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The Untold Truths of Service Leadership: Part Two – When It Gets Personal

AI: Massive Potential, Not Magic Wand

Stand Out 50 2025: The Judge’s Table

October 6, 2025 | 9 Mins Read

5 Tactics for Service Leaders to Level Up Communication & Improve Influence

October 6, 2025 | 9 Mins Read

5 Tactics for Service Leaders to Level Up Communication & Improve Influence

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

There’s plenty of discussion around why service leaders deserve a seat at the C-suite “table,” and I don’t disagree. However, while this seat may be deserved, it cannot be demanded. I think there’s value in service leaders reflecting on what beliefs, actions, or habits might be keeping things stuck and perhaps getting honest about where they may benefit from taking a fresh approach.

Roy Dockery, Sr. Director of Field Services Research at TSIA, shared some valuable insights on this topic in a podcast earlier this year. We discussed some of the ways service leaders can become stuck in, and sometimes even perpetuate, the “outsider” role. Roy gave advice, based not only on his interactions with various service organizations but also on his own experience as a service leader, for how leaders can shift their thinking and evolve their actions to yield better results.

Recently, my conversation with Carrie Toth, VP of Customer Experience at Generac Power Systems, reminded me of the podcast earlier this year with Roy. My first impression of Carrie when we connected to discuss a podcast was, wow – this woman is smart. But not only smart, effective. Over her career, Carrie has alchemized her experiences into well-curated skills that allow her to gain influence and inform decisions.

Carrie’s advice, distilled into five tactics, could apply to any leader in any company in any industry, really. She’s shared a real-world guide to conducting yourself in a way that will garner attention and respect, because it’s been earned. If you didn’t listen to the podcast, or aren’t a podcast person, here’s what she suggests.

#1: Take Time to Observe & Assess

Rather than coming in like a wrecking ball, even one formed of passion and good intent, consider slowing down. Carrie suggests taking time to assess the broader organization you’re working in, to invest time in observing before acting. Understanding the dynamics of company culture is crucial to determining how best your objectives fit.

“I find that the company cultures can have many different dynamic elements. Cultures can be around growth. Cultures can be around cost out. If you don't understand those, it's really hard to frame a road map for your team that matches with those cultural aspects as well as the business objectives,” she explains. “And then you're just fighting a battle all the time of what you want for your team and how to make a compelling business case.”

While you might quickly form some of your own opinions, Carrie urges leaders to lean in to the power of listening. “When I come into an organization, I’m really focused on listening. It’s important to do skip-levels with my team as well as peers and then upwards to understand the brand of the team and how people feel about it,” she says. “I’ll use visual boards where we display metrics and say, what do you think about these metrics? I’ll ask questions like, are these the right goals that you think we should be working on? Sometimes I find that we're over invested or trying to achieve something sales aren’t even asking for, which is very costly proposition. Calibrating that the team is working on the right things and has the right goals is crucial and then understanding what's important to those people and what they think we're good at already versus where they think we need to improve.”

These interactions and time spent observing allow Carrie to gain what she refers to as a 360-degree view of what she’s learned triangulated with what a variety of stakeholders, including employees, really think. “That allows me to shape up a short-term game plan of how to get aligned while we create a long-term roadmap. It shows people that you’re listening and have reflected input from stakeholders in your strategy. Sometimes you’re able to shine a light on a disconnect in the organization that needs addressed. But you’re positioning yourself as wanting to calibrate to the environment and to partner and that’s always well-received,” she says.

#2: Earn Your Voice by Building Relevance

Only after you’ve spent ample time observing and listening can you channel that into a voice that builds relevance and will earn attention. Once you understand the company’s biggest objectives, as well as the team’s sentiment, you can determine what focus will be most relatable to senior leadership and most impactful to your function.

How you speak up from here can depend somewhat on your level in the organization, what projects are underway, and what phase of the planning and budgeting cycle the business is in. Carrie suggests considering first how you can get involved in what’s already in play before introducing new ideas. “It’s important to understand the cadence of the business and the forums where you should be plugged in, and then how do you get involved in the right initiatives that are already in motion versus creating a bunch of new ones straight away,” she says.

She also stresses that, particularly for experienced leaders, this can force an exercise of reigning in your views or vision to align to what’s already in play. “You need to take stock of what the team is already working on and what they’ve already determined is important, and find your way to hook in,” Carrie advises. “Sometimes this means changing my own priority list. I may think I need to do these seven things over the next year in order to be successful, but if the team is already funded and resourced to work on number seven, I need to adjust myself to tackling that before number one. Sometimes this is an internal battle within yourself, and you go home pulling your hair out. But it’s important to understand that as long as you get to the endpoint, it doesn’t matter which road you took to get there.”

By staying married less to your own vision, you can dive into what’s in play to instead apply your leadership to steering the project to success while building rapport and creating trust. This then puts you in a better position when the next strategic planning window comes along to ensure your voice is heard and to play a larger role in crafting what’s next.

#3: Practice Smart Storytelling

Storytelling can be a challenge for service leaders because many find they speak quite a different language than the broader business. But it’s an art that will serve you well when it comes to getting buy-in and support for what you feel is most important. Crucial to smart storytelling is knowing your audience and speaking in terms they care about.

Knowing your audience was covered in part in tactic #1 – take the time to observe the dynamics of the broader business and understand the personalities (and motivators) of the key characters. Where I see many service leaders struggle more is in “translating” the world of service – and its challenges and opportunities – into the native language of the C-suite.

Again, Carrie has honed this skill over time. “Generac is a growth company, so it’s focused very much on new customer acquisition and upsell, cross-sell, etc. These are great things to focus on, but I need a lot of foundational things on the team too. So, for me it’s finding ways to position yourself within that growth initiative,” she explains. “If I focus, for example, on how does post-sale sell new equipment, it might not be what I think is the team’s number one mission, but it’s a mission that’s relevant to the business and it’s a story that resonates. I can then frame things I need inside of delivering growth and I do deliver it, but I’ve also gotten the additional pieces that benefit the team overall. It’s a bit more of an art than a science, though.”

Art, indeed! Carrie goes on to explain that while this art of storytelling becomes a more familiar and natural craft, the narrative that works for one business won’t necessarily work for another. “Each business has a different love language, and you have to find that out a little bit through trial and error,” Carrie says. “I remember talking to our leadership team about upsell and cross-sell and then in listening to their feedback, the light bulb goes off. I understand what they need to hear and see and know that if I deliver that, I have the attention and credibility I need.”

#4: Land and Expand

Once you’ve learned to watch for those lightbulb moments and you know what it is that sparks that connection between your story and the target audience, you can then turn language into action. Carrie suggests an approach of “land and expand” – creating value around what’s most important to senior leadership and then using that success to expand into more of what you want to change or accomplish.

“Showing results, even on a small scale, is a way to earn belief that leads to investment,” Carrie explains. “I've done pilots on my team where my team would say things like, why are we working on this when this is the bigger opportunity? And I’m teaching them that, if we can show what we can do to contribute to new equipment growth, then with that excitement we can explain that to do more of it, we need an upgrade to the CRM, or we need a consumer data platform that'll show us this so we can have a more elegant conversation, or we need screen sharing that'll allow us to see their old equipment and position it to the right customers at the right time, or AI lead scoring. Whatever the tool is that we're trying to get, it'll benefit us for post-sale support, as an example, but we frame it in the presale context.”

As Carrie points out, in service and support, you’re often seeking a foundational toolset that is necessary for whatever scenario you’re working toward – so this act of framing it around what’s most important to the business is a way to gain relevance and buy-in but helps in accomplishing many other objectives as well. You’re simply storytelling around the topics your audience cares most about.

#5: Always Remain Agile

While the skills throughout these tactics are translatable, the storylines and narrative and audience members will change. So, service leaders must become adept at being agile. Objectives change, plans need to shift, success criteria evolve – and you have to obviate these waves and be proactive in how you respond.

Carrie relies on lean methodology with a heavy dose of common sense. “Most businesses still have some type of continuous improvement team. Historically, these are more plant-based resources or people that might be a headquarters team that get farmed out to a variety of ops teams to drive productivity. You're always begging for those resources because the plant has so many different needs and I've just found in my career that I always lose to the plant. So, for me, it's a non-negotiable when you have a large team, very complex processes, and work across many different systems to work on process and lean because it is so meaningful for productivity and for the employee experience,” says Carrie, “I’ve always had a dedicated CI leader, and I see that as a bit of a secret sauce. Having that CI leader on the team, they're infused in a lot of different cadence meetings, huddles, stand ups, project reviews, and that allows them to work on the cultural pieces. I think having a dedicated person and using those tools consistently and for culture is key.”

A Note on Authenticity

I find myself wanting to add a few notes here after reflecting on Carrie’s advice, particularly for those who will read through this insight rather than listen to the podcast. First, it was clear to me in our discussion that what Carrie is suggesting here is smart communication and the application of emotional intelligence.

In my opinion, Carrie is not suggesting being inauthentic or staying quiet when you feel it’s right to speak up. The use of these tactics isn’t to “play” people or to be anything less than transparent; rather to intelligently position your needs or ideas in terms you’ve taken the time to learn the audience cares about.

I say this because I think there are a lot of nuances here – any of these tactics, if poorly executed, could backfire and have the opposite effect than intended. And this is precisely what was so impressive to me about Carrie – that she isn’t presenting this advice as how to “play the game,” but rather what she’s learned over years of experience in how to communicate and build influence genuinely and effectively.

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Change Only Moves as Fast as Trust is Built

September 22, 2025 | 4 Mins Read

Change Only Moves as Fast as Trust is Built

“Change can only move as fast as trust is built.” This was a statement I heard a couple of months ago at a local community event and it has stuck with me. Here’s why: We’ve talked for years about change needing to be managed, but change management isn’t what’s needed in businesses today.

What’s needed is more trust, and that is created by strong leaders who have a true belief in how much employee engagement and satisfaction matters. The trust that is needed within businesses to evolve at the pace today’s customers and technological innovation demands cannot be built by leaders who seek only to maximize efficiency, move at the fastest speed possible, or take shortcuts to success.

I mentioned in last week’s podcast recap of the Service Council Symposium that people were a major throughline of almost every session I attended at the event. There’s a shift underway, one that I believe began with Covid. Covid brought about a couple of really fundamental realizations – one was that there are alternative ways of working than what we’d previously deemed as “the” way. Another was the utter importance of our humanity.

The shift Covid began is being continued, even exacerbated by new generations entering the workplace that have different expectations than those that came before. Sacha Thomspon, Founder and CEO of the Equity Equation, who recently joined me for a conversation around psychological safety says, “We're now in a place where we have five generations in the workforce. The two youngest generations are looking for psychological safety as a norm; they have high expectations of inclusion and are quickly overtaking the older generations in the workforce. If you want your organization to be sustainable and to thrive, you need to be able to meet the needs of these generations.”

Some leaders may think that younger generations coming into the workplace with “high expectations” of any sort shows entitlement, but this is a very risky point of view. Other leaders not only understand but are finding ways to embrace these shifting tides. This includes getting creative about how to change the employee value proposition to attract younger talent but also focusing on nurturing strong leadership skills so that an environment of psychological safety is valued and practiced.

Here are a few examples of recent, related conversations worth listening to:

An Inside Look at ACCO’s Strategic Big Bets to Win the Talent War
How Multivac Cut Technician Turnover in Half
How Lean Methodology is Guiding Service Transformation at Diebold Nixdorf

Service Innovation Requires Engaged Employees; Engaged Employees Require Trust

As you listen to these stories, you’ll see that there are some common themes despite the leaders being from different industries and having different approaches. They are all open minded and are embracing the current landscape, rather than bemoaning what’s changed or pining for “simpler times.” They all deeply understand the importance of people in executing their company’s service vision and delivering customer experience, and they realize treating people well is crucial.

When we think about the role trust plays not only in employee engagement but in an organization’s overall resilience based on its ability to continually evolve, we need to start simple. Trust is built and protected by things like:

Leaders who invest time in 1-1s (and companies that invest in leadership training and development)
Having a voice and feeling your opinion is valued
Honest, authentic communication
Understanding how one’s role matters to the organization’s overall purpose
Being treated as a human versus an asset
Feeling respected and adequately rewarded and recognized for contributions

As you read these bullet points, you may think – yeah, of course! But these simple things often aren’t executed well, consistently, or at all. This happens for a variety of reasons, including “leaders” who have been promoted because they were strong individual contributors but who lack leadership skills. Company cultures that make it challenging for leaders to invest in their teams in the ways needed because they’re hyper-focused on short-term outcomes. Environments that aren’t inclusive where certain employees may be treated differently than others. And so on.

When leaders aren’t executing the above well, you can see why change management will never be enough – it brings a process focus that will only be effective if the far-more-important people focus is already in place and effective. To win in today’s landscape, and certainly in the years to come, companies must focus more on the importance of leadership and leaders must focus more on the importance of trust.

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Why Unisys Expanded Beyond SLAs to XLAs: Perspective to Consider for Escaping Service Complacency

September 15, 2025 | 4 Mins Read

Why Unisys Expanded Beyond SLAs to XLAs: Perspective to Consider for Escaping Service Complacency

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

Experience Management (XM) has become a core strategic imperative for Unisys, as Patrycja Sobera, SVP and GM of Digital Workplace Solutions, shared in a recent episode of the UNSCRIPTED podcast. There was plenty of food for thought within the discussion for leaders who understand that it’s impossible to differentiate service today based on stellar execution alone. Customers want more – and Unisys has achieved success delivering just that by embracing XM, in theory and in practice.

Patrycja, at the forefront of this transformation at Unisys, is passionate about how XM brings service to life, shifting the focus from transactional outputs to holistic human outcomes. “Experience management is really no longer a nice to have, it is a strategic imperative,” she says. “It puts the focus on, have we made someone’s day easier, more productive, more meaningful? For me, that’s the kind of real measure of success.”

Broadening Your View from SLAs to XLAs

For years, businesses have measured performance with traditional SLAs—uptime, ticket resolution, and response times. However, Patrycja explains that the incorporation of XLAs (Experience Level Agreements) isn’t about eliminating SLAs, but about taking a leap forward in how you view, and deliver, value to your customers. “XLAs really are focusing on experience… did the service actually help the user? Did it enable their productive time? Did it make their day better?” Patrycja explains, urging leaders to rethink their metrics: “Are you a valuable part of those objectives? Or are you just checking a box?”

Unisys began focusing on XM around five years ago, and a key aspect of the success it has achieved since was founding its Experience Management Office (XMO). The XMO acted as a testbed for moving from reactive, to proactive, and even predictive, interventions. The results Unisys has achieved are compelling:

“Over the last twelve months alone, we have registered something like 150 use cases for experience management office where we’re able to deliver proactive automations.”
“7,000,000 proactive automations in the last twelve months are removing IT frustration… so that it doesn’t become an incident or a call to the service desk.”
“We’ve given back 100,000 hours in productive time to end users in the last twelve months alone. That’s not theoretical—that’s real impact.”
“For one client, we saved 30,000 pounds of carbon impact by refreshing devices based on performance instead of warranty cycles.”

These proof points that Patrycja offers show how service delivered well, when paired with a focus on the human outcome that service impacts, can create experiences that customers deeply value. Removing frustration, having more time, making a positive carbon impact – these outcomes look beyond something like first-time fix to contextualize what service means in the lives of those you serve.

Expert Advice for XM Success

For companies seeking to innovate within service, Unisys’s success story provides a stellar example of how to apply the XM framework to reimagine your customer value proposition. For those not yet entrenched in the XM world, Patrycja offers some advice on how to implement XLA’s well:

Start simple: “You can actually start from a relatively simple starting point around just looking at device performance and overlaying this with sentiment data.”
Be agile: “XLAs are finite. They need to achieve something—improved happiness, efficiency, cost savings, whatever it might be. My preference is they should be around six to twelve months if you’re doing a large transformation.”
Get stakeholder buy-in: “One of the most important things is to really get that commitment from stakeholders. This is C-level execs meeting with us monthly on the experience governance board to really see which XLAs are still right and bring meaning to what’s important to them at that time.”
Don’t overcomplicate: “I’ve seen some really complex XLA frameworks… If I’d seen this for the first time, I’d be equally scared. Simplify, explain, and show the value in a very tangible way.”
XLAs thrive in complex environments: “Complexity is perfect for XLAs because they can help uncover gaps in collaboration between teams and bottlenecks that traditional SLAs wouldn’t catch.”
Measure what matters: “Focus on total experience vision, integrating the entire digital workplace, including field services, asset management, and the service desk.”
Don’t overlook the human factor: “You have to have employees that are positive, engaged, empowered, and onboard to be able to have the impact that you’re trying to have with the customers.”

Experience Management and XLAs have redefined how Unisys creates value, engages employees, and delights customers. Could the same work for your business? Patrycja shares a reminder for business leaders that the premise is simple, but impactful: “Are you actually making someone’s day better? If so, you’re on the right track.”

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Leaving a Legacy: The Incredible Impact of Dame Stephanie Shirley

September 1, 2025 | 6 Mins Read

Leaving a Legacy: The Incredible Impact of Dame Stephanie Shirley

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.

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The “Fail Fast” Mantra: Empowering or Anxiety-Inducing?

August 18, 2025 | 4 Mins Read

The “Fail Fast” Mantra: Empowering or Anxiety-Inducing?

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

“Fail fast.” You hear it everywhere. Organizations and leaders toss this phrase around as the golden ticket to innovation. It sounds bold, visionary — even inspiring. But for many employees, the words trigger not excitement but uncertainty and apprehension. If the goal is for failure to be embraced, why does it still feel so dangerous to employees?

This was a topic that I dove into on last week’s UNSCRIPTED podcast with Gyner Ozgul, CEO of Fortis Fire & Security. We took a deep dive into five untold truths of service leadership, and one of them was “we say failure is essential to innovation, but everyone still avoids it.” If the goal is to create a culture where employees fear failure less, throwing around catchphrases won’t be enough – and we need to start by exploring why failure still feels so dangerous to employees.

Fear Runs Deep

First and foremost, you need to accept the reality that your employees likely don’t believe that when you say “fail fast,” you mean it. And here’s a really important question to reflect on: do you?

Assuming the answer is yes, then you need to be empathetic to the fact that most employees have worked in cultures where failure was to be avoided at all costs and even punished, sometimes severely. A leader with a fresh perspective on innovation won’t undo years of conditioning with a new ideal and a few great pep talks. It takes intention, time, and effort to reset the narrative.

But beyond building that trust, there’s another major stumbling block, which is that permission-to-fail proclamations aren’t often paired with enough specifics. “Fail fast” is only empowering if it comes with clarity, structure and support. “Leaders may believe they’re empowering their teams by giving permission to take risks,” says Gyner. “But without ample specifics, what you’re unknowingly doing in parallel is creating a lot of anxiety.”

Building Trust Requires Walking the Talk

To make your “fail fast” intention one that is actionable, the focus should be on both building belief in your leadership and the authenticity behind your mantra, as well as offering enough clarity that employees feel empowered instead of overwhelmed.

If we start with the trust aspect, here are some factors to consider:

The message bears repeating. Especially if a “fail fast” mentality is new to your team, communicating the premise once or even a handful of times won’t do the trick. Permission to let go of perfection is something your employees may need to hear on an ongoing basis, in a genuine manner. And when they do fail at something, how you react is crucially important.
Vulnerability from leaders works wonders. You can tell your team 100 times it’s OK for them to fail but seeing you do it just once and own it will have a greater impact. When leaders acknowledge their own mistakes, explain what was learned, and show that failure is not career-ending, psychological safety grows
Celebrate effort versus (only) success. If you wonder whether employees doubt that it’s really OK to fail and learn, consider what you celebrate. If you only celebrate successes, you aren’t really reinforcing your message. Celebrate effort, creativity, bright ideas – even when they don’t pan out, and extracting the learnings from making missteps. This helps make it clear that bringing mistakes forward is part of the process — not a cause for blame or shame.

Clarity Turns Platitudes into Potential

Permission to “fail fast” that is offered like a blank check leave employees wondering: What does failure really mean in this context? How soon should I realize I’m failing? What’s at stake for me — my reputation, my job? These questions swirl, unaddressed, undermining the very creativity leaders hope to ignite.

Most organizations are quite competent at defining success, but employees also need to know what counts as failure. “Defined success outcomes are not the same as having defined failure. If I’m close but not quite, am I failing or not failing? You really need to be very clear about what failure looks like too,” urges Gyner. “Vague encouragement is insufficient; employees want specifics — what are the parameters, what constitutes acceptable risk, and how do we distinguish between innovative failure and daily performance errors?”

Here are some tips to remove ambiguity and guide ambition:

Define the scope. Leaders must define the rules of engagement for experimentation. How long should a project go before it’s reviewed? What exactly is “failing fast?”
Regular check-ins with clear milestones can prevent costly mistakes, scope creep, and lingering uncertainty. Innovative projects that drift on for months before anyone checks in, leading to wasted resources and frustration.
Explicitly separate innovative failure from day-to-day operational mistakes. These are not the same and shouldn’t be treated with the same measuring stick. Employees should know where free exploration ends and where core responsibilities begin.

Gyner also points out the reality that the idea of failure can raise fears for the employer, too. “From the employer’s perspective, failures can be expensive. Failures can be painful to an organization. Sometimes failures can be catastrophically bad,” he explains. “Yes, failures provide valuable epiphanies and drive innovation and we can’t be scared to try new things for these reasons, but for me, this is why it’s crucial to define it well.”

So “fail fast” can be empowering — but only when it’s accompanied by clarity, structure, and support. If leaders truly want teams to experiment and learn, they must set the stage. Define the boundaries. Normalize open conversations about what worked, what didn’t, and what was learned. Most importantly, lead by example and show that missteps offer opportunities for progress.

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What Role Do AI Agents Play in Your Field Service Talent Strategy?

August 11, 2025 | 6 Mins Read

What Role Do AI Agents Play in Your Field Service Talent Strategy?

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

The struggles of the talent landscape in field service are well known and fairly universally felt. In an article Stephen Goulbourne, Vice President, Global Program Director of Global Service at Mettler-Toledo, recently shared on LinkedIn, he relayed that 70% of organizations report critical skills gaps and the current global shortage of 2.6 million technicians is expected to worsen through 2025.

As businesses grapple with this reality, most are getting creative about how to attract, hire, and retain the next generation of field technicians, many completely overhauling their approach like leaders from ACCO and Multivac have recently shared with us. But to what extent should leaders also consider the role that AI agents could play within the workforce?

Agentic AI is a Leading Area of Potential

In Gartner’s recently published 2025 Hype Cycle for Artificial Intelligence, AI agents and AI-ready data are the two fastest advancing technologies. Business Wire’s coverage explains that AI agents are autonomous or semiautonomous software entities that use AI techniques to perceive, make decisions, take actions and achieve goals in their digital or physical environments. Using AI practices and techniques such as LLMs, organizations are creating and deploying AI agents to achieve complex tasks.

It also includes some commentary from Gartner that describes a pivot from GenAI to applications such as agents: “With AI investment remaining strong this year, a sharper emphasis is being placed on using AI for operational scalability and real-time intelligence,” quotes Haritha Khandabattu, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner. “This has led to a gradual pivot from generative AI (GenAI) as a central focus, toward the foundational enablers that support sustainable AI delivery, such as AI-ready data and AI agents.”

Khandabattu goes on to explain that it can be quite challenging to determine where within the business AI agents can be valuable: “To reap the benefits of AI agents, organizations need to determine the most relevant business contexts and use cases, which is challenging given no AI agent is the same and every situation is different,” said Khandabattu. “Although AI agents will continue to become more powerful, they can’t be used in every case, so use will largely depend on the requirements of the situation at hand.”

Does the Potential of Agentic AI Apply to Field Service?

So regardless of their place in Gartner’s hype cycle, the question becomes to what extent AI agents can provide lift for field service organizations. The recent acquisition by IFS, known for its service and asset management solutions, of Silicon Valley-headquartered agentic AI specialist theLoops, is a strong indication that the potential is big.

In Forbes coverage of the news, Aly Pinder, Jr., Research Vice President for Aftermarket Service Strategies at IDC shared his opinion: “AI is disrupting our world, but nowhere is the potential impact more pronounced than in the Industrial setting. IFS’s acquisition of theLoops is addressing a huge opportunity for asset-intensive and service-obsessed industries, where agentic decision making will enable organizations to rethink their digital workforce, so they can improve the way they serve their own customers. IFS is well-positioned to lead this shift in each of the industries it serves - bringing intelligent automation that’s not just smart, but situationally aware and operationally impactful.”

To begin envisioning where AI agents could play a role in offloading decision-making or tasks from already overburdened frontline workers, it’s interesting to take a look through CIO.com’s Agentic AI: 9 Promising Use Cases for Business. Reading through this list with field service in mind, the areas that stand out to me are:

Customer support automation. The article states, “Organizations have long used simple chatbots and voice bots to handle simple customer service requests, but AI agents will allow customer service automation to evolve into a more robust service that doesn’t just answer a few frequently asked questions. Instead of a highly curated bot that answers a limited number of questions, AI agents will be able to understand and provide contextual answers for a wide range of customer needs.” In field service, you can imagine the value of agents that can take appropriate action not only in handling some of the simpler customer issues, but to then route to a remote service team or schedule on-site work that’s necessary.
Automating enterprise workflows. The article states, “With vendors embracing AI agents, enterprise workflows will be a sweet spot for the technology, experts say, enabling businesses to streamline processes by automating routine tasks. Organizations deploying IT tools from a large vendor across the business should have an advantage over companies using a variety of solutions that may need to be linked by APIs. It will be important for enterprises to pool all their data and avoid information silos.” Anyone who has ever spent time with a field technician can imagine all of the ways that automation could ease their burden!
Generating reports. The article states, “Writing text and creating images were two of the first popular use cases for gen AI. Now, AI agents can turbocharge the content creation process. AI plus human expertise is a tremendous boost in quality and AI agents aren’t just about optimization use cases. The real value is this expansion of the market, and expansion of revenue opportunities.” We talk all the time about how to improve productivity – having assistance in generating reports and handling time-consuming paperwork is a value that would thrill technicians while allowing them more time to focus on their actual work.

Field Service Organizations Must Continue to Prioritize Human Skills

While I think it is safe to say AI agents will play some role in transforming the talent landscape in service, don’t take your attention away from those creative measures to land the next generation of frontline workers. These agents should be viewed as a way to make the lives of field technicians easier; a digital workforce that can share the burden of the service organization – never a replacement for human skills.

“Service is a people business,” is a quote I hear time and time again – and believe deeply. In his recent article about what’s next for field service in the world of AI, Stephen outlines three of the major reasons humans remain essential in field service:

Complex, Unstructured Environments. Electrical/mechanical repair often involves irregular or unpredictable physical environments, requiring human adaptability, dexterity, and safety judgment. Tasks like diagnosing a faulty circuit under poor lighting in a humid environment, or welding in confined spaces, are far beyond current autonomous robots.
Tacit Knowledge & Physical Experience. Technicians rely on “feel,” sound, and other sensory inputs that are difficult to codify or automate. For example, subtle vibration indicating misalignment in a gearbox or electrical arcing you can smell; AI can’t yet replicate this sensory intuition.
Trust, Accountability & Compliance. Regulated industries, for example medical devices, pharmaceutical and food manufacturing, require signed off human intervention for safety and compliance. Customers and regulators still expect a human to make final judgments and approve fixes.

These are three great examples of where human skills are demanded, but I believe there are many more specific as well as nuanced reasons why the people we hire, enable, and empower will continue to be crucial to any service business’ strategy.

Stephen summarizes this so well in his article, saying, “The future is human-led, AI-enabled. AI tools augment human intelligence and labor, not replace it. This synergy is key to solving the skilled labor gap, scaling training, and achieving better outcomes at lower cost.”

As you consider how best to create the right synergy of human skill and AI within your workforce, be sure to keep in mind the anxiety this topic often causes among workers. Leaders of service organizations who deeply understand the realities of the skills gap often fail to recognize that the incorporation of AI can cause fear on a number of levels, so transparency, reassurance, and consistent communication are essential.

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How TOMRA Recycling Is Charting a Bold Course to 100% Remote Service by 2035

August 4, 2025 | 4 Mins Read

How TOMRA Recycling Is Charting a Bold Course to 100% Remote Service by 2035

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

How do you ignite transformation in a complex, global service environment? For Clinten van der Merwe, SVP, Head of Service at TOMRA Recycling, step one is defining a bold “North Star” vision. In a recent episode of UNSCRIPTED, Clinten offered an inside look at how he’s using his North Star – 100% remote service by 2035 – as a compass to guide TOMRA’s evolution through the challenges of digital transformation, rapidly shifting customer expectations, and the relentless drive for sustainability.

It’s important to understand that a North Star is more than just an aspirational statement. Clinten believes a North Star is a clear, compelling, long-term vision that shapes not just strategy, but the very identity of a team or organization. “It acts like a compass, pointing to north through complexity, ambiguity, and change,” he explains.

A North Star isn’t a simple technical tweak or incremental improvement. A North Star is needed, and adds value, when what’s underway is more of a paradigm shift. “A bold North Star really captures hearts and minds,” Clinten says. “It energizes the team, aligns leadership, and signals we’re here to build tomorrow — not just tweak yesterday.”

Using Storytelling to Unlock Business-Wide Alignment

A strong North Star also creates a foundation for powerful storytelling that can help build understanding and foster support beyond the service function – a struggle many leaders know well. Like TOMRA’s North Star of 100% remote service by 2035, most bold visions for service transformation are intertwined in broader business transformation. Storytelling is a powerful yet underutilized skill that can help build a business-wide movement, uniting R&D, sales, IT, operations, and even HR.

As Clinten puts it, “Stories inspire and move people to act, especially when bridging the gap between strategy and emotion.” In his first 90 days at TOMRA, he focused on the “why” – framing the vision in terms of emotional resonance, real business risk, and tangible customer value.

Consider this: In some markets, TOMRA already achieves an 80% first-time-fix rate remotely. That means less travel, faster response times, and greater equipment uptime for customers. But Clinten’s storytelling extends further, painting a future where a customer receives a proactive alert, connects instantly with an expert, and has issues resolved before they even know there’s a problem.

The art of storytelling isn’t just about painting a bright future, however; it’s about tailoring the message for every stakeholder. For sales, remote service becomes a differentiator and revenue driver. For engineering, it means spending less time firefighting and more time innovating. For HR, it’s about attracting and empowering the next generation of tech-savvy, customer-centric talent. And for finance, it’s hard numbers: millions in operational efficiency.

From Vision to Action: Building the Strategy to Achieve Your North Star

Of course, ambition and alignment alone aren’t enough; but a North Star sets the stage for building a stepwise strategy to achieve the vision. Clinten explains that TOMRA’s strategy is divided into three horizons.

Horizon 1 is focused on strengthening its digital backbone and expanding remote capabilities. This includes upgrading core platforms (like ERP), integrating AI and machine learning for predictive service, and piloting new models with trusted customers. For Clinten, “Scalability equals speed plus consistency.” Without modern systems, there’s no way to deliver a world-class, global remote service – but systems alone won’t make TOMRA’s vision a reality. “Data is everywhere,” Clinten says, “but insight is everything.” The value lies in knowing what to do with the data — turning it into actions that drive customer trust and business value.

Horizon 2 is centered around accelerating adoption. Over the next three to five years, TOMRA aims to expand remote service to 50–70% of interactions, build trust at scale through data transparency, and shift field teams to hybrid, remote-enabled roles.

Horizon 3 is about transforming for the future. In six to ten years, the goal is 100% remote capability across all product lines, embedding serviceability into product design from the start, and reimagining field engineers as strategic remote advisors. Achieving the North Star vision means TOMRA will need to fundamentally rethink its approach to talent.

Clinten acknowledges that service skillsets are evolving rapidly. “TOMRA isn’t eliminating field roles but elevating them. Tomorrow’s engineers will be part coach, part problem-solver, part data interpreter,” he shares. “Digital transformation expands the talent pool but also increases competition, so TOMRA is focused on making service careers modern, strategic, and customer-impacting.”

Flexible work, enabled by digital tools, appeals to a broader range of talent — inviting in those who want to work from coffee shops, set flexible hours, or contribute remotely from anywhere in the world. Yes, this is a bold vision – but also one that is quite compelling.

Navigating the Practical Realities of Service Transformation

Throughout these horizons of transformation, TOMRA is focused on setting measurable goals and celebrating milestones to keep teams motivated and accountable. The company is leaning into KPIs like customer uptime and digital resolution rates. “The goal is to be aggressive but attainable, inspiring but relatable,” Clinten notes.

As every service leader knows, transformation is never easy or linear. Clinten is candid about the challenges, which include resistance, slow progress, and the sheer weight of ambition. Staying motivated, he says, is about returning to the vision, celebrating small wins, and investing in continuous learning — for both leader and team.

Leadership, as Clinten models, means being present, uplifting teams, and modeling gratitude. “Positive stories are hardly celebrated,” he observes, “but they’re what keep you moving forward.”

For service leaders facing similar tides of change, the idea of creating a service North Star and leveraging storytelling to rally around it are one blueprint for how to guide a business (and its people) to not just adapt to tomorrow’s realities, but to create them.

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Lessons from Lean Service Innovation at Diebold Nixdorf

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

As companies like Diebold Nixdorf (DN) strive to move from product-centric models to service-driven enterprises, the keys to success often lie not as much in bold strategies as in navigating the cultural, operational, and philosophical shifts required. Brian Gallipeau, SVP Service, Americas at DN, attributes much of the company’s progress on its journey to how it has harnessed principles of lean methodology to fuel transformation, foster change acceptance, and empower frontline teams across the Americas.

With service accounting for roughly 50% of DN’s workforce and representing a major share of revenue and profit, the stakes for evolving from its legacy as a product-focused company to one that is service-centered are high. An open mindset and willingness to change are foundational elements that DN has working in its favor, which isn’t always the reality in this type of evolution. “In many companies, there’s internal resistance to try something new or that siloed approach of ‘don’t get involved in my business’... there’s really not a lot of that at DN, surprisingly, for how old the company is,” Gallipeau shares. Gallipeau, who previously spent more than 20 years at Canon, oversees 8,000 employees responsible for delivering service at DN.

This openness to change, across new and existing leadership, has laid fertile ground for lean principles to take root at DN. Instead of clinging to the refrain, “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” DN has cultivated a climate where the willingness to try, adapt, and improve prevails.

Applying Lean in Service: The Opportunity and The Challenge

While lean methodologies are often synonymous with manufacturing, Gallipeau feels they could have an even more significant impact on service environments. In manufacturing, processes are controlled within a closed system, like assembly lines and defined workflows. Service, on the other hand, is decentralized and distributed: “We have potentially 500 people solving the exact same problem in different places every single day,” Gallipeau notes. This presents a massive opportunity to standardize best practices for efficiency and consistency across a sprawling field workforce with varying levels of experience.

But the challenge lies in translating lean from the lab to the real world. Anyone familiar with the realities of field work can understand how the traditional approach of engineering “standard work” in pristine environments simply doesn’t translate. Gallipeau shares the example of how, for instance, repairing an ATM in a controlled setting doesn’t account for the complexities technicians face in the field, such as navigating double-door vaults or split-machine access points. Therefore, lean transformation in service must be co-created with frontline employees, to ensure standard processes are both effective and realistic.

Build a Foundation of Trust

“Most of the time when you’re introducing change, it’s really the people who have been here the longest who are the most resistant,” Gallipeau admits. The best way to work through this resistance is to focus on building trust – and this includes understanding that trust must be earned.

DN has worked to build trust by showing the employees the goal isn’t to dictate what they do, but to build best practices around their lived experiences. DN has involved technicians and service leadership in the development of lean processes, empowering them to shape procedures and claim ownership. “If you can give them the small wins... I helped develop this procedure, and this is really the right way to do it... that really permeates throughout the organization,” Galliepau explains.

When respected technicians champion new practices, their influence ripples far beyond what top-down directives could achieve. This was reinforced by communications expert Jason Anthoine, who shared in a recent podcast how internal influencers, though fewer in number, wield disproportionate impact on organizational culture.

Beyond involvement, Gallipeau points to two simple-to-say but harder-to-practice principles that are instrumental in building trust: genuine listening and taking real action on feedback. At DN’s North Canton center, groups of select technicians are regularly invited for lunch with leadership to candidly share field challenges. Leadership listens attentively and, even more importantly, takes action to address the shared challenges. Whether the issue is as simple as providing better screwdrivers or far more complex process fixes, demonstrating follow-through builds trust and signals a new era of responsive leadership.

For this to be effective, however, it must be sincere. Leaders who listen just to give the impression of caring, then fail to deliver, risk doing more harm than good. Moreover, transparency is vital – that means that even when a fix isn’t feasible, setting clear expectations and communicating reasons honestly helps manage morale and maintain credibility.

Lean in Action at DN: Ride-Alongs, Kaizen Events and Real-Time Insights

Gallipeau describes how lean transformation is embodied at DN through tangible practices, such as:

Ride-alongs to illustrate the importance of service. Gallipeau says that while many service organizations only require ride-alongs as a KPI for frontline managers, DN extends this practice to all functions – including HR, procurement, and the C-suite. Experiencing technicians’ day-to-day realities fosters empathy and informs intelligent decision-making. “Even the CEO participates, receiving unfiltered technician feedback,” says Galliepau. “This holistic exposure unites the business around common goals and highlights the importance of service at every level.”
Kaizen events for cross-functional problem solving. Kaizen events create a get-things-done energy at DN. They are not small-scale brainstorming sessions – rather, they convene up to 100 people from different departments for intensive, week-long sprints. These sprints are focused on solving identified field problems and, crucially, both decisions and implementations happen in real time, with all relevant stakeholders present and empowered to act. “The goal is not to leave with a to-do list, but to leave with solutions in place,” notes Gallipeau.
Incorporation of video training & data-driven support. With technicians managing a vast array of products and scenarios, traditional training alone is insufficient. DN has augmented traditional training with video resources and data-driven platforms to provide just-in-time information, diagnostics, and repair instructions. This approach not only minimizes time out of the field but also enhances accuracy and further reinforces lean’s principle of “value where and when it’s needed.”
Leveraging scorecards and continuous Feedback. Transparency is central to DN’s approach to performance management. Weekly-reviewed scorecards and “bowlers” (visual management tools) give technicians real-time insight into their performance relative to peers and expectations, eliminating surprises and creating a culture of accountability and self-improvement.

Lean transformation is not a one-off program or a flavor-of-the-month initiative at DN. “Consistency really is the important piece,” says Gallipeau. “This is a continuous journey.” The willingness to invest and iterate, even after initial failures or skepticism, signals to employees that change is both real and lasting.

As service organizations worldwide aim to keep pace with change, DN’s experience offers a powerful blueprint. By embedding lean principles like inclusion, transparency, real-time action, and persistent communication into its DNA, DN has created a compelling environment where change is embraced, not feared. This breeds confidence that builds momentum. In Gallipeau’s words, “There’s really nothing stopping us from becoming the best in service... not just in ATM or retail, but across industries.”

To hear more from Gallipeau about DN’s journey, listen to the full podcast interview.

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11 Success Factors That Have Helped Multivac Cut Technician Turnover by 50%

July 21, 2025 | 12 Mins Read

11 Success Factors That Have Helped Multivac Cut Technician Turnover by 50%

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

What if you could cut technician turnover in half while building a more engaged field service team? In last week’s episode of UNSCRIPTED, Dave Sarazen, VP of Customer Service at Multivac, shared how his organization has transformed their approach to recruiting and retention in ways that have massively paid off.

Multivac is a global leader in packaging and processing equipment for the food and pharmaceutical industries. With a background in mechanical engineering and extensive experience in technical service leadership, Dave has successfully led initiatives to reduce technician turnover by more than 50% and achieve the highest employee satisfaction scores across the business.

Tackling today’s complex talent landscape remains the biggest challenge for service leaders and there are many valuable lessons to take from what Dave shared. One important point to keep in mind is that if you’re focused only on recruiting, your strategy is short-sighted – it’s imperative to put effort into the employee experience to retain strong talent for a long-term solution. As Dave says, “It's one thing to be able to hire, the other thing is to be able to retain and keep those, keep that as a as a stable workforce for us in the field.”

If you missed the podcast or want a refresh on the key aspects of how Multivac has achieved its success, here are the core elements of their approach.

#1: Aligning Company Focus & Core Leadership

To gain the support needed for the change and investment necessary to modernize the talent approach, the business must first be clear on the value of doing so. Dave shares that, for Multivac, this starts by having clarity and alignment on the crucial role service plays in the business. “About 45% of our overall revenue this year will come from our aftermarket, our customer service teams [spare parts and field service]. That is such a big contributor to the bottom line for an organization, and, beyond that, we anticipate within the next two to three years it will equal our new equipment sales and then ultimately surpass the new equipment sales,” he says. “So, having that long term vision of investing today for where you're going to be tomorrow is critical. I can only emphasize to folks that you have to make that investment to get there.”

With the understanding of investment in this area being necessary, building a like-minded team dedicated to doing what it will take was the next step. “Building a team of strong service management leaders that were willing to drive change and collectively focused on what we need to do to bring technicians in and improve retention is critical,” says Dave.

#2: Reimagining the Ideal Talent Profile & Sources

Some organizations get very hung up on pivoting from the approach that has “always worked,” but no longer is. Not Multivac. The company knew that the dynamics had changed, and it must too. Born of this was an increased focus on soft skills and far less focus on trying to find seasoned technicians.

“A key piece of the technician’s role is beyond the technical part; it’s really the soft skills and the respect of our customers. The empathy for our customer situations and how to navigate issues professionally and successfully when there’s emotion involved around,” Dave explains. “One of the big culture shifts is that we're not looking for seasoned technicians anymore. We’ve learned that there's potentially a lot of bad behavior that'll come along with a seasoned technician who's been out there for twenty or thirty years in a particular industry. We would much rather get someone fresh from the military, trade school, universities who have the learning capability to learn the machines and the motivation to do that. This gives us the opportunity to train that individual from the beginning on the proper way to service and maintain the equipment.”

While recruiting veterans wasn’t brand new for Mutlivac, it has grown in focus for the company and today about 31% of its workforce is made up of military veterans. “Veterans have been a key part of our strategy,” says Dave. “We engage with a number of military outfits across the country for job fairs and have also had success having existing veteran employees make referrals.”

#3: Building Strong Partnership with HR

Another common stumbling block is knowing within the service function what needs to change, but not communicating that clearly or gaining the full support of HR. Multivac worked to ensure that not only was there clear alignment on the objective and supported by management teams, but that a close cross-functional partnership was formed with HR.

“I've been very well supported throughout this endeavor by not only our management teams in Europe and in the US but also from our HR department, which has been critical. We have a dedicated recruiter within our HR team that focuses on the service department, and we involve them in everything,” says Dave. “They have to truly understand what the role is and what our criteria is and how that’s evolved. They're very good at picking out individuals that have more skills than just what's on a resume or an interest that might dovetail into the role.”

#4: Understanding the Value of Transparency

From the point of initial communication, Multivac is very transparent with candidates about what the role entails and what is expected. While painting a rosy picture may yield more new hires, it would hurt retention if reality doesn’t match expectations.

“We're very transparent as to what the role is and the environments that these individuals will be in. Some of these facilities and plants can be very challenging and we really try to set expectations. If an individual hasn't been on the road, we will sit down with them very clearly and go through a typical schedule from another technician,” explains Dave. “Our interview process involves our regional supervisor teams where we invest to bring the candidate into one of our facilities around the country and do a number of tests with those individuals, both written and practical tests. Transparency is valuable with any role, but I think particularly here, you have to paint the picture for what it is. As a candidate transitions to an employee, there should be no surprises when that now employee begins with a company.”

#5: Offering Growth Potential with Career Path Development

Multivac wants candidates that are seeking a career versus a job. To attract those individuals, the company had to reimagine its options for progression and growth. “We are all about promotion and opportunities today, but when I started eight years ago, if you were a technician in the field and you didn’t want to do that anymore, you had two options – move to headquarters in Kansas City or find another job,” says Dave.

This has completely changed because the company knew that, in order to retain strong talent, it needed to provide far more options. “If they want to remain in the field, there’s a very structured progression from a level one to a level two to a level three. If they want to move more towards management, there are supervisor teams in reach region and from those supervisor teams is where we pull for the next step as manager and then director and so on. We also have options to move into the help desk, giving former technicians the option to work from home. We have specialist roles for certain complex equipment, and they can focus there, which is a progression. We also have options like CSRs, aftermarket sales, and a few others. But the overall goal is that candidates know up front they can build a future here.”

Of course, it would be easier if technicians were happy to stay in that role for the long term, but that isn’t always the reality today. “Retention through the company is the focus, rather than just within the service department,” explains Dave. “Our regional directors have regular one-on-ones to talk with individuals about their desires, next steps, any additional training or exposure to different areas. We want them to be excited about the next step in their career.”

#6: Taking Responsibility for Creating a Talent Pipeline with An Apprenticeship Program

Even for companies who would like to hire experienced talent, there’s a dwindling pool to choose from. Companies must accept that in today’s talent landscape, there’s a real need to farm and nurture a talent pipeline. Multivac has created a two-year apprenticeship program to do just that. “A little over two years ago, we endeavored down the path of creating our apprenticeship program. In our European headquarters in Germany, it’s very typical to have apprenticeship programs so we decided to try that on a smaller scale here,” says Dave.

Multivac brought in six individuals from local trade schools or high schools that were interested in learning about field service for a very thorough two-year program. “The first year they spend entirely within the Kansas City training facility. We have one trainer who was hired specifically to focus on these individuals. They spend this first year splitting time between the training center and our manufacturing shop,” explains Dave. “Year two, we begin to put them into the field and rotate them through about one month per region, circulating twice throughout the different areas of the country. They are paired up with a senior technician who we've identified truly want to mentor and support these younger individuals. At the end of two years, they are able to test to go into the field as a full-fledged technician.”

With tis first class, Multivac wasn’t sure how the program would fare, but all six apprentices tested into full-time technician roles and are now working in different regions around the country. The second class of the program is underway, and a new class begins each year to always keep two in process.

#7: Building Engagement Through Strong Internal Communication

Multivac leadership has identified a crucial aspect of retention: strong employee engagement. The company puts ample focus on creating and maintaining employee engagement, which is done to a large degree through a dedication to effective communication.

“We communicate, communicate, communicate. You can never have too much of it. We do the one-on-ones. We also have a biweekly Teams call with each of the regions and all of the technicians and their leadership join. We go through their situations, their challenges, we review any company updates, and we discuss everything in a very open forum,” explains Dave. “We make every effort to ensure our technicians feel part of the company.”

To evaluate how well its efforts are landing, Multivac includes an employee engagement survey as one of four annual employee surveys. What’s surprising is that the company’s highest level of engagement for the past four years has come from field service – an area that often struggles in these surveys because teams can feel disconnected from the organization. “Overall, our company has high engagement, but we’re especially proud that our highest scores four years and running are from the field service teams,” says Dave. “It’s almost counterintuitive – they’re not in the building; they don’t see each other daily. Oftentimes, our technicians spend most of their time by themselves. So, seeing them feel that engaged and connected to the company is something we’re really proud of.”

Dave is quick to point out that leadership has built trust by making sure that feedback is acknowledged and acted upon. “Any areas that we do see that need some focus, we take that on,” he says. “They see that the information is important to us and that we’ll act on it to address challenges.”

#8: Making Teams Feel Valued with Recognition & Rewards

Another important aspect of Multivac’s success is making it a priority to recognize and reward the efforts of its field service teams. “I personally will recognize any technician as often as I can – I’ll give them a call, send them a note, make sure they know we appreciate what they’re doing,” Dave says. “Sometimes individuals don’t want to be in the spotlight, but they do appreciate knowing that what they’ve done has impacted a customer in a positive way.”

All leaders make an effort to recognize teams’ contributions on a regular basis, but the company also has a reward program called the “spot awards.” This is a company-wide initiative for individuals who are going above and beyond their daily job. “The spot award can be given by a manager from a different department, from anywhere in the business, to call out someone’s effort and success by giving them anywhere from $100 to $600 depending on the impact they’ve had. We want to make sure they know their effort is seen and feel appreciated. Leaders must be appreciative. I tell them all during the interview process, it’s the most important job in the company, hands down. Without their success, the company as a whole can’t be successful.”

#9: Investment in Face-to-Face Time

While this could fall into the point about strong communication, I’m calling it out separately because I think it is uniquely important and likely has had a significant impact on what Multivac has achieved. Many leaders I speak to underscore the importance of investing in face-to-face time and are firm that there is simply no substitute. Multivac, too, has found that spending time with technicians in-person is vital.

“We have our monthly senior management meetings where we get together as a team one day a month. Six of those, one for each region, we will travel out to the region where we have let's say Monday and Tuesday for technician meetings. We bring all the technicians in for their regional meeting for two days and then on the second day the remainder of the management team fly out to have a dinner with all of the technicians in that region,” explains Dave. “We spend time with them and just have a very casual dinner. We encourage them to float around a little bit and get to know leaders from other functions. It’s quite an investment, but they see in that their importance, and they feel connected with the company. That also contributes to the engagement levels we’ve seen.”

#10: Promoting Work-Life Balance Through Schedule Innovation

Multivac takes responsibility for respecting its technicians’ schedules to avoid burnout and protect their work-life balance. The company offers two schedules for technicians to choose from. “We have two options for schedules, work ten days then off four or work three five-day weeks per month and one weekend per month,” says Dave. “But I don’t think there’s anything worse for a technician than to be coming to the end of your schedule, looking forward to your downtime, and then a manager says – sorry, we need you to stay out there. We try to encourage work-life balance, and they have to have a break from their job. They need that time, they need to be able to plan for it and we have to be able to respect that.”

#11: Showing You’ll Stick to Standards by Not Tolerating Poor Behavior

Part of creating a strong culture is knowing what to do when someone is tarnishing it and recognizing the detriment that can be to the team. “When there is an issue with the technician not performing, perhaps, or poor behavior, that region is well aware that they have an individual on their team that doesn't stand up to the rest of them,” explains Dave. “And I've seen companies and I've been with companies in the past that allow that to happen because they don’t have confidence in the HR department to move that individual on quite frankly. You can destroy the morale of a company or a team when you have a poor performer that someone else is going out after every job and cleaning up something unfinished on that job or something that was done incorrectly”

During our discussion, Dave pointed out that many of these success factors don’t have a lot of cost associated with them. But it takes understanding, intention, and commitment. “It has to be intentional, and it’s got to be on a cadence. You have to continuously do what you say you’ll do,” says Dave. “It’s critical and it’s appreciated. We’re constantly learning and constantly supporting each other.”

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