael: That's my goal, and it and it really comes from a place of giving back to our industry. But also, you know, making the industry better. That's the goal.

[00:26:27] Sarah: Yeah. I love it. One of the areas that we talked about is this idea of career longevity. So this is one that you said you're really working through knowing that things need to change but working with HR and thinking about the best ways to evolve approach. So, I mean, I know this is something that you're in the midst of, but in this area specifically, what do you think disruption could look like?

[00:27:01] Michael: Well, I believe that he next generation of employees need different things than the current generation of employees. As a company, we have to adapt to what those needs are, and, you know, that in itself could be a disruption in our in our industry. We, as a company, are looking at how we interact with people coming into the industry. How we speak to them has to be different. How we engage them, and our expectations of them has to be different. We had an employee in an interview and share their expectation of, I'm going to work for ACCO for two years. Being an employee owner doesn't really matter to me. It doesn't pay my rent today. That's a long-term play. I'm going to be at ACCO for two years. I'm going to leverage what I learned. I'm going to go to the next company and use that, learn something there, and I'm going to go to the next company. The days of employees working for one company for forty years, I believe those are gone with this next generation of people coming into our industry. So as an organization, we have to adapt to that. If we don't adapt to that, our expectations are going to be different than our employees' expectations, and that's not going to be good for either.

[00:28:48] Sarah: Yeah. I just had a conversation last week with a gentleman, Ken, who leads technical support at Makino. And we had a really interesting conversation around this point specifically because we were also talking about some of the ways the talent landscape has changed, particularly after COVID. And, you know, he was saying that they did a lot of work to, make sure that what they're paying people in all roles is fair. But he said, you know, pretty much no business can just double everyone's pay and maintain economic viability. Right? So, he said, we have to look for other needs to meet. And for them, he was saying, because the entire organization across functions really appreciates the experience that field engineers have coming up, like the customer interactions they have, the skill sets that that requires, they were very open to looking for all these ways to create these career paths, not just the traditional, you know, engineer to this, to manager, you know, but throughout the organization. So, to give people a lot of options of we're not asking you to stay in one place for five years. We're saying, you know, you come in, you do this role, and then here's all these different paths that you can take to progress in different ways, different levels, you know, etcetera. And I thought that was smart because we know that people want to see that opportunity for growth, that opportunity for progression. But I also really liked how they came together as a business to appreciate how those field engineers can fill roles in, you know, a variety of different functions, not just in the service silo, if you will.

[00:30:48] Michael: We need to look at career progression as a big priority to younger people, and I completely understand that. But that's not the only driver for young people. It's, you know, how does the company feel about the environment?

[00:31:12] Sarah: Mhmm.

[00:31:13] Michael: How do they feel about flex time, working from home?

[00:31:17] Sarah: Mhmm.

[00:31:18] Michael: You know, vacations, those kinds of things. There are a lot of factors that go into how we interact with this next generation of employees. And I again, I think if we fall back on, well, we've always done it this way, then then we're going to be suffering as an industry, not just as a company. So yeah. We have to be mindful and open to new conversations.

[00:31:50] Sarah: Absolutely. That's such a great point. Be open to it. And, also, you know, keep in mind knowledge is power. Right? Like you said, the biggest risk is that the employees want an experience that ACCO doesn't understand and isn't taking the time to get to know. If you're asking the questions, what's important to you, what matters to you, what would keep you here, it does it's there isn't a wrong answer. Right? I mean, I think sometimes people don't ask because they don't want to know, but ignorance is not bliss. Knowledge is power. If you're asking the question, that's what allows you then to come together as a leadership team and get creative and say, hey, listen, this is what we're hearing. What do we need to do to meet this need or this need? Or, you know, what can we address? How can we address it? It's just too many organizations, I think, are avoiding that conversation instead of, you know, seeking that understanding and then really figuring out, okay. Well, here's what they want and what they need. Now let's put our thinking caps on and really, you know, break the mold. You know? We're not going to go back to what we were doing before COVID. We need to create something brand new.

[00:33:06] Michael: From a leadership perspective, if you're not asking those questions and getting the answers, how are you going to set clear expectations for the people that work in your business? And if you're not setting clear expectations for the people in your business, then you're failing as a leader.

[00:33:23] Sarah: Absolutely. Yeah, it's really interesting. So, the fourth big bet that we spoke about is bringing outside leaders in. So, we talked about the fact that this is a big deal in a company that has been in business for ninety years and has traditionally promoted from within and still does. Okay? So the goal is not to move away from doing that, but talk about why you're thinking about the right balance and what the benefit is in bringing some outside talent in.

[00:34:00] Michael: Well, I'm glad that you touched on that we're not getting away from this homegrown methodology because that's been success that we've had a lot of success from that. But the experiences that you bring, that people have from other companies that you can bring into an organization that's as established as ACCO, ninety years in business. I think you bring new ideas and new ways to evolve as an organization. I mean, I've been here for twelve years, and I feel like I'm losing some of my creativity because I'm caught in this system. That I'm not challenging the status quo like I used to. So that outside influence, I think, is important to the growth of a company. So we're trying to be better at finding the right people external, through all of our organization, as well as develop people. We talked about career paths, you know, building that career path for that next leader. But the way our business is evolving, you don't always have time to wait for that evolution of the next manager, next leader, or next salesperson, or next field technician even. So you do have to you do have to look external, and it's an it's a balancing act.

[00:35:50] Sarah: Yeah. For sure. Now another area we talked about related to leadership is, you know, something that that has been coming up more in conversations, which is that, in field service historically there's been a lot of progression from field technician to supervisor to director to manager and on up. Right? And in some instances, that's great. In other instances, it's sort of a formulaic way to keep people and also reward people that are doing a good job without necessarily considering whether they would be good leaders. Right? So, you know, sometimes we're putting people in these positions without really asking them if they want to lead people, understanding if they have those people leader skills and if they would be good at that. How are you handling that at ACCO?

[00:37:01] Michael: Well, we're trying to put the people in the right seats. Right? The right people in the right seats. And from a leadership perspective, you have to lead from the right place, and you have to want to be a steward of growing the team around you. Not a lot of people have that ability to prop the people around them up. So just because in the past we said, okay, this is the career progression. Here's where you're going to go, whether it's in the field or in the office. We have to make sure people are moving their career forward for the right reasons. And, if we are moving people forward in their career that don't have that dedication and the ability to build their teams and prop the people up around them, then we're just getting managers out of people. And I'm looking for leaders in my organization. So, I think it has to come from the right place. Again, I keep going back to the safe space of accountability in our organization. And, if we have a bad leader, it comes back to the culture. Like a bad employee can wreck the culture, so can a bad leader, probably more so. What’s the saying? People don't leave companies; they leave bad managers or bad leaders. That's the, you know, that's kind of the root thought behind that concept for me.

[00:39:06] Sarah: Yeah. And you don't want to be doing all of this work to get the right people in and then have them, you know, leave because you're not also reflecting as people progress internally. Are they right for this? Is this what they really want? Etcetera. Again, it's just another way of reflecting back on what has been the historical norm or the traditional process and thinking, okay. Well, is this what's right still, and is this what's right in every situation, or do we need to think about something different? On the topic of people skills, you mentioned that ACCO encourages all of its employees to take EQ training. Can you talk a little bit about that - how it's offered, the value it brings, that sort of thing?

[00:39:59] Michael: So, in my group last year we started the EQ training. The emotional intelligence, I think is a very big part of finding the right people, having the right people in the right seats. When I started down this emotional intelligence path, my perception was I'm going to learn tools to figure out how I communicate with you better. And what I found was it's not external; it's not an opportunity to look externally and figure out how the person sitting across the desk from you is reacting. It's really your behavior and how you react to the situations around you. So that was eye opening to me. I started with our leadership team. We went through an EQ workshop. We broke off and did cohorts that would work together with a consultant for a year. And we've had a lot of success with providing those tools to individuals in our organization.

[00:41:20] Sarah: Mhmm.

[00:41:21] Michael: One of the one of the side benefits that I didn't foresee was, you know, people are going back to their work places and sharing their experience and the tools that they're learning with their peers in the organization that maybe haven't gone through the emotional intelligence workshop.

[00:41:42] Sarah: Mhmm.

[00:41:42] Michael: So now we have a demand for people wanting to go through the workshop and wanting to be in the cohorts, and I think it's really helped with how we communicate as an organization. I'm really excited to continue the process and get everybody in in our service business through the workshop and a lot of them in the cohorts because we're seeing the value. Just in the way that our employees are interacting with not only our customers, but with one another.

[00:42:21] Sarah: Yeah. Well, it's interesting some of the things that you've been saying in this conversation. You know, I can tell that certainly from a leadership team perspective, there's been some effort put into this. But I think, you know, it's just it's an area I would love to see more companies investing in and really, you know, prioritizing because of the impact it has. And to your point, it's, you know, it's clearly allowed the leadership team to communicate well with one another and create those relationships where, like you said, you can have a panel interview, and afterwards, you can come together, and you can disagree, and you can challenge each other, and you can work through it and come up with what you feel is, you know, a good outcome. Allowing employees to communicate better with one another, wonderful. Allowing employees to communicate better with your customers. And it's not only about communication. Right? That's the other thing. You're encouraging people to become more curious, right, which helps people just understand others better and understand themselves better, have more tolerance for differences of opinion, you know, all of these things. And, you know, I think when we chatted, you also mentioned it's helping people in their personal lives too. Some of the people that have gone through this, you know, they're finding themselves applying it at home. And it's impacting them even beyond the workplace and just as human beings, which I think is, again, coming back to, you know, what do employees today want? They want to be seen as people. They want to be, you know, treated and valued as human beings, not just as a line on a spreadsheet or an asset. You know? And it's just another wonderful example of how you create that culture within the organization where, you're investing in them knowing that that investment pays off within but also beyond the business. So, I think it's a really great initiative.

[00:44:32] Michael: Yeah. It definitely fills my cup when I when I go around our organization and, you know, people pull me aside and say, hey. My relationship with my spouse or my children has improved because of this workshop or the cohort that I'm going through. Those are the things that I think are the most impactful for me personally. That’s what drives me. We're actually having our next EQ workshop next week and our CEO is going to attend it with us. So, it's starting to get some legs through our organization. From that, we've actually, some of the people that have gone through the EQ workshop have now started an initiative, a mental health workshop initiative. So, we've just had our first workshop for mental health, and we're going to have a couple more this year. So, it's kind of getting some legs and expanding across our organization, which is really a positive thing, I believe.

[00:45:46] Sarah: Yeah. I agree. I wanted to ask, you know, it's impossible not to think about the ways that technology will continue to change the way we work in in all industries. And, I'm curious how you see AI and more automation playing a role in sort of addressing these talent challenges and also how ACCO will keep pursuing its drive, not follow position in the industry?

[00:46:30] Michael: You know, failure to adapt to new technologies and new needs of our customers, if you're not going to adapt to it, you're going to be left behind. So, you know, my main focus is to be the leader in our industry. We have to we have to research, we have to invest in the new technologies, but we also have to be mindful of what does that mean for our employees. So, again, like all of this, it's a balancing act of, you know, do you go and try and automate every aspect of your business? Well, what we found is, you know, there's no substitute for having a person pick up the phone and answer a question for a customer. So, while we want to be more efficient, we still have to have that personal touch. We're a very, very large service business, but I believe our customers in all of our markets feel like we're still, you know, a mom-and-pop shop, and that's what we're striving towards is that customer experience while continuing to grow and automate and be more efficient. It's just a tough balance, and we want to stay on the forefront. Partnering with companies like IFS and some of our other partners have helped us kind of stay ahead of the pack, I believe. And, you know, that's where we see it going. Yeah. The other part about it is being strategic also and looking into the future and going, hey, where are we going to be in five years? You know, AI is this big buzzword. I don't think anybody can tell us accurately where AI is going to be in five years. So, using that as kind of our barometer, you know. We're trying to plan five, ten years out, but we know that there's going to be some, disruption or some pivots that we're going to have to make along the way. We have to stay nimble enough to be able to pivot when we need to.

[00:48:57] Sarah: Mhmm. For sure. I was smiling to myself because it wasn't intentional that the EQ and the AI question were next to each other, but it does represent that balance. Right? You want to think about, great, where else do we need to automate? How else can we drive efficiency? But you know there are limits to that, and you're putting equal emphasis on how do we empower our people? How do we invest in our people? How do we make sure that, you know, they get at least equal attention. Right? And I think that's such as an important reminder. Michael, I have to say, you know, I really appreciated today's conversation and our earlier conversation. When we were brainstorming for this, there was a number of ways, in trying to understand your mindset and what we were going to talk about that I challenged you, and you took that just in stride. And I think, you know, you said something earlier. You said, when you were talking about how the leadership team has created a safe space of accountability, that terminology in and of itself is so telling because in too many organizations, accountability can feel like conflict, you know, especially when it's rooted in okay, well, we have a disagreement. You know? We sat on this panel. We interviewed this candidate. I didn't like them. You like them. To challenge each other in those ways, in all of those ways, and do so in a way that you would refer to as a safe space, I think, is very telling of your approach and the company's approach and the effort that you've put into creating the culture that you have. And I you said something to me during our prep call that I've quoted numerous times in the past couple weeks. You said, I see myself as a leader that is here to challenge the status quo. How could I possibly do that if I don't allow people to challenge me? And I just really, really liked that point. And I think, there's all of these I call them old school, which is that's not meant to represent age. It's just mentality wise. These old school leadership styles that are very authoritative, very focused on controlling things, very focused on being the smartest person in the room all the time and having all the answers. And it's, in my opinion, so outdated and also so at odds with winning the talent war, if you ask me. And I just really wanted to say, like, to talk to you and to hear your mindset and not only yours, but ACCO's, you know, culture and what you're creating was just really, really refreshing. So, I genuinely appreciate it and enjoyed having these talks.

[00:52:07] Michael: Well, thank you for that. You know, the fact that you're utilizing that and having conversations with other people about what we spoke about, that's how I give back to the industry, and that's what I'm trying to do, as a company. So, thank you for that.

[00:52:30] Sarah: Yeah. Well, keep leading the charge and I hope to have you back at some point to talk about other things in the future. And thank you for being here.

[00:52:41] Michael: Wonderful. Thank you so much, Sarah, for having me on. I appreciate it.

[00:52:44] Sarah: Absolutely. You can find more by visiting the home of the UNSCRIPTED podcast at futureoffieldservice.com. The podcast is published in partnership with IFS. You can learn more at ifs.com. And as always, thank you for listening!

by Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

A little over two years after ChatGPT came on the scene and GenAI became the major buzz and many companies are still sorting through exactly where and how AI will create value for their businesses. While this exercise will be ongoing as AI continues to evolve and use cases become increasingly sophisticated, the low hanging fruit for AI impact can be found by examining your company’s biggest inefficiencies.

For many, the area of knowledge management presents a massive opportunity to apply AI and achieve significant results. In last year’s Stand Out Service Trends report, 59% of respondents reported that between 11 and 25% of their workforce is set to retire within the next five years. Yet only 37% say they have an effective system in place for capturing knowledge and making it accessible for use. With highly-skilled, massively knowledgeable employees retiring in droves, finding more effective and efficient was to serve up accurate information is a pretty urgent challenge – and one that AI is primed and ready to solve.

Agricultural machinery multinational, CNH Industrial, recently launched its AI Tech Assistant tool and is now rolling it out globally. According to the news coverage, “This first-of-its-kind tool was developed with dealer feedback and works by simulating conversations to provide a diagnosis and repair plan for CNH brands’ machines, enabling dealer technicians to save time on repairs by providing fast and accurate answers to technical questions.” Combing 1.5 million pages of equipment manuals and insight, the tool responds rapidly to natural language questions with precise answers, completely changing how efficiently users can find information and resolve issues.

I spoke recently with another company who is leveraging Aquant alongside its core IFS Service Management platform with the initial aim of closing the skills gap. I’ll share the article when it’s published, but again it’s an example of recognizing how AI can be applied to these sizeable knowledge bases and rich historical data to aid in helping employees find what they need, when they need it in order to resolve issues faster and ultimately better serve customers. This company’s AI journey was sparked by the recognition of how long it was taking newer employees to find what they needed within the knowledge base, but the company quickly realized the capabilities can also be used for self-service by customers and with historical data for AI-led triage.

This article shares how Heineken is “quenching the thirst for knowledge” by using GenAI for knowledge management to save employees time and improve decision-making. Thinking about how powerful a tool like ChatGPT can be in our personal lives, it’s easy to begin imaging how applying the underlying technology in examples like these is not only low-hanging fruit for those looking at making use of AI but a transformation that will soon become necessity.

While the upside of applying GenAI to knowledge management is vast, this Forbes article does a good job of drawing attention to some important considerations, including:

Data readiness
Ensuring ethical innovation
Change management
Getting ready for the rise of AI agents

Imagining what an increasingly AI-powered future looks like is a worthwhile exercise. But when it comes to making use of the technology in ways that can have an immediate impact on today’s operations, areas like knowledge management that represent sizeable inefficiency for many businesses are a great place to start.

Read more about AI in field service here.

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