For those who are blessed, or cursed, with having an entrepreneurial spirit, failure is just another element of winning. When listening to financially successful people, tales of hardship, loss, and fiascos are all part of their path to ultimate victory.
You rarely find this type of all or nothing, go for it attitude among those people who are long time, successful service employees. Their fear of failure far out-weighs any desire to risk one’s time, energy, and personal pride in order to take a chance on being able to grab the proverbial golden ring.
Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970) was an American psychologist who popularized his concept of the Hierarchy of Human Needs in the 1950-60s. Having been part of the business world since Maslow’s death in 1970, I have used his teachings on the Hierarchy of Human Needs to influence my hiring decisions. Early in my service management career, I looked to hire and train field service personnel who were happily situated in the 2nd and 3rd levels of his Hierarchy of Human Needs pyramid.
I have found the best field techs are people who are not risk takers.. As the saying goes, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” It is a better long term investment to hire techs that identify with the 2nd and 3rd tiers. Furthermore, as a service manager, it is important to understand the need for security and peer acceptance that is displayed by the majority of longtime successful field service professionals, and provide the structure and environment that helps to fulfill these needs.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human’s Needs is built on a triangle shape.
- The bottom, largest layer represents the need to satisfy the basic physiological demands of life: air, water, food, shelter, sex, and sleep.
- The second layer has to do with feelings of security, which include order, limits, stability, and freedom from fear. This equates to a need for a safe place to live and work.
- The third tier describes social needs, which include a sense of belonging, affection and love from one’s work group, family, friends, and romantic relationships.
Most long term, successful field service personnel are content to remain in the 3rd level which represents the need for physical and emotional security. They prefer a consistent bi-weekly pay check without the fear of having to meet monthly quotas to create peace of mind.
One of the most successful management styles for securing long term commitment from field service employees is to create an atmosphere of trust and gratitude, while providing ample learning opportunities. Techs work best when they believe they are accepted within their group of peers, liked and appreciated by their customers and confident that they possess the appropriate knowledge that allows them to accomplish their job.
They need to feel secure in their ability to be able to diagnosis and properly adjust, repair or reprogram the customer’s equipment. If a security minded, level 3 employee is sent out to repair equipment that they have never seen before in a new customer’s office, fear creeps into their working life. The possibility of loss of security and fear of being ridiculed by the customer reduces their own self esteem before they even walk into the client’s office.
This loss of self esteem can lead to underperformance in the tech. The next service call can be perceived as a hostile work environment that can make the tech mentally uneasy or physically sick. Soon the tech is enticed to call in sick in the middle of the day. Or he can feign car trouble or slow down his working speed in hopes of not being able to do any more calls that day. The fear of loss of security and self-respect can become overwhelming even before the tech is required to come face to face with the uncertain technical issue and the unknown customer. A content technical staff must have ongoing technical training to sustain their confidence that they will be able to do an appropriate job in the customer’s office.
Many successful service management professionals understand the need to create a sense of mental and emotional security within the service department staff. Many techs do not want to be singled out for exceptional or sub-par behavior. Some believe there is safety in anonymity from upper management. Being accepted within a group of their peers is all that is necessary.
As part of the security issue, be aware of the need for freedom from racial or sexual prejudice. The days of being tolerant of a ‘good ole boy’ attitude are legally gone. Within your own geographic location, dealership owners and managers must not tolerate any comments that may be offensive to a specific member of your staff or to one of their customers.
As a service manager, it is my responsibility to protect my staff from being put into a situation where they are fearful of having to endure racial or sexual harassment while servicing a customer’s machine. Periodically, during a service meeting or when talking one on one with a tech, we openly discuss each of our responsibilities to protect one another from ever having to feel they are being asked to work in a physically, mentally or emotionally unsafe work environment.
I repeatedly explain that each tech has the right to immediately leave a customer’s office if they are in a situation that they feel threatens them with bodily harm, unsafe working conditions or verbal harassment or abuse. They are directed to leave the office immediately and call the office explaining the situation.
The key factor is that my techs know I will stand up for them. I will do everything in my power to protect them from emotional or physical harm. I have found that just knowing they have the right to complain or refuse to work in an uncomfortable situation provides the internal strength to face uncomfortable situations without complaining because they know they have the power to control their own safety by walking away if necessary.
As a service manager, my goal is to educate, train and reinforce the tech’s importance within the group. The goal is to establish an atmosphere of confidence in their own ability, as well as a sense of responsibility to the group to carry their own weight and work for the common good. Sharing personal knowledge and ability within the group improves their personal status and increases their sense of security and safety.
Over the past 50 years, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs continues to provide insight into the human nature that can help create a safe and secure working environment for all of us.
