How to motivate your field service engineers in 2023

The field service industry is in need of engineers with a wide range of skills. These industries include Electrical, HVAC Service, Gas Engineering and Plumbing, etc.

It has become a highly competitive area, requiring workers to always be on their toes.

The performance of each employee is a key factor in the success of your business. How can you keep them motivated?

Here are some creative ways to motivate your employees and increase employee retention. Let's begin.

Keep open communications

Having regular meetings with the team can increase productivity as they can share ideas and suggestions. This will allow engineers to feel appreciated and valued when their ideas are considered. Validation matters.

You can also use more effective management tools, such as field service management software or other technologies that improve communication with your team. Here are some key features of Powered Now:

• Job scheduling: Powered Now is a really intelligent diary and scheduling system that is linked to both your customer records, your team and all of the paperwork.
• Quoting and Invoicing: Use our templates to create quotes and invoices from the system. Convert quotes to invoices and send them to your customers in seconds.
• Track your team: Know where your team should be as well as where they actually are, using our GPS tracker app.
• Keep your customers organised: keep your customer records and notes centralised. Everything is stored in a project so you can keep an eye on the important details.

Offer flexible work hours and incentives

Contrary to popular belief money is not the motivator that employees need.

The New Year is a time when employees feel holiday-season fatigue and would prefer a lighter schedule.

Powered Now is a Job Management Software that can help you organise and schedule your jobs and teams. Flexible schedules can be created for your workforce, and you can track their performance at any time. You can also pinpoint team members who are under or overworked, and then address them accordingly.

Have you tried Powered Now?

Book a free demo today

Tradespeople are usually very busy during the New Year, especially in the service and maintenance industry. Workers must be flexible when covering for colleagues who are absent or taking on extra shifts.

Incentives can be used to increase employee retention and support mental health in the construction industry.

However, rewards don't need to be limited only to points or monetary schemes. It is possible to simply take time from your busy schedule to show appreciation and gratitude for a job well performed. It's possible to show appreciation for their hard work by offering lunch or spending extra time with them one-on-one.

Provide opportunities

Giving your field service engineers opportunities can motivate them to excel. 

If your business grows, you can give your employees the chance to apply for other positions. You can also provide training if needed. 

Provide your service engineers with health checkups

Workers in industries such as HVAC servicing, which involve regular physical activity, are just as important for their physical health as their financial well-being.

A way to increase employee retention in the New Year is to arrange for health checks and medicals. These can be done either on-site or at a nearby hospital. You can ensure that your employees are well taken care of by personally reviewing the results with you. It is possible to schedule checkups every three months for your employees.

You could encourage workers to take their breaks as part of the process. Engineers onsite are particularly vulnerable to injury due to their strenuous work.

Assess work culture and environment

Reassessing the company's culture is a great way to increase employee motivation and retention. Video calls with remote workers can help to build a sense of belonging. They can also voice their concerns at work, something that might not be possible if they rely only on online messaging.

Wrapping up

Businesses experience an increase in employee resignations during the first months of the year, as employees take the time to review their careers. Many field service businesses have started to implement campaigns to retain their engineers because of this trend.

These changes can make a difference in a happy workforce or one that is uncertain about their future. Managers don't have to spend a lot to motivate their employees and increase retention. We hope you find these ideas helpful. Happy New Year!