Service manufacturers worldwide are in the thick of a perform storm: A "graying" workforce is fading off into the sunset, with hundreds of years of collective expertise. In most cases, left behind are underserved, smaller workforces -- without the keys, strategies and processes that had kept businesses thriving. And in a time where resources are stretched thin, and the requirement to "do more with less" is as loud as ever to keep customer satisfaction, loyalty and brand protected, it sets up a gap carrying grave implications.
According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the median age of U.S. employees, some 64 million baby boomers -- more than 40% of the American labor force -- are poised to retire in the next three to five years, leaving fewer experienced workers to take their places. Similar changes in workforce demographics are occurring in Europe and Australia. In its 2004 Eurostat population projections, the European Commission predicted a substantial decline -- about 20% to 30% over the next few decades -- in the age of the working population within the EU.
Despite these figures, little is being done. Most manufacturers recognize knowledge transfer as an issue, yet fail to act on it -- especially when it comes to field service.
According to the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), only 29% of responding organizations report that they incorporate retirement forecasts into their knowledge transfer practices. Furthermore, i4cp found that only a third add "skills gap analysis" into those forecasts, less than half say they train their managers to identify critical skills, only 23% are educated in critical skills transfer, and most companies admit they do not formally measure the effectiveness of their knowledge transfer practices.
Complicating matters is that older workers possess years of experience that young workforces simply lack. Both groups have different skill sets and knowledge. Some of these are no longer relevant, such as fixing an Apple II computer. But some will still be needed and must be preserved and transferred to the younger workers -- like the tasks requiring a lot of experience, as often happens in utilities, HVAC and even domestic "white goods." Older workers also tend to approach problems and challenges differently from younger ones, sometimes acting less quickly, but applying their experience and maturity to act more effectively.
Putting Service under the Microscope
The lack of adequate retirement planning places most businesses in an uncompromising position -- around service, which is becoming the barometer for how businesses gain profit, market share and revenue.
Competition is getting tighter, demanding that field service teams find ways to be profitable even as they are pressed to raise their service quality as well as compete on pricing. The nature of the game keeps changing, with new technologies, new government regulations (e.g. having to do with sustainability and "green" operations), and with the changes brought about by the effects of the economic downturn as well as the first hopeful signs of a new upturn. Juggling all these balls in the air requires both up-front planning and the agility to change plans quickly as the unforeseen inevitably happens.
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