Field Service And The Multigenerational Workforce

By Meredith Powers, lead marketing manager, Big Data, AT&T, www.business.att.com/enterprise

As a large volume of field technicians near retirement age, companies must prepare for knowledge transfer.

One of the greatest challenges to many field service organizations is the multigenerational field workforce. For the first time in modern history, workplace demographics now span four generations, meaning that 20-year-old new hires can find themselves working side-by-side with colleagues who are older than they are by 50 years or more (according to Leading a Multigenerational Workforce, AARP, 2008).

Businesses expend a great many resources on tools, technology, and training in an effort to empower field service teams to deliver superior cost-effective service to their customers. Keeping field service workers connected to systems via technology is important, but it’s only one part of the solution. A more critical component is harnessing the power of those people, presenting them with the content, tools, and collaboration when and where they need them.