The shortage of skilled field technicians continues to plague service organizations, prompting many to rely on contractors to supplement their internal staff. Some organizations are even opting to outsource field service operations completely. Modern field service management software helps manage the new dimensions of the blended workforce, including managing scheduling and dispatch and rapid reimbursement, important tasks for keeping operations running smoothly and maintaining customer satisfaction.
A recent TSIA benchmark study revealed that organizations employ contractors for many different reasons, including:
But the extra work involved in managing a third party workforce can be a high hurdle for companies already stretched beyond capacity. For dispatchers, lack of visibility into the contractor’s calendar and availability can be frustrating, involving several back-and-forth emails just to determine if the contractor can take on one assignment. Imagine applying this time-intensive tactic for several assignments a day, and you can see the potential headaches.
Fortunately, software helps overcome these issues. ServicePower’s powerful field service management platform can make scheduling, dispatching, and rapid reimbursement of third-party contractors simple, fast, and headache-free.
The Service Council reports that the workforce shortage is the top external factor having a significant impact on service businesses. Over 150,000 positions for general maintenance and repair workers are open in the US today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and tens of thousands more are vacant in Europe. While the Silver Tsunami is often blamed for the exodus of field service workers, research indicates many service workers in their 30s-50s are leaving traditional workplace roles to opt for independent contractor positions, citing flexibility and reduced stress as their motivation. Industry Today reports that 71% of companies that outsource field service say it allows them to quickly adjust to fluctuating workloads.
Building a blended workforce
If you have a blended workforce or are considering a blended workforce strategy, take time to research your options further.
Service organizations may recognize that a blended workforce model has value but wonder how to make the transition. Because service technicians are an extension of your brand and have front-line exposure to customers, the service engineers must be professional, well informed about the products and your services, and well-trained on your processes, such as how to check for parts availability, confirm a service level agreement, arrange for follow up calls, or sell a replacement or upgrade unit while on the jobsite.
All of these procedural nuances need to be well-established before the technician is sent on a first visit to a customer’s site. You don’t want the technician to alienate customers by fumbling the assignment, admitting uncertainty about procedures, or appearing to be unfamiliar with the products. Thorough training should take care of those issues.
How software can help you manage your contractor workforce
Rather than muddling along with frustrating manual systems or outdated solutions, you can turn to software specifically built for managing contractor relationships.
ServicePower Dispatch
This solution is built specifically for managing the dispatch of your crews and third-party contractors. It ensures that only the most qualified contractors are dispatched to each service request by automatically assigning jobs based on your unique criteria. You can set priorities for dispatch criteria, such as which field resources should be assigned to the most complex jobs or service requests for certain products. The solution helps to streamline and dynamically adjust and dispatch workers, using seamless integration to your service management solution. You can scale operations as demand changes, up or down.
Scheduling. Field workers are assigned to jobs based on ranking criteria, such as eligibility, skills, location, preferred relationships, contract costs, and real-time field status updates on in-progress jobs.
Real-time updates. Dashboards help monitor in-progress jobs and contractor availability in real time so changes to the schedule can be made throughout the day.
Dynamic adjustment. For blended workforces, assignments of in-house and contractor technicians can be adjusted throughout the day to balance the workloads and ensure swift completion of service requests.
Configurable. A rules-based engine based on your business requirements helps drive how jobs are assigned to contractors.
Comprehensive reporting. You receive detailed reporting and analytics to monitor key performance indicators for the departments as well as the performance of individual contractors.
Matchmaking. Advanced contractor management solutions allow you to rank contractors based on performance, response times, rejection rates, or other criteria, so the system taps the preferred contractors first. If the first-contacted servicer doesn’t respond or rejects the job, the system automatically moves on to the next preferred contractor.
ServicePower Contractor Reimbursement
ServicePower Contractor Reimbursement is a real-time, automatic payment adjudication tool with built-in validation, auditing, and invoicing. It enables rapid reimbursement, helping you to build loyalty with your field contractor network.
This application is a valuable tool that allows third-party, independent servicers to connect with service organizations that want to supplement their workforce or outsource it. The tool allows servicers to view potential jobs and select the ones they choose to accept. Then, the application provides visibility on job status for both stakeholders.
The wrap up
With the pressing shortage of skilled technicians, organizations are turning to contractors to either supplement their existing teams or build 100% third-party technician teams. No matter whether they are employing a few contractors on demand or a team of hundreds or thousands, the system for dispatching and reimbursing contractors can be cumbersome if only manual processes are in place.
Advanced technology, such as ServicePower offers, makes the contracted and blended workforces simpler to manage as well as more efficient and effective.
Customers report:
You receive the specialized functionality you need to dispatch the right field resource to the right job and process payments quickly while minimizing risks. Automation makes the entire dispatch-reimburse cycle streamlined.
Data and analyst insights indicate that workforce challenges are likely to continue. If you have not put a system in place yet to manage contractors, now is a good time to consider the option. Acting now will help you be prepared for future surges in demand.