This creates issues around trust and authority as entry level staff view their field force superiors as their equals. These challenges become highlighted when the board decides to introduce new technologies to be used by field force teams.

David Hughes, utilities practice director, ABeam Consulting, discusses these challenges and the importance of a holistic approach to change management in enabling the entire organisation to reap the benefits of new technologies.   

The utilities sector is among those industries where staff are generally promoted from entry level to supervisory roles relatively quickly. While this makes the industry an attractive career option for school leavers and college graduates, it can create issues around authority. A field force supervisor is likely to have little relative seniority over their team, so they may struggle to manage their subordinates effectively.

These issues may become magnified when the board decides to introduce new working practices among the field force, as resistant members of staff are reluctant to take onboard the recommendations of their superiors and change their ways of working. 

To illustrate, many utilities companies are currently introducing innovative mobile working practices amongst their field force to meet the regulators’ Performance Assessment targets by improving efficiencies and customer services. Across the country engineers and other field force staff are being provided with mobile devices that allow them to communicate better with central customer service teams.

In practice, with the help of these mobile devices, any customer enquiries can be dealt with more quickly by the unit that is not only closest to the location in question, but also has the appropriate tools and expertise needed for the task.

But how can companies reap the benefits of mobile and other new technologies if field force supervisors are unable to convince their teams of the positive implications that the new technologies will have not just on their customers, but on all staff too? How can companies overcome these challenges amongst the field force, adopt new working practices successfully and ultimately meet the regulators’ efficiency and customer service targets?

The introduction of new ways of working amongst the field force should not lay on the shoulders of field force supervisors.  In order to succeed, new technologies and subsequent changes to working practices need to be implemented strategically, from the top down.

As the new technology will inevitably impact on work processes and employee behaviour, the board needs to assess how staff across all levels will react and ensure that support is at hand as field force teams go through the process of accepting these changes. It is also necessary to pre-empt how potential sources of resistance to changes can be managed as effectively as possible.

Without linking the strategy of the board with the tactics to be implemented on the ground, it is unlikely that the new technology will deliver any real benefits for the company, staff or customers in the long-term. For example, the introduction of mobile handheld devices amongst the field force will usually result in field force engineers being able to deal with a higher number of maintenance jobs and customer appointments per shift.

This is because central customer service teams gain greater visibility of which field force team should be sent to deal with a customer query at any given time. Therefore, field force teams may have to not only learn how to use the new devices, but also become accustomed to a busier work schedule.

In these instances, resistant field force staff may gang up against their superiors and passively refuse to use the new devices as a means of rebelling against their authority and opposing changes to existing ways of working. This will jeopardise the success of the entire project.

Instead, the board needs to develop a holistic business case for new technologies and communicate this to field force supervisors to ensure they fully understand the approach. As the more resistant field force staff members are likely to have little or no relationship with the board, it is up to field force supervisors to ensure that their teams understand the coming changes and the implications that the introduction of a new technology will have on working practices.

Furthermore, if the board provides field force supervisors with a strategic context for the introduction of new technologies, they are better equipped to manage resistant field force team members at the time of the roll-out and any resistance to changes can be minimised.

Opportunities for improvement lie with the way that the management itself handles these changes.  The introduction of new mobile tools that produce mobile data, increases the amount of facts that management have to act on and allows for better, more scrutinised improvement measures.

At the same time, these managers must be part of the process, not separate from it.  The scale of any change grows as it moves further down the company line. A strategic shift for the board is almost a complete change of life for a field worker.  Managers must part of this, not apart from it, to reflect both solidarity (towards field workers) and the reality of what’s happening (to the board).

In order for a company to continue operating effectively within a changing and possibly turbulent environment, field force supervisors need to ensure – with the support of the board – that resistant staff members understand the positive impact that changes to working practices will have on them personally, on the company as a whole and on customers.

Field force supervisors should help their subordinates to change their way of thinking and to become actively involved in identifying and implementing changes that will make a positive difference to their working lives and to the way in which they serve their customers. Change needs to be made real and achievable for field force staff across all levels. Only then will the new technology enable the company to meet the regulators’ efficiency and customer service targets.