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

Last week I traveled to Atlanta for a Service Council Service Journey Day at Home Depot, sponsored by IFS and Vyn. The topic for the day was seeking and preparing the next generation of field service workers – a tall task that is on the mind of every service leader I speak with.

While the layers of complexity woven into this undertaking mean there are no simple solutions or universal answers, it’s an area of challenge where a day of thoughtful discussion and brainstorming among service leaders from various industries is especially valuable.

The day began with a warm introduction from the Home Depot team, along with a tour of their on-site museum (really cool!) and innovation center. Participants then settled in for an afternoon of roundtable discussions that covered everything from attracting younger talent and improving onboarding to speeding time to value and how best to incorporate AI into service operations.

I enjoyed hearing different perspectives, seeing common challenges through various lenses, and learning what’s working – and what’s not – among the leaders present. I am confident everyone left having gleaned some insight they’ll take back to their businesses to improve their approaches.

In no particular order, here are 10 points that surfaced throughout the day that I feel reflect areas that deserve some real reflection. Maybe some of these areas you feel your organization is really strong at, while others are more of a struggle – and that balance will be different for the next leader reading this. What’s universal is how absolutely crucial it is that we put ample focus on the talent that keeps service ticking – and even companies leading the way don’t have all of the answers.

#1: We’re Not Speaking the Language of Today’s (or Tomorrow’s) Talent

Home Depot shared a project the company recently undertook collecting input from 30 GenZ students from colleges across the country to better understand their impression of career opportunities in field service and the trades. One participant clearly stated, “I am your solution, but you are not talking to me.”

The company found that with current messaging and communication channels, candidates don’t feel welcome and/or see themselves in these roles. It was also evident that these students aren’t aware that you can make a good living in these roles.

While many organizations have made strides in modernizing job descriptions, eliminating unnecessary requirements, and seeking candidates in new places, there’s still plenty of work to be done in each of those areas. It’s important we put more effort into understanding what will resonate best with the next generation of the workforce and incorporate that into messaging, as well as work to create better and earlier awareness among students of the career potential that exists.

#2: The Importance of Strong Leadership Cannot Be Overstated  

Many of the discussions I took part in throughout the day wound their way back to one common thread: employees don’t quit roles; they quit poor leaders. The role of leadership in services has never been more important, and this connection deserves more attention, focus, and resources.

Home Depot shared that, as a result of input from its field service technicians, it created a new supervisory role to aid the regional leaders in supporting the frontline workers. Regional leaders were struggling to invest time 1-1, which everyone agreed is essential to creating the level of employee engagement needed for positive relationships and retention. With the introduction of this new role, each frontline employee gets more direct interaction, helping them feel more connected, respected, and supported.

Another element of leadership that came up is trust. How important it is for employees to have psychological safety, to feel they can ask questions or give honest feedback without repercussion, and to know that their leader is looking out for their best interests.

#3: Ignoring VoE Is a Misstep in More Than One Way

One element of strong leadership is the art of listening. Everyone agreed it’s really important for employees to feel heard – not only to have proper channels to provide input and feedback, but to feel that their opinions and ideas are wanted and valued.

According to research the Service Council shared from its 2025 Voice of the Service Leader’s Agenda report, 30% of field service technicians do not feel they have input regarding innovations at their company. What’s worth considering is how this is a misstep in more than one way.

When an employee doesn’t feel they have the opportunity to provide feedback or share ideas (or have the opportunity, but feel no one truly listens or cares) engagement and satisfaction suffer. But also, companies miss out on a wealth of insight from those closest to their customers. Not viewing your frontline workers as a valuable source of information to help improve processes, select tools, impact CX, create new products and services, and more is doing your business a real disservice.

#4: Career Paths Are Crucial, But They Must Be Clear & Actionable

Many organizations realize career paths are important to today’s talent and have introduced them for field service roles. What was interesting about the conversations I took part in, however, is where how this intended “solution” can fall short when it isn’t properly conceptualized or executed.

For instance, one leader shared that they have career paths but while the levels are clearly defined, the competencies needed to achieve each are not. Another leader shared that they’ve struggled to make career paths actionable, because they don’t feel confident that as progression is achieved, they’ll have the capacity to create/support the higher level roles.

So, yes – career paths are important to today’s talent. But they can’t be a check-box exercise; they need to be thoughtfully designed, clearly articulated, and actionable.

#5: Onboarding Sets the Tone for Engagement or Indifference

Onboarding provides an important first impression of the employee experience, and the Service Council’s research shows that only 55% were satisfied with their onboarding. One point I appreciated is that, while time-to-value is important, we need to balance that with understanding that so is making a new team member feel welcome and part of something.

As such, you might consider Home Depot’s approach – they frontload onboarding with learning about the company’s culture. Giving employees an opportunity to understand what they’re becoming part of before you get straight to the technical parts might help create that positive first impression.

You also want to ensure they feel well-supported, not only in what they are learning but by leadership and by co-workers they engage with. One recent addition to the Home Depot team shared how impressed she was that when she started, every interaction at many levels started with, “what can I do to help you?” She felt everyone she encountered was invested in her success.

#6: Recognition Matters (Even When It’s Simple)

Feeling heard is likely the #1 desire for employees, but feeling appreciated for their effort and contributions is up there, too. A programmatic approach to recognition can make participation accessible to all and help foster peer-to-peer accolades, but leaders are well-served to remember that simple isn’t small.

Often, the simple gestures delivered genuinely make the biggest impact. Meaningful recognition doesn’t have to be big, glitzy, or expensive – it can be accomplished in a hand-written note, a five-minute phone call, or an authentic shout-out.

#7: Sorry, But…Time to Value Is a You Problem

One of the roundtable discussions I took part in centered a lot around the challenge of time-to-value. What this looks like varies quite a bit from company to company but is often a source of stress when pressure is high to manage costs.

There were two quite different examples at the table – one company whose time from hire to independent work was five weeks; another whose timeframe was one full year. As we discussed what happens in both these scenarios and what’s required for independent work, the conversation evolved to how much (or little) it is a frontline worker’s responsibility to understand P&L (related to time-to-value and beyond).

While there were different perspectives, the consensus seemed to be that field technicians and frontline workers shouldn’t be burdened with that consideration. One leader said, “generally, as leaders we isolate our teams from having to think about P&L and encourage them to focus on their work.”

If time-to-value is a point of stress for you, there are multiple aspects to consider including the effectiveness of the process, how technology could be leveraged to speed time-to-value, and how to keep employees engaged throughout this period (especially if your timeframe is on the longer side). But I agree that this weight is a leaders to bear – your employees should be focused on executing their duties well, not feeling burdened beyond their scope of responsibility.

#8: You Must Determine How to Create Accountability Without Rigidity

Another interesting conversation that arose was how to ensure the job gets done right without creating an overly rigid process that feels restrictive to employees that want some autonomy. An example that came up was around completion of checklists in a medical environment to confirm compliance with regulatory requirements.

In this example, the checklist was quite cumbersome and manual. So, the issue is less likely related to the collection of information itself than to the manner in which it’s being collected. This is where employees who are technology adept will have little patience for environments that haven’t matured beyond paper forms or arduous platforms with poor UI.

Are you asking for unnecessary information or confirmation? Then there may be steps you can remove to streamline the workflow and reduce frustration. If the information or confirmation is necessary, then either the process in which it’s being collected is causing friction or the reason why it’s important hasn’t been properly communicated (taking us back to leadership).

#10: Without Capable, Modern Technology AND Strong Change Leadership, Your Talent Efforts Are in Vain

I’ve often reiterated the fact that technology is just a tool. And I stand by that. However, today it is a tool that is foundational to success.

And not just “technology” – often it’s outdated or poorly designed systems that are causing the most angst among frontline workers. Modern technology that truly eases the burden of your field technicians’ days and amplifies their ability to create value for your customers is what you need.

The Service Council’s 2025 Voice of the Service Leader’s Agenda revealed that only 62% of technicians agree the technology available to them makes it easier to get work done. In very short order, this number should be nearing 100% because there’s simply no excuse for it not to be.

Moreover, 48% reported they don’t have clarity on how their company plans to incorporate AI. From a change management perspective, this is a major problem. Frontline employees already feel anxiety about AI replacing them in the workforce – a lack of clarity from leadership exacerbates that.  

Today’s workforce deserves technology that makes their day-to-day work easier and allows them to spend more time doing the aspects of the job they love. And they deserve companies who invest in leaders that prioritize communication, value their input, create trust, and truly support their success.