Managing in-house and third-party service technicians not only affects profit margins but also creates various operational challenges. Some of these challenges which are specific to South Africa and most other African countries include but are not limited to the following:
- Service companies often employ workers with varying levels of education – from being illiterate to highly qualified individuals.
- Africa has large areas with no network coverage or electricity, making it hard to monitor remote teams which poses further service delivery challenges.
- Unstable economic times and an increase in crime and unemployment exacerbate these challenges.
Consequently, monitoring remote service technicians’ activities and whereabouts as well as the quality of work delivered is essential. Fortunately, with every challenge lies an opportunity, and many companies are reaping the benefits of having tried and tested methods to overcome the challenges such as:
- A lack of fieldworker visibility and what they are doing as they move between multiple worksites. This challenge often leads to reporting exceptions and incorrect data collected as a result of using manual paper-based reporting systems.
- No proof of presence to confirm that fieldworkers are where they meant to be. In addition, ineffective manual timesheets are often utilised.
- Limited proof of the quality of work being completed is available. Businesses using fieldworkers have little proof of whether the work was completed, what the quality of the work completed was and precisely how long it took to complete tasks.
- Limited proof of compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements and standards such as OHS, service level agreements (SLAs), and ISO. Work is often carried out in areas with little to no infrastructure making it hard to monitor remote teams. This, in turn, poses further service delivery challenges.
- Paper-based checklists and service plans are furthermore time-consuming with no real-time visibility or insights into how your employees and fieldworkers are performing. With paper-based methods little to no opportunity exists for management escalations that could ensure services are provided more effectively.
The above-mentioned challenges have one thing in common: a lack of proof of service delivery. This could lead to additional costs for service delivery companies and an increased risk to clients. However, when managed well and with the correct system, the proof of presence and measured performance will lead to excellent service delivery which in turn will lead to increased profit and business growth.
We hope this article was insightful. If you are interested to learn more about how to overcome challenges using Workforce Management Software, talk to one of our competent consultants with no obligations. Alternatively you can download our free guide, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn.
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