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November 25, 2024 | 3 Mins Read

Most Leaders Should Be Saying Thank You More

November 25, 2024 | 3 Mins Read

Most Leaders Should Be Saying Thank You More

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It’s Thanksgiving in the United States this week, so I have gratitude on my mind. While I’ve struggled for years to keep the commitment of daily gratitude journaling, I do try my hardest to make it a practice to keep in focus all I have to be thankful for. I also try my hardest to express my gratitude to others, for the big things but also in small, everyday ways.

We know these “little things,” like saying thank you, aren’t actually little at all; they have a tremendous impact. From a leadership perspective, making time for “little things,” especially when you lead large teams is indeed a challenge. But it’s a challenge I believe more leaders should be taking on.

There’s been increasing recognition of the correlation between employee engagement, performance, and customer satisfaction. And acceptance of changes within the talent landscape that require companies – and leaders – to do things differently if they aim to attract and retain good talent. But in all of this, like in many areas of life, there can be a tendency to overlook, undervalue, or deprioritize the little things that often make the biggest difference.

For leaders, one of the most valuable tools you have in your toolbox is to make sure your employees feel appreciated and valued. When is the last time you said thank you to someone on your team, or reminded them of the impact their hard work has on you, on the company, on your customers? When you stop to think about it, it’s amazing to consider what an investment of just 30 seconds within a conversation can do.

Why Gratitude Matters

Wanting to feel we matter is human nature, but it’s a need that the corporate world thinks little of in days, weeks, and years driven by efficiency, goals, milestones, and wins. Leaders hold the capacity to connect that human need to the business objectives at hand, by simply thanking employees for what it is they do to contribute and letting them know you see the hard work they do, and it matters.

At Field Service Europe, I attended an interesting panel on work-life balance and during the discussion, every leader on the panel spoke about the importance of investing time for 1-1 interactions with your team, ideally face-to-face. They emphasized the importance of getting to know your employees personally. Is this time consuming? It can be, but they all were firm that it is not only a worthwhile but a critical investment.

I’ve heard leaders speak for years, across industries, about how amazing it is to see what relatively small actions can do when it comes to showing employees appreciation and recognition. If it’s something you know you aren’t doing enough of today, what would happen if you made a concerted effort to change that?

As someone who has been on the receiving end of platitudinal gratitude, let me clarify that this needs to be authentic. Making it a point to say robotically “thanks for all you do” to each of your team members over the coming month isn’t going to cut it; they will see right through you. You have to actually mean it, and if that feels challenging then I think you have yourself a bigger problem (a team you aren’t leading well or an ego so big you can’t see other people’s contributions clearly).

Some of you likely are already making a genuine effort to ensure your employees feel appreciated, and that’s wonderful! If you’re up for a challenge as well, what I’d suggest to make even more impact is to consider that different forms of communication may resonate better with different people. Some may connect most through a 1-1 conversation, others would be delighted at receiving a handwritten note. Some may feel most proud with some form of public acknowledgement, others would prefer a private exchange. The more you understand your team, the better you can tailor your gratitude to maximize its impact. But simply saying thank you is a great way to start.

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The Seeds of Service Innovation

November 18, 2024 | 3 Mins Read

The Seeds of Service Innovation

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Have you seen the Stand Out Service Trends report we recently published? If not, be sure to check it out! And even if you have, you’re in luck because I have some content to share in today’s article that didn’t fit into the final report.

As we surveyed our Stand Out leaders, we asked for insights around how customer expectations have changed, how service delivery is evolving, how organizations are building cultures of change, and much more. We also asked for input on the question, “How do you evaluate areas of potential (beyond efficiency improvements) within your service organization?”

The leaders shared several anecdotes that we didn’t have room for in the report – but that fortunately I can share here with you! Here’s what they had to say about where they find seeds of service innovation:

  • “Through benchmarking and consumer experience studies.”
  • “We utilize customer journey mapping in order to align opportunities to improve the overall customer experience, inclusive of improving the employee experience as well.”
  • “We use industry seminars, whitepapers, and mid-term planning (3/5 years) that includes quality improvements and revenue/profit predictions linked to changing customer needs and the product portfolio changes expected/planned.”
  • “Reflecting on how we can best serve the customer while maintaining profitability. What technology can we use to support service to the customer, while maintaining customer value and employee engagement?”
  • “Customer feedback!”
  • “We leverage an internal process called ‘The Idea Factory’ which creates a conduit for idea flow from across the organization.”
  • “Ideas generated from the team with past experiences or new concepts from baselining, along with KPI data indicating where the efficiencies need to come from. The other organization departments also drive a lot of what we need.”
  • “We have Customer Success managers who gather insights from customers and conduct monthly meetings with all customers. We also have an annual customer survey.”
  • “Through customer journey analysis, design thinking workshops with customers and employees, and bottom-up ideation workshops.”
  • “I would say we don't have a very robust infrastructure to do this. We have a forum for ideas/requests that gets evaluated by the leadership team, but we don't have a multi-functional forum for this.”

Reading through these responses, there are a few notable points that stand out to me. First is the point that there is no better seed of innovation than that which comes from customers themselves. You can see by the number of customer-centric replies that these organizations recognize that truth and put proper emphasis on understanding customers’ feedback, needs, and desires.

The next thing I’d note is the value of diversity of thought. I love the concept of the “Idea Factory” and am glad multiple respondents noted the importance of ideation coming from all levels and areas of the company. When organizations involve employees from different functions, with different backgrounds, skills, and perspectives, the outcome is far richer than if innovation rests in the hands of a limited pool of viewpoints.

The use of industry seminars and whitepapers is good to think about, too. I’d suggest considering not only how you can explore what companies within your industry are doing, but also how seeds of innovation can come from learning from other industries as well. Keeping pace with what trends, themes, and challenges are top of mind in (and beyond) your industry is a great way to not only validate your own ideation but to spark new ideas as well.

And finally, I appreciate the respondent who shared honestly that their organization doesn’t have a good infrastructure in place for finding these opportunities. It’s important to have the objectivity to recognize that truth; many organizations fail to see what’s lacking in their internal processes. Knowing there’s a need to create a better system for nurturing innovation is the first step in doing so!

Are there any ways you source seeds of innovation that you’d add to this list? I’d love to hear from you!

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November 11, 2024 | 4 Mins Read

What Do Field Technicians Want from Technology?

November 11, 2024 | 4 Mins Read

What Do Field Technicians Want from Technology?

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In October I shared an article with some excerpts and extras from the recent survey and subsequent report we created with the Stand Out 50 Leaders. That piece, specific to employee engagement, is complemented well by research recently released by the Service Council.

In September, the Service Council provided an early look at the results of its annual “Voice of the Field Service Engineer” survey via a webinar with Service Council CEO John Carroll and Gerardo Pelayo, VP of Research and Advisory at the Service Council (you can watch the whole thing here).

This annual survey provides some good insights into technician psychology, particularly when it comes to job satisfaction and the ongoing challenge of finding and retaining employees. It also gives us a look at how technology initiatives are affecting the employees in the field. What I found interesting in the data the Service Council presented this year was that, while technicians generally appreciate the efficiencies created by existing solutions, there may be times when automation goes a little too far.

But first, a few interesting points about the research. The median age of technicians is decreasing, with the largest group of respondents being younger than 44, indicating a renewed frontline workforce. However, technician commitment is eroding. Less than half plan to remain in field service for their entire career; in some organizations, that number is as high as 83%, so there is quite a spread when it comes to retention in the industry.

While the reasons they plan to leave varied, a lack of fulfillment seemed to be driving many of them into other careers. Many are looking for more money or, interestingly, a bigger challenge when it comes to their job. Which begs the important question: is automation making some field service work too … boring?

As Carroll put it, “Will automation make the role mundane and take creativity away? We need to find a balance between the technology capabilities being innovative, and not making this a boring, mundane, step-by-step job. The frontline is empowered by fixing and solving problems.”

Balancing Automation and Empowerment

In the survey findings, technicians listed solving problems, fixing and repairing equipment, and learning about new tools and technologies as what they like about their jobs. They don’t like paperwork and administrative tasks, wasting time searching for information, their work hours, or the pressure put on them to work faster. Technicians above the age of 35 also don’t like rigid, imposed processes, which could be a warning sign when it comes to technology deployments and retention.

Technicians across age groups still felt they were spending too much time on paperwork and data capture in the field, with the respondents claiming they spent an average of 52% of their day on these tasks. While this indicates ample opportunity for greater use of technologies like AI and further automation (perhaps coupled with a need in many instances for modernization of core service management platforms overall), there are also points that show the work that service organizations have done when it comes to digital transformation has yielded benefits.

For instance, an impressive 93% reported that technology had made them more productive, and 69% said they were encouraged to innovate. Technicians generally are much less concerned about GPS tracking than they were in prior years, and the percentage of technicians who phone a colleague when they need support has dropped from 81% last year to 58% this year. This is significant, because those inter-technician support calls can be a costly drag on productivity.

The survey also asked what capabilities were not currently available on their mobile device that would be valuable. Top categories were live troubleshooting steps using AI-based support tools (20%), augmented/virtual reality on the asset for troubleshooting (19%), live video with backend support (18%), and spare parts inventory visibility (15%).

Technicians also said they would like to see improvements in email management, spare parts inventory visibility, parts ordering, and time and expense reporting.

I’ve written a lot in the past about the importance of maintaining a holistic view of employee satisfaction that includes recognizing that technicians are people with lives outside of their work, and the survey touches on a few of those topics, too. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said that technology has made them less mentally stressed, and 83% indicated that technology had made them safer in the field.

Asked what features were available in their technology solutions, but felt like a burden, lead opportunity capture ranked high. That led the Service Council team to question in their webinr discussion whether there may be too much pressure on technicians to sell/upsell in the field.

So, what can we take from this data? On the upside, it looks like technicians really like a lot of the technology that has been deployed over the past several years, particularly when it helps remove friction from the parts of the job they don’t like (paperwork, for example) or speeds up the process of helping them address problems/answer questions. And they want more of it – more video and AR/VR support, better ways to find and order parts, and access to more knowledge.

What they don’t want is to be forced into cookie cutter work processes, or to have their ability to creatively solve problems for customers restricted by technology. It also looks like organizations still have work to do when it comes to making field service an appealing long-term career choice to this new crop of younger technicians. That will probably involve a mix work/life balance adjustments to things like scheduling, improving technician engagement in technology deployments, and finding ways to incorporate technician input into operations and business planning.

You can watch the webinar here. If you have thoughts on the data or want to share how your own technicians have responded to automation, I would love to hear them.

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How Do You Prevent Your Company’s Legacy from Becoming a Liability?

November 4, 2024 | 3 Mins Read

How Do You Prevent Your Company’s Legacy from Becoming a Liability?

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When I sat down with Michael Galon of Coca-Cola at Field Service East this summer to discuss working together on a podcast, he brought up a topic I knew many would relate to: how does a leader ensure a company’s legacy doesn’t become a liability?

It’s a great question, and not one that has a simple answer. There are ample benefits for a company that has a rich history – they often have excellent brand recognition, have developed strong customer loyalty, and have created operational efficiencies and streamlined processes that come from decades of lessons learned. However, many of these companies can also find themselves within the trap of the ever-so-comfortable status quo. This is especially true when a company is performing well and feels stable in its existing state.

Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with the status quo; but it does create the risk of missing an opportunity (or moreover, a need) to evolve or innovate which is where it can become a liability. Within service specifically, there are a number of scenarios where this can take place – product-centric companies that overlook the potential of service and therefore neglect any innovation around the function, companies performing well enough that their objectivity around innovative potential or risk is clouded, and so on.

4 Exercises to Avoid the Liability of Legacy

The goal is to create a balance between leveraging the company’s legacy for the strengths it brings, while ensuring you don’t allow for it to become a liability. Sounds simple, right? Of course not! But here are some factors that can help prevent the liability of legacy from creeping up.

  • Remain Curious to Avoid Complacency. The comfort level tends to come not only from what’s familiar but from the false belief that you’ve got it “all figured out.” And maybe you do, but the reality is circumstances always change. It’s important to remain curious. If you are asking the question, over and over, of whether your company’s legacy is creating any areas of liability, I think you’ve won half the battle.
  • Seek Inspiration Outside Your Industry. Some industries tend toward innovation far more than others, and it’s important to remain aware of not only what changes are taking place within your own industry, but outside of it. If your industry is slow to evolve, you risk being disrupted by not recognizing a need for innovation before a new entrant or early adopter does. Further, customers in all industries today have expectations that are heavily influenced by experiences they have as consumers and across other industries, so taking into consideration only what they could expect from a direct competitor is a far too limited view.
  • Get a Fresh Perspective. The reality may be that if you are working among heavily tenured teams, the ability to look at things objectively may be very challenging. Sometimes it can be very helpful to get some fresh, outside perspective. This can be in the form of brining someone into a role in the organization that has experience in a different industry, a different organization, or simply a clean take on things. Or it can come from working with a consultant or even from networking with peers across other industries or organizations. There’s tremendous value in seeking wisdom from others.
  • Stay Close to Your Customers. Close customer relationships and an active effort to understand their environments and assess their challenges is essential to every business but can be especially important when it comes to ensuring your legacy offerings and ways of working are continuing to resonate, as well as what adjacent services or value they may be seeking. Customer loyalty is a wonderful thing, but asking the questions around what you could be doing differently, doing better, doing in addition to will not only strengthen the relationship further but give you valuable insight into where and when change may be needed.

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October 28, 2024 | 3 Mins Read

What is Most Impactful in Creating Employee Engagement?

October 28, 2024 | 3 Mins Read

What is Most Impactful in Creating Employee Engagement?

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My hope is by now you’ve heard about our recent announcement of the 2024 Stand Out 50 Leaders and perhaps you’ve even seen that we’ve just published a report we created with the input of those leaders. The idea being that if we’re recognizing the impact of fifty exceptional leaders, it would be worthwhile to use the occasion to understand their views on the service landscape’s current opportunities, challenges, and key areas of focus.

We surveyed the Stand Out 50 to ask them questions we defined across the three categories leaders always say are critical to service transformation: people, process, and technology. I poured over the data and pared it down to fit into the 12-page report myself, but try as I might there was simply too much valuable insight to squeeze it all in. As such, I have some exclusive bits on different topics to share with you all over the coming weeks.

To start, in the people section of the report, we cover a number of factors related to employee engagement. I’m going to assume I don’t need to reinforce the importance of employee engagement; the leaders within the Stand Out 50 and many beyond them realize that to deliver exceptional service and meet business objectives, employee satisfaction not only matters but is crucial. As we explored different aspects of how the Stand Out 50 recruit, hire, retain, and empower their teams, I asked the following (optional) question: What do you feel is the #1 factor that impacts employee engagement? Here are the anecdotal answers that the Stand Out 50 leaders shared:

  • “Investing in training has and will be a continued priority, including a recent launch of a new training lab that allows for hands-on product training, brand immersion sessions, and focus on soft skills throughout.”
  • “Creating a culture of humble and transparent leaders through trust and integrity.”
  • “An effective direct manager that makes them feel valued and supported.”
  • “Leadership engagement and transparency which enables the employees to connect to the company vision and strategy.”
  • “Recognition at company level of the importance of the role. Not once a year, but regularly.”
  • “Being inclusive.”
  • “Communication - often, timely, candid.”
  • “Fair, two-way performance reviews linked to training and development.”
  • “Focus on creating and reinforcing awareness of service relevance to the total business performance.”
  • “The freedom to have choice in their work life - opportunities, location and working hours, as well as the chance to develop and learn.”
  • “For service employees, the customer relationships are often what keeps them engaged the most.”
  • “Promoting work-life balance.”
  • “Employee empowerment is the basis for engagement.”
  • “Creating a strong emotional link with the company, feeling part of a family, and having a clear sense of purpose.”

These responses touch on several categories we know to be paramount in today’s talent landscape: empathetic, authentic leadership; clear communication; a sense of purpose; flexibility and work-life balance; investment in ample training and development opportunities; inclusivity; and being recognized and rewarded for their contributions.

I do wonder if, since the Stand Out 50 were peer and team nominated, this acknowledgement of what it takes to create employee engagement is adequately shared among the “masses.” I’ve had a handful of conversations in the last weeks with service leaders who bemoan their organizations failing to recognize the direct tie between how teams are treated and how the business performs, but I do hold a belief the percentage with that mentality is dwindling.

How highly does your organization prioritize employee engagement, and what factor would you add to this list? I’d love to hear from you! Be sure to download the full Stand Out Service Trends Report to see what our leaders had to share about other topics within people as well as process and technology.  

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My Top 5 Moments of IFS Unleashed 2024

October 21, 2024 | 3 Mins Read

My Top 5 Moments of IFS Unleashed 2024

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Last week, more than 2,000 customers, partners, and prospects from across the globe descended upon the Orlando World Center Marriott (which happens to be the largest Marriott in the world) for IFS Unleashed. It was an action-packed week (and that’s putting it lightly!) with more to recap than could possibly fit into one short article. So here I’ll share my top five moments of the week.

#1: The Future of Field Service Stand Out 50 Leadership Awards Announcement

These aren’t even in a particular order, but of course this had to be number one! This summer, we opened nominations for the Stand Out 50 leadership awards, on a quest to acknowledge not only the incredible work of service leaders, but to reinforce the tremendous importance, value, and potential of service within businesses. On Wednesday, we announced the winners live at the event. I was joined by two of my fellow judges, Dot Mynahan of National Elevator Industry, Inc. and John Carroll, CEO of the Service Council, who spoke with me about why this recognition matters so much. It was an honor to have the opportunity to acknowledge these impactful leaders, some of which were able to join us live for the award. Take a moment to have a look at the winners and stay tuned for some content we’ve collaborated with them on as well.

#2: Mark Moffat’s Opening Keynote

Mark took the reigns as CEO from Darren Roos in January, and it was compelling to see how he addressed the crowd on opening day. His keynote brought what felt like genuine energy and passion around the next phases of IFS’s journey that he’s signed up to lead. He set the stage for Industrial AI as the next Industrial Revolution and spoke enthusiastically about how IFS is positioned to lead as that unfolds. The session set the tone of high energy and excitement for the week! You can watch his keynote here.

#3: Darren Roos’s Closing Interview with Gary Player

I’ve never golfed a day in my life, so while I knew who Gary Player is, I didn’t expect this session to have a markable impact on me. About three minutes in, I found my eyes welling up with tears listening to the 89-year-old legend talk about what’s mattered most in his life, how he takes care of himself, and some of the incredible experiences he’s had. As a bonus, I ran into him in the hallway just after and he was kind as could be – gave me a big hug, a kiss on each cheek, and gladly took a selfie. I won’t be picking up golf clubs as a result, but the interview is one that will stick with me for a long time.

#4: Exelon’s Story of Business-Led Digital Transformation

There were many impressive customer stories shared over the three-day event, so while it’s hard to pick just one, I’ll explain why Exelon’s took the top spot for me. The company’s leaders spoke about the importance of not only replacing outdated technology, but doing so in a business-led, customer-centric manner. To me, this means modernizing the right way – not just layering new technology on top of existing processes but digging in to see what all it will take to become the business it wants to be not only today but into the future.

#5: Making Memories with Wonderful People

I will own that this is a cheat to put on this list, because it isn’t *one* moment but a whole lot of them. But if there’s a true number one, it’s this one – because having the opportunity to spend time in person is a gift. There’s simply no replacement for human connection, and having the chance to share a laugh, give a hug, have a brainstorm session, shake hands, ride a roller coaster (we went to Universal Studios Wednesday night, which was so fun!), or even just smile at across the room are moments that make the hard work we all go back and do different, because we’ve connected (or reconnected) on that human level. It’s special, and it’s an important reminder that it’s always people that matter most.

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What Does “Master the Basics” Even Mean in Service Today?

October 14, 2024 | 5 Mins Read

What Does “Master the Basics” Even Mean in Service Today?

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Everyone has heard and likely used the term “master the basics.” In the service context, we often do so when talking about the need to have the fundamentals nailed before looking to innovate. I recently hosted a podcast with Ben Williams, Director of Service Operations for Americas at 3D Systems, that made me reflect on our use of this term.

When Ben and I had our podcast prep call to explore different ideas for our discussion, he brought up the importance of “being brilliant on the basics” before trying to layer on change. This became the theme for his episode, during which I realized the distinction between the two phrases. “Being brilliant on the basics is important because you create a solid operational foundation, which aligns you for a long-term growth and sustainability. And the byproduct of that is increasing your customer experience,” he says.

The difference between Ben’s suggestion of being brilliant on the basics versus the more commonly used phrasing of mastering the basics comes down to the fact that the service landscape of today is something that is in many ways a moving target – and how could you master what continues to change? You can’t, so as Ben suggests, you focus on being brilliant on the basics – continuously, as what it takes to be brilliant in any given area of service will change.

“You're going to get to a point where you’re brilliant on the basics and your customer experience is great. And then you reach this spot called Arte. Right. Once you reach that, that's the mastery of everything. But the problem is, personnel changes, process changes, and then you're beginning back at the basics. It's kind of like an ebb and flow, just like the tide. It's constant work in progress. And do you master it? No, I don't believe there's a real mastery of it, but I do believe that you'll get to a point where the change part, the willingness to change, look at your processes, wanting to keep building on your future becomes more innate,” Ben shares.

Wise words! I really liked this reframing of a term we’ve used often, perhaps without fully reflecting on what it means. So rather than focusing on mastering the basics, the win seems to be in mastering the willingness and ability to continually learn and evolve.

Ben and I went on to discuss some of the areas within his remit where he’s focused on being brilliant on the basics. These are areas we’d know to be fundamental to any service operation, but with layers of change continually being introduced as a result of technological innovation, customer preferences, and so on. Here’s a look at what was on Ben’s list:

  • Customer Communication – this category encompasses a range of things, from understanding how customers want to communicate with you (what channels) to ensuring everyone from your frontline workforce up is adept at communication skills. Ben says, “If it's something that's important, people forget: pick up the phone and call. If you're in an escalated issue or process, communicate. Don't hold secrets. Communicate. Foundational things that leaders may know, but we're in a different time now. You have to teach these things.” And going back to the moving target theme, it’s important to stay connected to what your customer preferences are and what experiences they value and continue to focus on being brilliant at those things.
  • Process Optimization – reflecting on processes and whether or not they serve the business and its customers is a practice that must be ongoing, because what works at one point in time won’t necessarily work a year from now. Because this exercise is one that forces companies to introduce change to their frontline employees, I feel it’s put off or avoided more than it should be. Ben shares, “I think everyone would agree it's cheaper to optimize than to spend. Where we run into issues is your old process might not be able to handle all the new optimization and efficiencies you want. The processes were probably great for 2000 or 2018. But in 2024, you might have to revisit some of these processes. Everybody has a different cadence, right? For me and our business, we review processes probably every year to ensure and it'll help us where we're at, where we've come from, and which direction we want to go forward.”
  • Strategic Alignment – this encompasses everything from the fact that your customers see you as one brand versus separate functions to the need to create a common view on what the potential for service is for the business and the risk of inefficiency. Ben says, “The customer sees 3D Systems. They don't see 3D Systems field service, customer service, and accounts payable. They see 3D Systems as a team, and being strategically aligned and eliminating silos is one of the best things you can do as a company.”
  • Leadership – with an evolving talent landscape and new ways of working, leaders who are willing to grow and evolve with the times – to be brilliant on today’s basics – are crucial. Ben shares, “When we talk about leadership, we're always talking about influence, right? And we're always talking about vision. No one ever says, hey, when you're a leader, don't be in that crystal palace in the sky and not be available. Be available. Basic. Be self-aware. We never talk about developing relationships all the way down. Be available, be personal, have relationships. It goes a long way. Do simple things. I'll write personal notes and send them to my field engineers. Little things like that are lasting and impactful.”
  • AI Readiness – while AI usage is growing, many companies need to start by being brilliant at their data hygiene to make the best use of the technology. Ben says, “Here at 3D Systems, we're in our own initiatives to figure out where it fits with regard to service. We had early adopters of AI that we use to troubleshoot with, and we've learned the pros and cons. But being brilliant on the basis is making sure your data is clean. Do it now. Because the competitors are doing it as well, and they're utilizing AI. AI is a tidal wave. Don't look at that as a cost. Just look at it as an investment in your future.”

What makes this more challenging for companies than maybe it should be I believe is the pace of change. Everyone is in a race to understand what’s next, what’s new, what’s the path ahead – it takes our focus away from the basics we need to be brilliant at and what it takes to do so.

The reality is that the two are intertwined – being brilliant on the basics involves continued focus on some of the core foundational elements of service we know matter most as well as the incorporation of new technologies, new ways of working, and new value streams. Keeping grounded in the customer lens is important – yes, they may be interested in a new service that innovation could bring, but not if you aren’t already capable of delivering a stellar experience, on-time, the first time.

There was loads more to Ben and I’s full podcast discussion, be sure to check it out here!

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October 7, 2024 | 6 Mins Read

The Crucial Work of Connecting Women with the Trades

October 7, 2024 | 6 Mins Read

The Crucial Work of Connecting Women with the Trades

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Field service organizations have been striving over the last number of years to bring more women into roles, to varying degrees of success. Many have reported that they’ve struggled to recruit and retain woman technicians, even more so than other diverse groups they’ve aimed to welcome into their workforces.

These challenges become easy to comprehend when you consider related recent news such as how, “despite the many academic symposiums, STEM programs, and corporate efforts towards diversity, the high tech sector has made frighteningly little progress over the past two decades, according to a new report by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).”

All the while, much debate is taking place over the validity and impact of DEI efforts (and even how best to refer to these efforts). In a recent article for BBC News, technology editor Zoe Kleinman discusses how women’s STEM supports are waning as a result of this debate (along with corporate budget cuts and culture shifts). She specifically notes the closure of two impactful groups: the charity Women Who Code, a US-based group with 145,000 members that in June announced it was shutting down “due to factors that have materially impacted our funding sources;” as well as the US non-profit community Girls in Tech that closed in July after 17 years (also reportedly with lack of funding as the main reason).

Existence of these groups is an essential component of how we continue to make much-needed progress in gender equity. We spoke recently with California-based Tradeswomen Inc., a grassroots non-profit focused on recruitment, retention, and career development for women in the skilled trades industries. Melinda Ramirez, the group’s development manager, and Felicia Hall, workforce development manager, share how the organization is bringing women and employers in the trades together.

Felicia Hall

Melinda Ramirez

Future of Field Service: Can you tell us about the mission of Tradeswomen Inc.?

Melinda Ramirez: Our organization is non-profit, we’ve been around for about 45 years, and our mission and our work is centered around improving equity in the skilled trades, mostly construction trades, and increasing the number of women and LGBTQ employees in the trades.

Most estimates say 11% of the employees in the industry are women, but really only about 4% of employees in the trades are women that actually work with tools. We do outreach for recruitment, retention, and leadership development. We go to a lot of career fairs, try to help guide women into pre-apprenticeships, and help them to apply to different registered apprenticeship programs. We also helping them with resources to support their efforts, like gas cards and child care stipends.

Our previous director, Meg Vasey, works with the National Taskforce on Tradeswomen’s issues, and they focus on policy and law. For example, one item that was recently passed was having separate bathrooms or porta-potties for men and women on jobsites. They have also worked on mandating better fitting safety gear, since most safety gear and hardhats were designed for men.

We will soon go to New Orleans for the Tradeswomen Build Nations conference, and I am meeting up with people from all over the world who are working on policy and gender equity.

Felicia Hall: We work directly with recruiters, and we have a newly developed Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) apprenticeship program with NABTU (North American Building Trades Union). That allows candidates to get into a paid, union apprenticeship.

A lot of the work we do is in advocacy and getting knowledge out there about the trades. Many women don’t know these roles are even an option. We focus a lot creating awareness among high school graduates about the trades and the opportunities available.

We have a monthly apprenticeship workshop, where we explain the benefits and some of the challenges of working in the trades. As women in the trades, you do face discrimination, and they will push you to your limit. As a woman you need to be able to pick up your ladder or tools and move them yourself. We talk about the importance of that independence as a woman on a job site, and how to conduct yourself on a job site.

Future of Field Service: What are some of the biggest challenges in connecting women with jobs in the trades?

Felicia Hall: A lot of the challenges are just getting women to commit. There can be fear because this is unfamiliar to them. We have to convince them to consider the opportunity. We also face challenges around availability. Once people hear about us, they want us everywhere. We are small but mighty, so we try to do as much outreach as possible.

Melinda Ramirez: Any kind of contract with federal funding requires hiring a certain number of women, minorities, and apprentices, and there is a formula companies have to follow. It can be difficult for them to find qualified individuals, and we see a lot of challenges because they hire an apprentice, give them half a shot, and then move on to a more experienced person so they can say they fulfilled their requirements.

I read an article recently about the difference between mentorship and sponsorship. A mentor in the trades will give you advice and point you in the right direction, whereas a sponsor will take a risk on you, introduce you to the right players, and give you the big jobs. Men tend to get more sponsorships, where women experience more mentorship without anyone taking risks on them.

Women also don’t see themselves reflected in leadership roles in these companies. If you don’t see women in those positions, it can be hard to stick with it. Most women tend to leave the trades within the first four years, and there are a lot of reasons for that, but it really comes down to changing the worksite culture. That takes time and work and has to start from leadership and move down.

Future of Field Service: For companies that want to recruit and retain more women in these positions, what are some helpful strategies?

Melinda Ramirez: You need flexibility, and what I mean by that is making small accommodations, like offering a time and place for lactation when women come back from maternity leave, for example.

Companies also need to be understanding about childcare issues, Women tend to be caregivers for children and in some cases their parents, and because of the early start on jobsites that can be difficult. Most daycares do not open at 4 a.m.

There should also be a path for upward mobility. If you give them opportunities and have women in leadership roles, you will attract more women at an entry level.

Felicia Hall: When we work with companies that have women in leadership positions, they often tell us they prefer to hire women because they are more meticulous and pay attention to detail. We have seen data that shows when you have one woman on a job site, you get a 15% higher safety record. Just by having one woman in any role on a job site improves the safety on that job site.

Future of Field Service: Are you seeing promising trends around promoting the trades to younger women, and students in general?

Melinda Ramirez:  We are trying to get information to youth at an early age, even as young as middle school. You have to show them that this is an option, because a four-year college is not for everyone.

You can learn more about Tradeswomen Inc. and the work they’re doing on their website. The group holds a monthly apprenticeship workshop on the third Thursday of every month via Zoom. (Registration is required.) If you happen to be in California, they are also holding a fundraiser on Nov. 16 in Alameda, CA.

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September 23, 2024 | 9 Mins Read

Lessons in Leadership: Remaining Relevant and Impactful Over a Long Career

September 23, 2024 | 9 Mins Read

Lessons in Leadership: Remaining Relevant and Impactful Over a Long Career

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A couple of weeks ago I welcomed to the UNSCRIPTED podcast Tim Spencer, VP of North American Operations at Interblock Gaming for what turned out to be one of my favorite conversations to date. Tim is well known in the field service space for the work he’s done innovating within the service function at companies like BUNN, Scientific Games, WMS Gaming, ACCO Brands and Taylor.

What I’ve always appreciated about Tim is that he stands out from many of his peers – older, tenured leaders – in that he has little interest in the status quo. I’ve watched many of his peers speak on stages and belabor the challenges of actually innovating or defend their decisions to continue “doing what’s working” in a variety of areas while Tim gives insights on embracing new technologies, modernizing the talent approach, and finding new ways to meet today’s customer demands.

So, I was excited to welcome him onto the podcast to discuss what, in his view, enables a long-time leader to avoid falling into the warm embrace of the familiar and instead push ahead to continue to evolve. Within our discussion, Tim humbly shared his views on what aspects of service and leadership have stayed the same over his career, what’s changed, and how he’s worked to remain relevant and impactful over his long career.

Valuing What is Timeless

Tim’s insight can be roughly divided into two categories: knowing and valuing what is timeless and keeping pace with change (as a leader and for your business). Number one in the timeless category is the criticality of good communication. “One of the keys to success in service is communication. Always has been. Always will be. Won't ever change,” he emphasizes. “I’ve found that in my career, every challenge I ever had with a customer was resolved one of two ways. Either by better understanding expectations or by better communicating. Or both. So, if I learned what they expected and they learned what I could deliver, we aligned those expectations.”

Effective communication is a building block of any relationship, and the importance of being able to build and nurture relationships is the second timeless skill. “Generally, this effective communication helped to build a good relationship. If the relationship came off the rails, it was because we didn't spend the time we needed on the communication,” says Tim. “And the keys here are timeliness and candor. Again, I've rarely had a customer who said, I hate the bad news you're giving me. Usually what they say is, why didn't you tell me sooner? Maybe I could have reacted. We could have worked something out. We could have done something differently. Timely and honest communication are crucial.”

Customer centricity came up next, and not only in the sense of creating customer intimacy but for obtaining insights to fuel innovation. “When I was very young in my career, the President of our company put me in a sales leadership role for two years to develop my understanding of our customers,” shares Tim. “So, first sales call ever, the customer says, ‘oh boy, another new guy. What are you going to do for me?’ I said, well, I don't know. What do you need? And he said, ‘No salesperson's ever asked me that. They’ve always said, here's what I'm selling.’ That was something I've incorporated since that moment, is to ask my customers, what do you need? What do you need me to do? How can I help you grow your business? How can I change to help you be better? That informs and fuels whatever you need to do next to be successful.”

Tim also shared about the timeless value of learning, especially from peers. “As a leader, if you're not finding a way to reach out to other people and learn and grow by association, you're missing the boat and you're doing yourselves and your customers and your employees a disservice,” he says. “Finding ways to tap into the ideas and thinking of others is a great source of new ideas, valuable connections, and inspiration for innovation.”

Keeping Pace with Change

It might not surprise you that one of the things that’s changed most since Tim’s career began is the use and role of technology in service – and he hasn’t shied away from rolling up his sleeves to understand what’s available, its impact, and to put to good use technology to modernize service in many of the organizations he’s led. “One of most obvious changes over my career is technology,” Tim says. “You know, you think about your grandparents and wonder what changes they saw in technology over time. Well, I'm now one of those grandparents! I spoke about the innovative launch of our first handheld device back in the early 2000s and that was nothing compared to where technology is today.”

With the volume of technological innovation Tim has witnessed, I was curious how he prompted himself to keep pace and determine what investments were best at different points throughout his journey. “I never implemented any technology in any of my roles just for the sake of technology; I did it because I wanted to solve a business problem,” he shares. “I had an issue. I had to solve it. And I looked to others and experts and technology to try to figure it out. Find a solution and try and implement it in my business to make it better. Then you could innovate or iterate on that, innovate and iterate again, or find the next business problem and go find a solution to that. So just always being on the hunt, I guess, for the next problem to solve. Not being complacent, saying, I don't have any problems because that's stupid. Everyone's got a business problem somewhere.”

We also discussed the evolution of the role of service within the business – it’s shift from cost center to profit center and everything that shift has brought about. “I mentioned that I cut my teeth in the manufacturing side of the business. Product companies for a long time made all their money on the product, skinny margins, and gave away the service. And most companies now have figured out that the inverse is actually the key to success. The margin opportunities are in service; the opportunity to really continue with a revenue model that's repetitive, that's on the service side. That's something that's changed a lot over the many, many years that I've been slugging away at it,” Tim reflects.

The one area that Tim and I debated a bit is just how much has changed – or not – when it comes to leadership styles. “I thought about your question on leadership a lot and at first thought, I don't think leadership styles have really changed or evolved. Then I thought, and I thought, and I thought, and finally I said, well, maybe they have,” he says.

What we ended up coming around to is that Tim has naturally inclined toward a leadership style that is being demanded more in today’s landscape. So, while it hasn’t changed for him, we uncovered in our conversation that it has indeed evolved as a whole.

There are elements of leadership, of course, that have been and always will be foundationally important. “The things that haven't changed relative to how we lead, are things like fairness, equity, and honesty. And one I'll throw out there that many people might not agree with, but I really love, which is inclusiveness. I've never been the smartest guy in the room. I've never been the expert, but I know where to find those people, tap into their experience and knowledge, and have them be a part of the solution. Not only do I get a better solution, but I get a team that's excited to participate. So, I think that leadership style never changes,” he says.

When it comes to what has evolved, it is tied to the elements of leadership I see as outdated like control, ego, and even fear. “What I came to think about that might be a change is the ability to adapt your style beyond the very ‘command and control’ kind of leadership,” says Tim. “I remember an early encounter when I was a supervisor at a plant with an executive who said, ‘I don’t get ulcers, I give them.’ I thought, Wow. Okay. That's aggressive. And throughout the early years of my career, I had a lot of leaders like that who would often say to me, ‘you know, you're not mean enough. You're not tough enough. You're not kicking butts.’ But that's never been my style.”

While that’s a testament to Tim and not only his values but his ability to recognize an approach that’s ultimately more effective, it’s a positive change that “his style” is becoming more the norm. “I think that finally that style has found its home. In our current environment – our employment environment, our work environment, our leadership environment - it's okay to have a little bit softer, gentler approach to leadership,” he reflects. “It doesn't mean that you aren't still tough, that you don't follow guidelines, metrics, and principles to hold people accountable. But it does mean that you can still find joy in the process. You can have some camaraderie and good spirit and mentorship and an approach to leadership that understands and appreciates that your people have lives. If we think about our employees' environment, we can adapt and change ourselves to make it a much better, sweeter work environment for them. And a place that they'll want to come back to the next day and a place they'll want to maybe work harder for.”

The evolution of leadership style ties in, at least in part, with the rapidly evolving talent landscape – and the two topics are inextricably linked. “Today, there’s more of a need to do the right thing. Then it was the right thing, to do the right thing. Now you need to do the right thing in order to attract the workers that you need. And if you're not thinking creatively about ways to make their work-life balance better or to appeal to whatever it is that floats their boat, someone else who's more innovative is going to get the talent,” Tim cautions. “You're either going to not get enough people or you'll get the less talented. So, I think innovation relative to our approach to work, our approach to our people, our approach to hiring and retention, innovation is the key. You've got to be thoughtful. You've got to think outside the box. You've got to be smarter than the other guy who's recruiting the same people. You've got to be thoughtful about what does the employee need in their current environment and what can I do as a company leader to try and help solve for that need.”

Managing Vs. Leading

In Tim’s view, part of the role of leadership is to look for the opportunities to change. “I used to tell young managers that there's a difference between a manager and a leader. A manager manages the process and doesn't change anything. A leader looks for ways to change the process. And I always encourage them to be more leaders than managers,” he says. “What I tried to do in my career was to always be thinking, okay, this feels pretty good, but what am I missing? What's next? And where's the next opportunity to change something? Because not changing is backward movement in life. Staying put is the same as moving backwards.”

Leading well relies on two important factors: one’s willingness to keep learning and one’s ability to be kind. “You can never stop learning and growing, no matter where you are in your career. As part of that learning and growing, look for ways to innovate and then iterate,” Tim says. “Lastly, I'm convinced after 35-plus years, a kind leader can and will prosper. Don't think that you can't be a kind and caring leader. Don't think that you have to be the guy that's kicking rear ends down the hallway. We need to find joy in our leadership. Other people need to find joy in our leadership, and have it not be a burden to work for us. There are ways to do that and still accomplish the mission of the job.”

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Service Innovation: No Risk, No Reward

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Service Innovation: No Risk, No Reward

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It’s interesting to talk with leaders from companies along the continuum of innovating around service and to reflect on the wide range of progress and approach. Some, in the earlier stages, are working to determine how to bring service into the forefront their businesses – they may be struggling with alignment on the value and potential service truly brings and focused on things like increasing contract attach rates or expanding aftermarket revenue. Others, more mature in service innovation, have not only found ways to innovate within their service offerings and delivery, but to transform the business model of service – introducing outcomes-based or as-a-Service offerings.

Regardless of where one lies on this continuum, there’s a shared reality – forward progress can’t be made without taking some risk. There’s always risk in trying something new; in doing something different. When it comes to service innovation, there’s an argument to be made that the more risk you are willing to take, the greater the opportunity for reward. This is evidenced by companies that have taken the leap to evolve the service business model significantly and are reaping the rewards.

How much risk a company takes depends on a variety of factors, including the capacity and ambition for change, alignment on the vision for service, and the willingness to adopt a new business model. Progress also necessitates a company and its leaders take an honest, realistic view of where they are currently and what the potential is. Often, I talk with leaders who would identify as further along this innovation continuum than they truly are; they are finding new ways to sell the existing value proposition versus creating any new value or fundamentally changing the customer relationship – but perceive themselves as having truly transformed.

While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with a more incremental than disruptive approach, it’s important to be able to accurately assess your current state in order to envision the full potential for your future. Only from that view can you determine how much risk you’re willing to take to innovate further.

The Initial Leap

Reflecting on this topic calls to mind some of the wisdom I’ve gathered from leaders in businesses who have embraced the discomfort of risk in order to see what opportunity lies beyond the status quo. The first of those is Dave Mackerness, Director at Kaer, a Singapore-based business that transitioned to a Cooling-as-a-Service model. “There was no one we could look to, to understand is this going to be successful or not. So, we did all of our legacy work that we had done for 70 years in cooling and then we added this as a service and got a few customers on board. Throughout year five we actually did all of our legacy business products and the As-a-Service offering as well and then looked NPS, which was much higher for our Cooling-as-a-Service customers,” he says.

With this data in hand, along with data to support the impact on sustainability this model had, Kaer decided to go all-in on its Cooling-as-a-Service offering and stop its legacy business. “When you're talking about an As-a-Service businesses, it's different investment of dollars and providers then get nervous around ROI. The problem is you cannot look at it this way. You have to understand your business risk and your customers’ risk and you cannot mitigate your own risk by putting on your customers contract clauses and penalties that you bake into the business model or essentially tying them down into things or locking them into things to secure your revenue,” Dave explains. “Those two things really kill the business model. When Netflix came around they said to me ‘Dave, give me 10 dollars a month I'll give you all you want,’ and I said ‘I'll do it, 10 bucks a month.’ If they had said to me ‘Dave, it's 10 bucks a month but, you have to sign a 10 year contract and you have to pay me in advance for the first year and to terminate the contract you have to pay me a penalty of six years’ worth of revenue,’ I would've said ‘No, but thanks very much.’ You have to stay true to the business model. It's not easy, and there is a lot of business risk involved, but you can take it a step at a time, and you can learn from other industries.”

Alec Anderson, Managing Director at Koolmill, a company that has disrupted the rice milling industry not only with its machinery but with offering it As-a-Service, knew risk was essential to his endeavor. “The risk is there; there's always risk. Things will go wrong. The question is how do you deal with that risk? It’s important to focus on value creation. How can you create value? How can you capture a share of that value? And if that means redesigning the machine so that they can have a longer life with more service, and I think the world is moving away from the disposable, buy it, scrap it, get another one. If you can design machinery that has a longer life, and it can be upgraded through its life, I think there's great value there,” says Alec. “We work in a very, very conservative industry, and I would say our challenge right now is not a technical challenge. It's really a culture or mindset. It's changing the perceptions and how people think.”

Alastair Winner, Partner and Co-Founder at Mossrake Group, has a history of working within companies that have introduced new service business models and, in his current role, works with businesses looking to do the same. On this concept of risk, he says, “When you sell a customer a product, the accountability and the risk for the value that product creates immediately transfers to the customer. In this model, there is an onus on the service provider to deliver that value. This means they're likely to have to make some sort of upfront investment in technology and they're going to have to think about putting capacity ahead of demand, especially if they're able to provide some level of flexibility to the customer. So the customer is not making an upfront investment, but the service provider is. That's a risk,” he explains.

“Then they've got to think about all of the lifecycle activities to sustain the service and deliver the outcome over the contractual period, which could be up to 10 years. When you think about all of the updates and changes and recalibrations and replacements that have to go on over that period, you've really got to be thinking about what does that look like and costing it accordingly,” says Alastair. “The benefits for the service provider are they get a long-term annuity stream with almost certainly a higher rate of return. Over that contractual period, they're going to get service on everything over a very long time and they're going to end up with a very loyal customer.”

You can listen to each of these interviews in their entirety to gain additional perspective from Dave, Alec, and Alastair and each of their journeys. How much risk has your organization taken, and how has it paid off? I’d love to hear from you!

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