Consider this – everyday, digital transformation is happening all around us. Technology puts our world in a constant state of change and forces critical infrastructure industries to quickly automate another manual process in their operations. Gallup Research shows that in the working world, millennials are quickly outnumbering generation x-ers and baby boomers. Within the next two years, 50 percent of the U.S. workforce is expected to be made up of millennials. Companies face the challenge of attracting and developing this powerful contingent that has different priorities and values than previous generations. In industries where skilled employees are retiring in droves every year, technology is the key to engaging new generations of employees.
How Businesses Are Responding
Almost half of millennials say they have the newest and greatest technology items, while Boomers come in at one quarter, half the size of the millennial bloc. Engaging your workforce via technology is one of the best ways to attract new employees and ensure your workers feel connected to the work being done – not to mention provide flexibility around their work/life balance. Today’s workforce is looking for both stability and flexibility. They want to work, but they want to work shifts on their terms. Critical infrastructure industries will need to be able to provide this flexibility in order to attract a vibrant workforce – and do so in a manner that is efficient, safe and cost effective.
As this landscape of workers continues to change, digital and mobile technologies will be at the cutting edge of employee engagement. 42% of Millennials use real-time messaging at work, 42% use social media and 32% use work storage or sharing applications. The bottom line is, when you invest in technology – you invest in your employees. Just because a company has done something a certain way “forever,” doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do it.
The Role Technology Plays
Companies like ARCOS are helping critical infrastructure companies stay ahead of the curve of innovation by automating manual processes and providing mobility to field and plant technicians, as well as supervisors – all within regulations and business rules. ARCOS can help your organization take those tedious processes like paper note keeping, spreadsheets, whiteboards and manual phone calls. Digitizing shift management by automating the filling of shifts and managing complicated processes like shift bidding and swapping can help empower employees and give them guided autonomy and flexibility.
In a recent survey of critical infrastructure companies, we asked about the top challenges that these industries are facing. Here’s what they said:
- 80% are being weighed down by manually handling processes that can be automated to save both time and money
- 40% are worried about the age demographics of their employees shifting
- 30% of companies are worried about falling behind technologically
Let us help you. Learn more about how ARCOS can help your bottom line while engaging your workforce with our shift management solutions. Don’t just take our word for it, read more to see how we helped Piedmont Airlines dramatically improve their key performance indicators significantly. Learn more from our Ground Crew Support Scheduling white paper.
