Millennials in field services ty u

Millennials in Field Services: Management, Technologies, and Revenue Opportunities

As experienced technicians with decades of knowledge begin to retire, millennials now make up the new field services employee base. But for a generation accused of being lazy, self-centered, and fickle, managers who utilize millennial assets successfully will see real gains in increasingly important areas of business: up-selling and value ads, the customer experience, and both cost savings and efficiencies driven by connected technologies.

Millennials are digital natives and collaborators, with skills that lend themselves to connectivity and information efficiency. And in 2017, connectivity is a major winning strategy for field service organizations, where a majority claim connectivity for technicians has been working for them.

To understand how to successfully manage millennials, consider some of their common motivators and how they can contribute to business success:

• Merit-Based Systems
• Collaborative Environments
• Meaningful Work
• Frequent Managerial Feedback
• Freedom to Be Agile, Flexible
• Genuine Learning Opportunities

Notice that, while it is certainly a priority, financial gain is not on the list; rather, these items place priority on independence, self-fulfillment, and management that encourages these behaviors. This is why smart field services organizations are approaching service engagements differently, focusing on building technicians’ soft skills so that customer-facing service reps themselves can drive revenue.

Still, many managers overlook millennials’ greatest assets, such as sincerity, problem solving skills, and the ability both to build relationships and to add value. These are sometimes hindered by rigidity in management and procedures, which can limit real-time interactions that otherwise might increase the lifetime value of a customer.

And as field service organizations increasingly rely on technicians to be their brand ambassadors, the conscientiousness and people-pleasing qualities common to millennials are essential attributes in increasingly high demand.

Unlike previous generations, millennials less often rely on the claimed expertise of a single person, opting to reference all information repositories as well as the team as a whole before carrying out a responsibility.

Finally, successful organizations and managers are those that can see through the incendiary culture of generational comparisons. The notion that millennial behaviors and motivators are somehow shortcomings—or are ‘wrong’ compared to traditional motivators and business models—overlooks their inherent value, which lends itself to modern growth opportunities within the industry.

Managers who acknowledge these unique motivators and adjust their strategies report that the benefits of younger employees cannot be overstated—while many identify millennials as unreliable and self-centered, these mangers identify them as loyal, eager, and willing.

Passing the Torch

Boomers and millennials differ in some ways—but in the most important ways, they do not. Still, transitioning to a work environment that motivates and capitalizes on this new generation of employees can be difficult.

But as growth opportunities in field services appear in the advent of new technologies, upselling to existing service contracts, and increasing lifetime value through a superior customer experience, field service organizations successfully hiring and retaining talented millennials have the advantage. What millennials bring with them is a work ethos that, for them, is working already; organizations need to leave what is no longer working behind.