The Secret to Building a Happy (Engineering) Workforce

Building and maintaining a happy and motivated workforce is challenging for most businesses. With the threat of quality field engineers leaving and skilled engineers getting harder to recruit, what’s the answer? Although many may think a pay increase will solve this problem, it’s not the full story.

The Engineer recently reported an increasing number of engineers are actively considering changing jobs from 42% last year, to 47% this year. Most worryingly, given the sector’s widening skills shortage, 10% are considering leaving engineering all together.

This is due to a number of factors with most businesses still feeling the squeeze from a backlog of jobs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving companies to do more with less, putting a strain on their current engineers.

In this situation companies must review their operations and find out where they can improve efficiencies, with many implementing service management software to help them.

By optimising scheduling, engineers can become more productive, which translates into significant cost savings and allows businesses to fulfil increased capacity demands without the need for additional hiring. By maximising the potential of the existing workforce, companies can achieve growth even in times of talent scarcity. Sound too good to be true? Here’s how service management software can make a big difference…

Help your engineers increase their productivity

Improving first time fix rates (FTFRs) plays a key role in optimising engineer productivity. Ensuring engineers have the necessary parts by using planned maintenance visits to understand demand for pattens can ensure good parts availability and thus reduce second visits. Data shows that 29% of repeat visits are due to this issue.

Getting this right not only boosts engineer productivity but also eradicates the frustration endured by both the engineers and customers due to repeat service visits. By completing more jobs first time, engineers increase their availability for additional work, allowing companies to meet increased demand without an immediate need for new hires.

An attractive workplace for engineers

If engineers are in demand salaries will obviously go up, but how else can employers attract the best talent? To enhance engineers’ job satisfaction, companies must be able to offer employers up to date mobile service management software to make the engineer’s job as easy as possible.

Service management software enhances communication, offering real time updates and job details through mobile software, reducing admin time for engineers with job sheets that enable them to provide comprehensive data quickly and efficiently, making a significant impact on customer service and overall job performance.

Investing in the right service management software

Service management software isn’t a short term fix; it’s a long term investment that demonstrates an employer’s commitment to employees and investment in the growth and development of the business. By providing engineers with the latest software functionality businesses can use data insights and analytics to identify training opportunities and tailor skill development programs, leading to a highly skilled and motivated workforce.

Embracing the latest technology is not just about staying ahead; it’s about nurturing the human element that drives your company’s success. Building a happy engineering workforce is within reach with the right mobile service management software to fully support engineers in their day to day work and their longer-term development.

If you’re interested in learning more about how Service Geeni can benefit your company, book a demo with one of our experts.