Augmenting Field Technicians with a 3rd-Party Workforce

Field service businesses of all sizes have embraced the mixed workforce management model, which involves deploying and overseeing both full-time and third-party technicians. In fact, external technical specialists now execute approximately 20 percent of all field work, according to researchers from Gartner, who predict that figure will increase to 40 percent by 2020. This approach offers obvious benefits for organizations within the industry, but what about full-time technicians? 

How does the widespread embrace of third-party field service professionals affect hourly and salaried workers? In truth, the mixed workforce management strategy often improves full-time technician performance due to the technology that underlies the methodology.

Here are three ways the field service management tools that facilitate the use of mixed workforces can actually help full-timers execute more effectively:

Improved communication
Communication is a huge operational concern for businesses within the field service sector - and for good reason. Customer satisfaction often hinges on how effectively dispatchers and other headquarters staff can collaborate with technicians in the field. When communication breakdowns materialize or inaccuracies creep into work orders, technician effectiveness decreases and the customer experience falls apart. Unfortunately, these issues are common. For instance, more than 40 percent of field service companies grapple with faulty field data flows, analysts for the Service Council discovered. Field service management solutions can address problems of this kind by allowing technicians to tap into bleeding-edge mobile communication and real-time job management tools that support operational cohesion and lay the foundation for positive customer interactions.

Enhanced efficiency
Improving technician efficiency is the foremost strategic priority for an estimated 74 percent of field service businesses, per research from Field Technologies Magazine. This is an entirely understandable goal considering the ever-increasing customer expectations surrounding response time. To meet these lofty demands, technicians must simplify their workflows and cut out inefficiencies wherever possible. Field service management tools support this brand of streamlining via automated modules that accelerate and improve work order handling, facilitate scheduling optimization, offer access to real-time field performance data and more. With these capabilities in hand, field specialists can cultivate pared-down processes that enhance their ability to move through jobs apace while also meeting high customers expectations.

Augmented data quality
Inaccurate information can sabotage field service quality, no matter the caliber of the communication channels and work order management processes in place. This is why more than half of field service businesses have begun implementing Internet of Things technology, according to data from Red Hat and Vanson Bourne. Field service management solutions are among the IoT innovations organizations navigating the space are pursuing, as these software tools allow technicians to view raw and reliable asset performance insights and ultimately implement remedies that work the first time.

In the end, service businesses that adopt the mixed workforce management approach and the accompanying technology can not only gain access to capable third-party technicians, but also help their existing full-time workers improve. 

Here at ServicePower, we develop the technological infrastructure that underlies the mixed workforce management methodology. Our platform contains powerful components that allow service business field managers to meet the needs of full-time and third-party technicians, and facilitate operational optimization. Contact us today to learn more about our work and how we can assist service businesses implementing mixed workforce management workflows.