Support and Train Craft Field Service Employees with SAP SuccessFactors

Understanding the unique HR needs of Craft and Field Services

In Part I of our spotlight on SAP SuccessFactors, we looked at the challenges of an increasingly remote professional workforce and how SAP’s human experience management (HXM) suite meets the need to connect, engage, and develop professional employees. In Part II, we shine the light on supporting another employee group with unique HR needs and accessibility: Craft and Field Services.

In contrast to professional employees, when we think of craft workers (i.e., skilled manual workers), field service employees (those performing their job away from a traditional office or company property), and even production workers on the line, we recognize that they do not typically sit in front of a desk/computer throughout their work day. To engage them, collect updated HR data from them, or push announcements out to them, we have to go beyond the desktop.

Safety, compliance, and training are often high priorities for these employees and their supervisors, and there is more interdependence/less autonomy in terms of setting and managing work schedules due to the nature of working in groups or in sequence. This distinguishes this group of employees, as well.

SAP SuccessFactors makes self-service accessible and easy to use

Self-service is a means for employees to make updates to their own information within an HR system, to make requests for things that they might need, and to receive information through the system. Having the most up-to-date employee information on mailing address, emergency contact information, personal contact information, and direct deposit information, for example, is critical to employees receiving ongoing communications and getting paid. Since employees know this information better than anyone else, it’s imperative to make it easy for them to update information right in the system – with a workflow for review and approval – so that you get the most current information directly from the source. SAP SuccessFactors answers the call by making the system easy to use and accessible.

Mobile app and a fully mobile-enabled system

With the proliferation of smart phones for personal use across different employee groups, companies are increasingly extending mobile applications – such as the one for SAP SuccessFactors – to employees that traditionally may not have had them in the past, with excellent adoption rates. Even without the app, SAP SuccessFactors is fully mobile enabled when accessed through a browser.

Multiple-user tablets in field locations

The mobile application is specifically designed to have capabilities for multiple users (each logging in/out) on a single device, meaning that you can have a tablet or two at a jobsite trailer or at a particular workstation for employees to access if they don't have a personal smart phone device. For this reason, don't hesitate to put some tablets out there in different non-traditional work environments to extend access.

Streamlined user interface

SAP SuccessFactors home page streamlines tasks and information, making it easy to update a profile, request time off, review a safety briefing, or request field equipment.

Spotlight on features: Functionality important to Craft and Field Service Employees

On-the-job observation and training

With SAP SuccessFactors, a supervisor or foreperson can conduct an on-the-job observation, documenting the need for additional training. In this screenshot, the red “X” might be a scenario that warrants additional training or safety reminders to ensure safety and reduce incidents. An employee or a supervisor in the field can easily access a safety checklist to follow or access on-to-job training, training guides, or reference materials as needed.

Quick guides

Craft workers, field service employees, production employees and their supervisors can also have ready access to Quick Guides, which are step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish a particular task. SAP SuccessFactors can also link to instruction manuals for pieces of equipment or to standard operating procedures or checklists for a particular scenario or incident in the field, making it easy for employees to successfully perform their role safely and compliantly.

Compliance training

Being able to participate in learning activities on the jobsite extends to compliance-based training. For instance, if someone is showing up to a particular worksite for the first time and needs an orientation to that particular site and the work that's being done there, they can walk into a trailer or sit at a check-in desk and participate in those activities via their smartphone or company tablet. The system is going to note this, tracking who participated and when training was completed. Perhaps there's a mini assessment that needs to take place, as well. All of this can be done through the mobile device.

Information access for supervisor planning and communications

SAP SuccessFactors gives field supervisors the ability to pull up basic team contact information (i.e., a team roster with email addresses or mobile numbers for texting) so that they can be in contact with their teams. When arriving at the job site, the field supervisor can send a text message to an individual who is perhaps late or having trouble finding the site. Employees can also actively inform their supervisors about an absence rather than having a “no show” day.

Having a quick organizational chart at your fingertips means that you can look up someone’s skills and find a specialist who can operate a particular piece of equipment. You can also review their availability. As an employee, you can see who you’re working with and the composition of different teams, which is especially helpful if you’re trying to coordinate someone to cover your shift.

Additionally, SAP SuccessFactors has the ability to keep track of alerts and send reminders, so that you are notified that a particular work permit is about to expire, for example, and can take action.

SAP SuccessFactors and Illumiti

Craft and Field Service employees need opportunities for training, engagement, development, and connection in order to foster satisfaction and retention. SAP SuccessFactors offers a self-service toolset for communication, safety, compliance, and learning – and the mobile capabilities provide easy access away from a traditional office environment to stay connected and engaged. Different functional or specialty licensing is also available to accommodate different use cases such as employees who do not access the system on a frequent or regular basis.

As an SAP Platinum Partner, Illumiti is an integration and management consultancy specializing in SAP product suites, providing start to finish implementation and ongoing maintenance and support. To learn more, visit https://illumiti.com.