Platform version 5.60.4 release

The OnForce team will be releasing an update to the platform tonight. Here’s what’s new: Add rich formatting to work order details

Are you making it easy to understand the requirements of your work? Are you providing clear and easy-to-follow instructions? In a fast-paced on-site environment, how quickly can service professionals extract important information from your job description?

As a service buyer, improving the readability of your work orders helps the service professionals you work with to quickly and completely understand job requirements and instructions — saving time on site, reducing errors and missed steps, and leading to better overall service.

OnForce service buyers can now apply rich formatting to their work order description, instructions, and terms of agreement fields, making the scope of work and service instructions easier to read, understand, and follow. With our easy-to-use formatting toolbar, you can add any of the following formatting and styling options to your work order text:

• Bold Italics
• Numbered lists 
• Bulleted lists 
• Horizontal rules 

Some tips for improving work order readability:

Avoid using all capital letters

Part of the way our brains make sense of printed text is by recognizing letter shapes. Because capitalized letters are all the same height, we actually have to work harder to distinguish between them. A study in the American Journal of Psychological Research concluded that using capital letters for emphasis actually decreases reading comprehension. What to do instead: Use bold or italics to emphasize important details and highlight critical steps or procedures. Break up large blocks of text

Presenting job details in large blocks of text increases the amount of time required to read and decreases comprehension and retention. It’s much easier for our brains to assign meaning to what we read when visual characteristics, such as lists and spacing, are used to help us understand how the information is organized. What to do instead: Use section headings, spacing, and horizontal rules to organize your work order into smaller, more manageable sections. For example, maybe you want to provide instructions for what a Pro should do prior to going on site, while they’re on site, and when they are closing out the job.

Want more help?

Our support and account management teams are here to help you if you need pointers on how to structure an effective, easy-to-read work order.

Reference: OnForce Blog

OnForce CEO Among Staffing Industry Top 100 Most Influential

Peter Cannone is the president and CEO of OnForce, a workforce solutions company that delivers proven offerings to today’s pressing labor management issues for the Fortune 1000 and beyond. He brings deep insights regarding trends in the staffing and service sectors and an extensive understanding of the technology services industry. Through Cannone’s leadership, OnForce recently won the prestigious Red Herring 2013 Top 100 North America award. As an award winner, OnForce joins the short list that honors the year’s most promising private technology ventures.

Mitigating the Biggest Risk in Hiring IT Service Professionals

Posted by Peter Cannone, CEO of OnForce

If you haven’t caught the latest Gartner global analysis on IT staffing trends, it’s certainly worth a closer look. One of the key findings from this year’s report is that staffing remains the largest cost category for the IT budget, representing a global average of 41 percent. Along with that news is the recent PayScale survey, which found that tech companies have the highest reported turnover rate.

When you consider how much of the IT budget is allocated to staffing, the high turnover in our industry, an unemployment rate holding steady at 7.4 percent, and shrinking employee benefits packages, it’s clear that a new business model must emerge for identifying and vetting IT talent. Reinforcing the need for a new model is the results from a recent survey, which found that 60 percent of IT service professionals voluntarily joined the ranks of the self-employed.

Combined, these factors have resulted in the emergence of the Workforce-as-a-Service model, where businesses hire skilled IT talent for contract assignments to address short-term business needs.

It sounds ideal for the IT service professional who wants to be their own boss and it’s a viable alternative for businesses that need to keep the business running whether they’re quickly growing, needing to sustain a product line or are managing gaps in the workforce.

Yet as this new WaaS business model emerges, companies and independent contractors need to prioritize the “business of their business.” Specifically, protecting themselves from liabilities should anything go awry during the course of the assignment.

These incidents can range from simple falls resulting in physical injury to more complex scenarios driven by the fact that the IT service professional has access to sensitive information and infrastructure.

What often happens when a 1099 employee comes on board is that both the client and the IT service professional have a standard contract in place. It’s not uncommon for both parties to give the contract a cursory glance and assume they’re safeguarded against any physical incidents or compromises of intellectual property. And if a third party introduces the IT service professional to the service buyer, it’s often assumed that the assignment is fully protected.

Yet what is not widely known is that in many instances the assignment is only partially protected. Or worse, the IT service professional opted out of obtaining insurance.

Of course, the last thing anybody wants to think about when they’re bringing on an IT service professional is that something could go wrong. And sure, insurance isn’t always the sexiest topic to discuss – until something goes wrong and it creates a substantial impact and/or captures the attention of the mainstream media.

So what should service buyers prioritize before they enter into an agreement with an IT service contractor?

• Insurance that covers liability, workers’ compensation, and errors and omissions. 
• Proper classification of contract employees according to federal and state guidelines. 
• Full background checks and client reviews. While background checks are table stakes these days, let’s not overlook recent innovations in technology that allow us to check on the public ratings and service buyer experiences of working with individual IT service professionals.

As more businesses look to maximize returns on that 41 percent of the budget they’re allocating toward IT staffing, it make sense that they look to the independent workforce to augment their teams on an as-needed basis. In fact, many service buyers report a cost savings of between 30-60 percent through the Workforce-as-a-Service model.

Yet before the service buyer signs on the dotted line, they need to be sure the proper mechanisms are in place to protect them and their business before any IT service professional steps foot onsite.

Resource : Innovation Insights

The New Staffing Reality: Workforce-as-a-Service

Posted by Peter Cannone, CEO of OnForce

Let’s face it. The dynamics of the workforce have radically changed over the past few years. Unemployment is holding steady at 7.4 percent. Unsteady economic growth is prompting employers to think twice about their staffing models. And without the safety net of employer benefits, a lot of talent is switching from being a traditional W2 employee to join the growing ranks of independent contractors. In fact, when it comes to IT professionals, 60 percent of them willingly joined the independent workforce.

What all of these factors have created is a new staffing model where businesses bring on skilled professionals for short-term assignments. For example, let’s imagine you need extra hands to quickly seize a hot market opportunity or you want to reallocate your staff to focus on a new initiative, yet need to sustain your existing product line. For companies in various stages of growth and development, the independent contractor model makes sense because it allows businesses to focus on operational efficiency and maximize productivity while reducing, if not completely eliminating idle time.

Of course, the concept of hiring 1099s is not exactly new. In many scenarios, a former colleague or a friend-of-a-friend was brought in for a specific task. What is new, however, is the way that independent contractor talent is identified, vetted and secured.

PREMIUM CONTENT: Online Staffing Platform Businesses ‐ 2013 and 2014 Industry Segment Forecast

Specifically, advances in technology enable us to not only access a skilled pool of talent that is located right under our noses, but also publicly share feedback on our experiences with the independent contractor. This way, we’re able to find the right talent when it’s needed, a.k.a. “Workforce-as-a-Service” (WaaS).

Going beyond job boards, online marketplaces or social media sites to identify and hire talent for short-term assignments, the WaaS model has three critical differentiators.

1. Each assignment is fully protected with insurance against general liability, workers’ compensation and errors and omissions.

2. The contract professional is properly classified as a 1099, therefore mitigating risks for the service buyer.

3. There is a 100 percent service buyer satisfaction guarantee to support quality outcomes before the independent contractor is paid for completed work.

Let’s examine these three differentiators a bit more closely.

The insurance factor is significant yet can be easily overlooked. What service buyers and independent contractors need to be mindful of are gaps in coverage that can expose both of them to risk. Before a contract is put into place, make sure that the assignment is not just partially covered or that insurance is optional. You need the guarantee that each assignment is fully insured before an independent contractor arrives to a job site.

As for the second differentiator, we’ve all seen or heard about the huge financial burden associated with misclassification of independent contractors. As more businesses look to the WaaS model, they need to be sure due diligence is executed when it comes to properly classifying independent contractors.

Finally, in fairness to all parties involved in the engagement, satisfaction ratings must be consistent and specific to the task.

WaaS is the natural, next step in the evolution of our workforce. Yet for the model to be successful for service buyers and independent contractors, both sides must agree to and enforce the principles outlined by those three critical differentiators.

Firm Takes On-Site Approach to Online Staffing at Enterprise Level

Online staffing and services firms continue to roll out enterprise-level offerings for large customers. OnForce, an online services provider, last week announced two new enterprise-level offerings — its “workforce expansion” and “workforce optimization” services.

OnForce allows client companies to find independent contractors online, manages the flow of work and facilitates payments. Buyers can find independent contractors online or use OnForce to build a network of independent contractors through its database of U.S. and Canadian independent contractors.

Online services is one part of the "human cloud" category that includes online staffing (firms such as Elance and oDesk) and crowdsourcing (firms such as Crowdflower).

OnForce differs from other types of online staffing and services firms in that buyers use its online platform to send independent contractors directly onto a site where work is to be performed. On other online platforms, the work takes place entirely online.

The company’s workforce, for now, includes information technology specialists and consumer electronics specialists (whose work includes product repair).

“We provide a variable workforce virtual engagement, but do local delivery,” said CEO Peter Cannone.

It’s “workforce optimization” offering will design a customized workforce model for enterprise customers, an optimized labor plan and provide key performance metrics.

The “workforce expansion” offering allows large companies to add to their workforce to expand a product line or conduct a new product rollout. One example is a cable television provider who wants to provide network installation along with other installation services provided by its workers so customers have one place to go. Instead of hiring more workers, the company is providing the network installation through the OnForce platform.

Resource - Staffing Industry Analysts

New Offering Shifts Online Staffing Model

By Andrew Karpie

OnForce, a provider of platform services that enable businesses — like cable companies, electronic equipment providers, etc. — to engage and dispatch “field service contractors” across the U.S., has introduced a set of service offerings that enable any kind of large enterprise to deploy an IT-related “managed contractor workforce” in almost any U.S. location.

OnForce announced yesterday it is introducing two new service offerings coupled with its sophisticated online contractor management platform. The company places both of these service offerings in a new enterprise workforce solution category that it calls “workforce-as-a-service.”

Effectively, workforce-as-a-service provides an enterprise with a fully managed workforce of contractors who can perform work assignments on demand. But unlike a managed service program/vendor management system kind of model, where contingent workforce suppliers (like staffing firms) are managed as vendors, in this model OnForce manages the contractors directly, and provides crucial services such as workers’ compensation, general liability, and errors and omissions, as well as risk mitigation for misclassification of independent contractors. In this sense, OnForce acts as a general contractor, but one which can provide different kinds of (highly-flexible, even on-demand) managed contractor workforce service offerings based on its digital platform.

The two managed workforce solution offerings being launched are:

• Workforce Optimization, a solution is designed for businesses that need to increase operational efficiency and maximize productivity due to a variety of reasons such as the need to sustain existing product lines while new ones are in development. 
• Workforce Expansion (a solution designed for companies that need to rapidly expand to support a product rollout or new line of business, especially in a new geographic market area.

This is an important development in the shift toward online platform models enabling innovative, flexible, on-demand work-outputs for large enterprises. Online platforms typically have been leveraged to support remote freelancers in virtual work categories like software development. Now we are seeing online platforms deliver ‘boots on the ground’ in offerings that shield businesses from independent contractor compliance and similar risks. These new offerings are unique in that they provide companies with a “managed workforce” service that delivers work outcomes as opposed to workers.

Resource - Staffing Industry Analysts

What Lurks Beneath? A Tectonic Shift in the Work Arrangement Landscape?

Earthquakes occur when sufficient stress has built up along fault lines, such that the earth moves all of a sudden, and what’s on the surface is often drastically altered. Things in our 21st century world are now happening so quickly that we rarely pause to examine what changes actually occurred and how those changes overtook us (they often come quietly from behind).

Just over the past 20 years, we have known many such instances. One of the most visible ones (you can think of all the rest!) was the advent of iTunes. Prior to that, we were all very comfortable with our time-tested way of consuming music: we would own our own player devices (phonograph, Walkman, CD player) and we would buy our music on some corresponding physical medium (vinyl, cassette, CD containing the IP/content we desired) from some retail outlet (first a physical store and eventually an online store like Amazon.com).

Even as digitization set in, this old pattern or form of arranging access to musical content we did not own — but could pay to use — did not change right away. But at some point — after internet, MP3 technology, and Napster — it did (rapidly and completely). At some point, technology, economic forces, human behavior shifts brought about a major shift — not some major discontinuity or leap in underlying technologies or a suspension of the laws of supply and demand (or laws of intellectual property, for that matter), but a substantial change in how access to music was structured or arranged.

So is such a shift possible in the world of “work arrangements?”

Until quite recently, human capital-related information technology (including HCM and TMS) has not had much impact on the shape of “work arrangements.” Job Boards did not change the form of the traditional permanent employment work arrangement, and Vendor Management Systems (VMS) did not change the form of the traditional contingent/temporary/SOW work arrangements. Both of these information technology developments basically targeted improvements in talent supply chain performance, not the “restructuring” of actual “work arrangements.”

However, over the past six years, a set of forces has been converging (these include, increasing global economic competitive pressures, businesses requiring more flexible workforces and scarce talent, and changes in workforce demographics, expectations, and preferences). These forces, mixed with new possibilities engendered by integration of technologies like social, cloud, mobile, et al, have been having significant impacts on work arrangements (actually spawning new forms). Perhaps one of the most radical of these has been “crowdsourcing” work arrangements, while one of the most pervasive has been “online freelancing” enabled by online staffing platforms like oDesk, Elance, and others. Concepts of “extended workforce” (Accenture), “private talent clouds” (Elance), “workforce-as-a-service” (OnForce) are now not just fantastic ideas, but in 2013 refer to functioning “work arrangements” that have unprecedented characteristics of being fractional, variable, mobile, on demand, etc.

SIA started studying this phenomenon over the past two years, and we continue seeing clear signs of development, innovation, and growth--in what today still looks like a small spot in a petri dish. Some of these visible signs can viewed through the microscopes of two recent SIA reports, The “Human Cloud” in 2013: What It Is, and Why It Is An Emerging and Real Opportunity For Staffing Firms and “Online Staffing” Platforms: 2013 industry segment landscape.

Resource - Staffing Industry Analysts

Workforce-as-a-Service Scales to Meet IT Staffing Needs on Demand

What if you could scale your IT personnel requirements as you would computing resources? Using a workforce-as-a-service model lets you add a skilled, vetted and insured workforce when you need it and release it when you don't.

-By Sharon Florentine

Cannone says that OnForce has nearly 1,000 independent contractors signing up with the company each month, but that doesn't mean they're all hired. Applicants go through a rigorous screening process, he says, that includes a personal and skills questionnaire, an online battery of tests, a phone screening, a background check, drug testing, all to guarantee that customers are receiving 'W-2 quality' workers.

OnForce says it also uses proprietary talent matching algorithms that take more than 20 data points into account to make sure workers are a good match for the job. These algorithms are constantly reviewed based on on-site performance, and workers are given continuing assessments and performance reviews to make sure they're performing at peak levels, Cannone says.

"One issue we address with this WaaS model is the misclassification of workers - how many times have you hired someone for a position and found their skills weren't quite right? That's a costly mistake, and one we can address," he says.

Consistency and Communication

OnForce also ensures its workers are covered under the umbrella of its insurance policy, which can remove a major administrative headache for customers, says Leslie Rudolph, vice president of Operations, Field Services Division, for Tampa, Fla.-based OnForce partner Vital Networks, which delivers networking solutions, monitoring and management, as well as rapid-response support.

"We are a services delivery company, but we saw that with the increasing mobility of our customers that it was tough to provide a consistent staffing solution; we have our own field services engineers, but it was hard to communicate with them consistently, and difficult to manage all the insurance and risk management for all of them," Rudolph says. "It was becoming an administrative hassle and a quality assurance problem," she says.

"We still have our own teams of field service engineers, but we partnered with OnForce to increase our efficiency for customers," Rudolph says. "This is an innovative way to approach the business. It's flexible to the needs of our customers, and it means we can be responsive and fast at addressing their needs," she says.

Resource - CIO

How the Sharing Economy is Evolving Into Workforce-as-a-Service (Infographic)

Posted by Peter Cannone, CEO of OnForce

It would be impossible to overlook all of the talk about the collaborative, sharing economy, which is estimated to be a $110B plus market. Even Thomas Friedman penned a New York Times op-ed column on it. Not to mention IT luminary Irving Wladasky-Berger’s take on it, which recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

With companies like TaskRabbit and Airbnb capturing the spotlight, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that there is a significant opportunity in the IT slice of this market. In fact, of the $3.5B that will pass through the sharing economy this year, approximately one-third of it will go toward IT.

So how exactly does IT play in today’s sharing economy and how is it evolving into Workforce-as-a-Service (WaaS)?

Well, let’s first step back and understand what we mean by the sharing economy. Jeremiah Owyang of Altimeter Group offers the best definition. He explains the sharing economy is “an economic model where ownership and access are shared between corporations, startups and people. This results in market efficiencies that bear new products, services and business growth.”

Now you already know that this whole notion of sharing isn’t exactly new. Rather, the sharing economy has resulted from the evolution of our workforce since the days of the Industrial Revolution.

During that time, the majority of employment opportunities for the first generation workforce were in manual labor and it wasn’t until the World War II economy that healthcare was introduced by employers as a recruiting tool.

As innovations in the Industrial Revolution eventually led to the Digital Revolution, the second generation workforce, marked by the rise of knowledge workers, soon outnumbered all other workers by a ratio of 4:1.

Then, as the Internet age morphed into Web 2.0 where collaboration reigns, came the third generation workforce. In this sharing economy, contract employees double as entrepreneurs carving out flexible work arrangements, funding their own healthcare, and taking more control over their destiny.

It’s not a coincidence that the sharing economy has taken off during a time of unprecedented change in the workforce, especially when it comes to IT. Let me explain.

On the one hand, you have businesses that want to optimize efficiencies without bringing on a slew of full-time employees. On the other hand, there are a growing number of skilled IT professionals that, after weighing the pros and cons of being on someone else’s payroll, voluntarily joined the ranks of the independent workforce and are thriving as entrepreneurs.

When you look at the converging forces in the economy, advancements in technology and the shifts in the traditional employer/employee arrangement, you can see how we’ve arrived at the sharing economy and how it’s evolving into the on demand “Workforce-as-a-Service” (WaaS) business model.

Going beyond tactical tasks of the sharing economy, the WaaS model applies to the fourth generation workforce. In it, knowledge workers are able to satisfy the needs of businesses by successfully executing short-term assignments, anywhere.

For example, let’s consider WaaS for IT. Imagine a business that needs to ramp up quickly or perhaps sustain an existing product line while they focus on other initiatives. In both of these real world scenarios, independent IT service professionals can help with these transitions.

WaaS is an ideal work arrangement when you look at a company’s desire for modular staff to complete a project or get geographic reach quickly, and the rise of independent contractors that want the flexibility and consistency that come from steady, short-term assignments. Yet before you embrace this model, be sure that the assignment is fully protected should anything go awry.

More specifically, what a lot of service buyers may not be aware of is the fact that many assignments are only partially protected, therefore exposing their businesses to significant risk.

If you’re a business or an independent contractor that wants to seize part of the multi-billion dollar sharing economy as it evolves into WaaS, you must have the assurance that each assignment is protected against liability, errors and omissions, and workers’ comp.

Now you may be thinking this adds too much complexity to the idea of hiring on demand but don’t let it be a gating factor. Instead, look to those proven online networks that bring together service buyers and IT service professionals and ask the tough insurance questions before you commit to bringing an independent contractor onsite.

There’s tremendous upside in the WaaS model for businesses and independent contractors as long as both sides are properly protected throughout the engagement.

With flexibility and expertise as it’s hallmarks, and the prediction that 50 percent of the American workforce will be classified as 1099s by the year 2020, it’s clear the WaaS model is here to stay.

Reference - http://insights.wired.com/profiles/blogs/how-the-sharing-economy-is-evolving-into-workforce-as-a-service#ixzz2eWQYMFZg

Poor Attendance Leads to Poor Results

By Terry Stockham, Human Capital Advisor at OnForce

According to The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, the definition of absenteeism is:”Habitual absence from work, thought to reflect employee demoralization or dissatisfaction.”

Absenteeism at work is not only about the direct costs related to an employee’s absence (sick pay, overtime, etc.), but also about the related effects that ripple throughout the organization. Here are just a few examples of the extended impacts of poor attendance:

• Safety implications: working short-handed, hiring inexperienced temporary staff, or relying on overworked employees on overtime can all lead to increased accidents and downtime, as well as have a negative impact on cost and profitability


• Productivity loss: because of reduced staff, your company may shorten certain processes to get things done


• Quality compromised: product and service defects tend to increase when you do not have sufficient staff; also, employees already working a full schedule and asked to put in additional hours tend to make more mistakes


• Performance loss: high-performing employees with good attendance will gradually become disengaged and their performance will suffer as a result of carrying shifted burdens and workload, especially over an extended period of time


• Employee turnover: poor attendance may eventually lead to more high-performing employees leaving, compared to low-performing employees. Over time, this dynamic can drastically impact your organization on multiple levels and inhibit its ability to meet the needs of customers in a quality-driven, sustainable, and profitable manner.

As you can see from these examples, attendance issues are reflected not only with employee cost, but also have cost and performance impacts that can affect your entire organization and your bottom line. While attendance is a relatively complex issue with no single solution, there are things you can look for in your organization such as:

CULTURE: Take a hard look at your culture and how employees are treated and recognized for performance. Do you have a culture of inclusion and collaboration rather than “command and control”?

TALENT: To borrow Jim Collins’ phrase: “Are you getting the right people on the bus…in the right seats?” Work environments, cultures, and jobs change over time. The right person, in the right place, at the right time, doing the right things is crucial. Conversely, mismatches result in disengagement and poor attendance.

RECOGNITION: Pay and benefits come to be perceived as entitlements to an employee in a very short time. They are important, but not true motivators. Look at how your organization recognizes the contributions of employees. It is human nature to desire and seek acknowledgment of successes and performance, which is why recognition is a cost-effective way to get lasting results with positive impacts to the bottom line.

JOB STRUCTURE: Review how your jobs are structured. Maybe it’s time for a change. Does the structure of the job challenge and motivate the employee? Does the employee feel he/she can make a difference in his/her current role? If the answer is “no,” it is time for a change. Some jobs may need to be restructured or redesigned to improve employee satisfaction with the work. If this does not help, some duties may need to be outsourced or fulfilled via an appropriate contingent labor model.

If your company has an attendance problem, the key is to act quickly, before it negatively impacts your entire organization.

Reference: OnForce

Three Ways To Deliver Exceptional Service

Guest blog by George Harris, VP of Business Development at OnForce

Whether you’re a managed service provider, an OEM, a VAR, or even a full-service company in the 3rd-party arena, achieving exceptional service is always a top part of your organizational mission. Although your product or service may be very different from the company down the street, that goal remains the same.

As George Harris, VP of Business Development at OnForce says, “There are a hundred ways to bake a cake, but some taste better than others.” How can you make sure that your efforts are resulting in a robust, tasty strategy? Here are Harris’ picks for top ways to garner exceptional service.

• With a certified, qualified tech trained on a specific product. When bringing in a tech, look for one trained by a manufacturer or who’s been through a formal training program — that way, they understand how a product is being used. Also, glance at work history and get a sense of a tech’s skills and knowledgebase. You want someone who can keep pace with innovation, and supplement existing skills with fresh ones in order to stay sharp in today’s rapidly changing business marketplace. So, find indications of that in a tech’s experience.


• Bring in a tech who understands the business environment in which your product or service is being used — knowing the details of a product is crucial, but a tech should also be savvy about how that product is affecting your business or your industry.


• Increase your company’s “soft skills” by utilizing techs who have exemplary listening and problem solving skills, as well as true passion for their work. A successful IT consultant will be flexible when on a project, dealing with unexpected issues and seeing solutions instead of problems.

Focusing on these types of strategies helps a company operate with lower margins, keeping costs in line, Harris notes: “You have a workforce that’s available now through an online platform, which helps mitigate most of the concerns through a strong vetting process, verification of certification, background and drug testing, performance reporting, and insurance, so why not make the most of that?”

Reference: OnForce

Workforce Problems: Are You Addressing the Symptoms or the Cause?

Guest Blog: Terry Stockham, Human Capital Advisor at OnForce

The Director of Sales at an FMCG organization contacts the company’s HR manager and requests sales training for his staff. Recent high turnover in the sales team has depleted the experienced staff and left him with the majority of the sales members with less than 3 months on the job. He also instructs the marketing team to create a new ad campaign to bolster slumping sales (sales have been declining over the past six months).

Three months later, the sales staff is fully trained and the new ad campaign is running, but sales are still declining. In addition, costs to conduct the sales training and support marketing efforts amounted to $3.5 million. To address this issue, the Director of Sales decides to talk with the company president and they decide to bring in a consultant.

Very quickly, the consultant discovers the real problem is in the production of the company’s products. The production process has not changed in over 20 years. High demand had taken its toll on the employees, processes, and equipment in the production department. The quantity and quality of the product line were the real cause of slumping sales! The production workforce was completely disengaged; they just didn’t care anymore. They had brought the problems forward to management many times, but their complaints were ignored. They were just told to work harder and faster.

It may seem strange that management did not recognize or address the production problems, but it is a true story! They treated the symptoms of the problem and ignored the true cause of the problem.

What can you do to avoid making the same mistake when addressing business problems? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Don’t react – respond. Do not panic and impulsively react to a symptom. Take the time needed to investigate the entire issue before taking action. Symptoms are very obvious and easy to see but causes are usually not as easy to identify.
2. Talk to ALL the people involved in the situation. Create a team comprised of a cross-section of the organization to ensure that you capture all of the critical information and perspectives needed to identify the true cause of the problem. This team approach will be important when developing the solution.
3. Gather data. Make sure that you have all of the data necessary to complete the investigation of the problem. Most serious business problems don’t happen overnight. You need “data history” to identify when, where, how, and why.
4. Test the problem/solution. Make sure you have the true cause-and-effect identified before implementing a solution across the organization. Test it on a small scale before rolling it out. If you’re “fixing” the wrong cause, you may make things worse.

Bottom line: Do it right the first time or you will be doing it again and again and again…

Reference: OnForce

Are Your Employees Disengaged?

Guest blog by Terry Stockham, Human Capital Advisor at OnForce

Are your employees productive, content, and motivated? How can you tell? Typically, employee engagement can be measured with surveys, assessment tests, and by simply observing your employees as they work. Do you see strong contributors, poor performers, or a bit of both? If you’re a manager and see less than par players on your team, beware, they are sabotaging your success and your bottom line. All it takes is just one vocal, influential, and disengaged employee to spread his/her discontent to other team members for your group’s productivity to plummet.

According to recent research (the Gallup 2013 State of the American Workplace report and the AON Hewitt Global Engagement Survey), the current global employee engagement level is at 60%, an increase from 58% in 2012. This level of engagement equates to $550 billion a year in lost productivity within American companies. Yet these same companies spend billions of dollars a year in an effort to improve employee engagement and performance, only to get very little improvement in either!

To further illustrate the negative impact that employee disengagement can have on productivity and the bottom line let’s take, for example, a service employee who completes warranty work for a large technology company. This employee’s weekly salary is $1,000 (based on a 40 hour work week, $25/hour) and receives health benefits, insurance, training, etc., all totaling $1,400 ($1,000 + $400) paid by the company.

During the 40-hour work week, the service employee performs approximately 10 hours of non-service work such as traveling to customer sites, completing paperwork, waiting between job assignments, attending meetings, taking training classes, and so forth. This means that the company is paying for 40 hours but actually getting only 30 hours of service performance, translating to about $750 ($1,000 – $250) of “lost” productivity time. But, wait, there’s more.

If we take the 30 hours of actual service work performed and factor in the global engagement level cited at the beginning of this blog, we get only 18 hours ($450) of targeted service performance (i.e., 30 hours x 60%, or $750 – $300 = $450). If we look at the bigger picture, the company is paying $1,400 for $450 of performance! This is equal to $49,500 of lost productivity per year for this employee alone. If this company has 25 service employees, it amounts to $1,235,000 in overpayment for performance!

The past two decades have shown time and again that traditional incentive programs are not working. It is time to look at innovative and flexible labor models (e.g., flex-staffing or an on demand workforce) that offer workers autonomy, while driving positive business results for you and your company. Which jobs within your organization would benefit most from these new labor models? Given the cost implications of traditional labor models, can you afford the status quo?

Reference: OnForce

Necessary Protections to Prevent Business Risk

Bill Price, COO of OnForce

OnForce was an early, and at times controversial, adopter of comprehensive risk mitigation and insurance coverage for our customers. We were the first variable labor platform to offer General Liability, Workers’ Compensation and Errors and Omissions insurance coverage for every service event. We knew that insulating our customers from these real-world risks was a very important part of helping them to take advantage of our workforce solutions.

So why be a pioneer? We had two key reasons. First, OnForce is a true solutions provider that offers a comprehensive suite of services, including protections that allow our customers to focus on their core businesses, while we provide peace of mind. Second, our Fortune 100 enterprise accounts demand comprehensive protection against business risks. Based on this, OnForce believes that providing insurance solutions that meet this standard for ALL of our customers – both SMB and enterprise accounts – makes sense. Our goal is to remove the burden from you, our valued customer, and place it on us. From investigation to resolution, OnForce handles the insurance claims and protects you from losses related to property damage or personal injury. This enables us to provide superior solutions with protection against risk for you and all of our customers.

Now we see other platforms attempting to imitate our solution offerings and protections. While we’re not surprised to see them come around to the idea, we encourage companies in the market for variable labor to dig into the details and read the fine print. We don’t just offer access to technicians who carry their own insurance – we insure every work event on our platform. Unless your provider is offering General Liability, Workers’ Compensation and Errors and Omissions insurance for all of the work that you do with them, then you are at risk. After all, we all know that accidents do happen. Can you afford to be exposed?

Reference: OnForce

Freelancing Is Alive and Well

Almost every day I see news articles that highlight the growing trend for freelancers and, in turn, the thriving independent workforce. For example, this latest article from Parade.com – 4 Reasons Why Freelancing is the New Career – offers very compelling reasons why freelancing works and is likely here to stay. With advantages such as having the flexibility to work locally or globally, being your own boss and determining your work schedule, there’s a lot to like!

Demographic data today shows that there are almost 17 million independent workers in the U.S. and that this is expected to grow to 50% of the American workforce by 2020. At OnForce, we clearly see this trend continuing within the IT sector. Our business forecasts continue to show growth opportunities demonstrating that freelancing is working and thriving in the IT space through the OnForce platform.

Whether you are a company looking into the benefits of leveraging independent workers or a seasoned veteran in the world of managing variable labor, there’s no question that the individual economy has arrived. Are you taking advantage of it?

Reference: OnForce

Who Would You Trust As Your Business Partner – an Innovator or an Imitator?

Almost every day I see news articles that highlight the growing trend for freelancers and, in turn, the thriving independent workforce. For example, this latest article from Parade.com – 4 Reasons Why Freelancing is the New Career – offers very compelling reasons why freelancing works and is likely here to stay. With advantages such as having the flexibility to work locally or globally, being your own boss and determining your work schedule, there’s a lot to like!

Demographic data today shows that there are almost 17 million independent workers in the U.S. and that this is expected to grow to 50% of the American workforce by 2020. At OnForce, we clearly see this trend continuing within the IT sector. Our business forecasts continue to show growth opportunities demonstrating that freelancing is working and thriving in the IT space through the OnForce platform.

Whether you are a company looking into the benefits of leveraging independent workers or a seasoned veteran in the world of managing variable labor, there’s no question that the individual economy has arrived. Are you taking advantage of it?

Reference: OnForce

What’s Happening In the Labor Management World and Why I Joined OnForce

Bill Price, COO of OnForce, Shares His Perspective

For the last seventeen years I have worked in the IT staffing industry. I started out as a software developer and worked my way up to senior management positions in technology. Over the years the business has treated me very well but it has gone stale.

I’ve always felt the professional staffing business was ripe for change. The process of manually capturing a client’s labor need, bringing that need to a recruiter, then sending resumes back to the client before finally (and hopefully) placing a candidate was outdated and inefficient. It felt like a fundamental change was needed and then the Vendor Management Services and Managed Service Provider business models were introduced. This was exciting at the time since technology could empower a service buyer and offer overall labor cost efficiencies through automation – a step in the right direction. But this wasn’t really a new model, it was simply an improvement on the existing model and certainly nothing revolutionary.

The primary functions of staffing agencies are sales and recruiting (with some cost saving benefits). At one time, staffing models made sense since they could retain teams of professionals that served their clients. However, as professional staffing companies grew nationally, and cost and profit pressures increased, these companies were not able to maintain a consistent stream of talent. At the same time we’ve seen the quiet rise of the independent contractor and the continued evolution of the transient nature of IT professionals. The result: staffing companies began vying for the same pool of talent! Where is the value add? What differentiates these staffing organizations now? Virtually nothing except possibly reach and maybe quality or speed to deliver but these aren’t enough. Next enters, commoditization, another step on the path to change.

During the last two decades we’ve seen many examples – eBay, Craigslist, Angie’s List…etc… – of how technology has advanced to match a buyer and seller. So why can’t we match the needs of staffing buyers directly with a network of labor resources using technology without the middleman? This would be a truly revolutionary idea. The answer is we can! This is exactly what OnForce does (and has been doing for several years). In fact, OnForce is a pioneer of this new business model. We offer our clients an on-site, W2-like experience for task-based assignments using independent contractors. This is exactly why I joined OnForce: to help lead the path as a pioneer, to be a game changer. With the rise of the independent worker and the shift into the individual economy, OnForce is well positioned to drive the revolution and I am very excited to be a part of it.

Reference: OnForce Inc

Congratulations to the Top Performing Service Professionals with OnForce!

The ability to consistently provide high quality service is an essential ingredient for success in field services and a #1 priority for OnForce. Out of the thousands of top quality service professionals that comprise our community, we would like to call special attention to those who have demonstrated exceptional quality service.

Recognition Awards

Pro Spotlight: Designated to service professionals who are recognized by service buyers for outstanding performance.

Best of 2012: Designated to service professionals who have completed hundreds of service events through OnForce and consistently followed OnForce service excellence guidelines with every service event.

OnForce All Stars: Designated to the top 12 "best of 2012" recipients who have a long history of providing top quality service throughout their tenure with OnForce.

We send congratulations and many thanks to these exceptional individuals.

View the Best of OnForce top performers

Reference: OnForce Inc

Top 3 Printer Repair Issues and How to Solve Them

Like any machine in an office environment, a laser printer will occasionally have issues, from the minor to the serious. Fortunately, sometimes it just takes some printer know-how to address the problem. Gain some insight by looking at these top repair issues, along with tips on how to solve them quickly and affordably:

Problem: Dark streaks on printouts

Fix: Change the toner cartridge

Often, a change in cartridges will give laser printer owners a false sense of security, since they might believe that a new or freshly recycled cartridge wouldn’t have any type of problems. But there are many situations where a cartridge can be negatively impacted by handling, temperature changes during shipping, even from an employee dropping it before it goes in the printer. To find out if the cartridge is the problem, swap it out with one from another printer in the office (as long as they’re the same type) and run a print job. Most likely, the “new” cartridge will have to be replaced.

Problem: Frequent paper jams

Fix: Clean first, replace rollers if necessary

One of the most frustrating problems with laser printers, paper jams can create larger problems since tiny, torn pieces of paper can get into the machinery. The reason jams occur can depend on the printer type, but most often, the rollers are the culprits. Give them a thorough cleaning first to see if that solves the issue — don’t forget to unplug the printer first and let it cool down for an hour before taking on the project. There are many products available for cleaning, but usually a slightly damp, lint-free cloth will work well. If that doesn’t solve the issue, then it’s likely that the rollers will need to be replaced, and a call to an OnForce specialist will be in order.

Problem: Regular error messages

Fix: Learn the error codes, install firmware updates

Like any laptop or server, laser printers depend on software and technologically advanced hardware in order to run, and that means a company will have to apply software and firmware updates as they would with other technology components. Often, it’s easy to know when updates are needed because the printer is showing error messages that indicate difficulties in communication between the printer and the computer. Faulty cables, software inoperability, new devices without proper print drivers, or other concerns can all create error codes, so learning what each code means can be helpful. After that, follow manufacturer instructions for applying firmware updates, which can usually be found on their websites. Once firmware is updated, be sure to restart the printer, similar to restarting a computer after installation of a security patch.

With error codes resolved, clean rollers, and more reliable cartridges, it’s likely that any laser printer will be operating more efficiently and trouble-free. For more extensive fixes, contact your OnForce representative for more advice and on-site repairs that can keep those printers going strong.

Reference: OnForce Inc

Is Your Printer a Hidden Security Risk?

Although intrusion detection systems and robust firewalls are necessary for protecting companies of any size, sometimes there are scary threats to the business lurking just inside the company walls.

Case in point: your laser printer.

Many enterprises and small businesses, even those that are tech savvy, forget to include printer protection in their security mix, because they’re focused instead on more traditional types of risks like malicious viruses and hacker attempts. Yet printers have the capability to store massive amounts of information, and that data can get accessed.

In 2011, two Columbia University researchers discovered that HP LaserJet printers didn’t require a signature or certificate to identify the source of remote software updates. Since a LaserJet checks for software updates whenever a new job is sent, this means that the laser printers were creating security risks every single time it was utilized for printing.

The researchers sent a virus-filled print job into the queue, in the form of a tax return. Using the printer flaw, they were able to redirect the information to a remote computer representing an external hacker’s laptop.

First rolled out in 1984, LaserJet printers are used in millions of businesses, and newer models can accept jobs through Internet connections, which simply exacerbates the security risk, the researchers believe.

The threat isn’t just with HP laser printers, either. Any printer that utilizes software updates and features an Internet connection might present a risk. Here are three simple steps to making sure you’re protected:

Change the default password. Even when printers are networked, companies tend to keep the default password because they view the machine as an internal resource, not a source of information to external parties. Simply changing the password goes a long way toward blocking remote access.

Keep the firmware updated. Printer manufacturers often release updates to firmware, especially when security issues are detected. Much like a laptop or desktop computer, frequent security patches and fixes are necessary to block the newest threats.

Don’t network unless necessary. Although some companies use one laser printer for a department, there are some instances where a printer is assigned to an individual. In that case, connect the printer directly to the computer and keep it off the network.

Whenever a machine is networked, keep security in mind — this applies to servers, photocopiers, even VoIP phone systems. Where there’s an opening, there’s a problem. Prevent issues by locking down your laser printers and keeping your company in tip-top security shape.

Reference: OnForce Inc

Platform Version 5.55.5 Released

We’ve just released an update to the OnForce platform, including several functionality improvements for OnForce users. Here’s a rundown of what’s new. Let us know what you think of these changes in the comments!

Bulk edit price and date of bundled work orders

It’s now easier than ever to make adjustments to the price and date of the work orders within a routed bundle: buyers can simply use the ‘Edit Work Orders’ link when viewing a bundle to make edits to the bundle details without having to open each work order individually. If you aren’t already using the bundling feature, it’s a great way to offer a group of sites as a “package deal,” ensuring the same technician services multiple sites — a strategy which results in a consistent end user experience and more efficient driving routes for OnForce pros.

Search work orders by service contact name

OnForce provides powerful search and filtering tools to help you find the work orders you’re looking for. We’ve now added service contact name search to the Advanced Search menu to give you yet another way to look up work orders in your Buyer Command Center.

Complete for payment reminder emails no longer sent on work orders with a pending spend limit increase request

Reminder emails are a helpful feature for OnForce Pros managing a lot of work to stay on top of closing out work orders. They’re not so helpful, however, if you’re waiting on a spend limit increase from the buyer before completing for payment. We no longer send a complete for payment reminder email on work orders with a pending spend limit increase request.

Buyers can resolve their own work order escalations

Many work order escalations are resolved through the efforts of OnForce buyers and Pros working with one another to clear up a problem. Now, buyers can officially resolve their own escalations, making for a more seamless exception management workflow. When a buyer escalates a work order, both the OnForce Pro and OnForce Market Support are notified so that all parties can work together to resolve the issue. Previously, only OnForce Market Support team members could resolve an escalation.

Reference: OnForce Inc

Platform Version 5.55.4 Released

Here at OnForce, our product development team works hard to deliver value to our buyers and pros through enhancements to our field service platform. But that value isn’t realized if you, our customers, aren’t kept up to date about new features and functionality available to you. This post is an effort to help you get more out of your OnForce experience by giving you the latest news on what’s going on with the product. We’ll continue to post notes here about each platform update we release.

Now on to the good stuff. Here’s a rundown of the latest improvements released with version 5.55.4 of the OnForce platform:

A cleaner, more useful work order payment approval interface

The most recent updates to our document management system enabled buyers and pros to keep track of multiple versions of a document — useful for work orders that include multiple trips to site, each requiring their own deliverables. We’ve now refreshed the look and feel of the work orders needing approval list to also display multiple document versions, as well as to allow inline editing of buyer custom fields during the approval process.

Get the work order details you’re looking for quickly and easily

Helping you find the information you’re looking for within a work order, easily and efficiently, is a critical function of the OnForce platform. To give your mouse’s scroll-wheel a break, we’ve added a quick navigation menu to the top of each work order. The navigation contains links to all the important sections of the work order, and remains fixed to the top of the browser window for easy access. You’ll save time on every work order you view by being able to quickly jump to the details you care about.

One-step creation and routing of work order bundles over the API

We’ve added a new method to our buyer API: WorkOrderBundleAndRouteByRuleset. Given a list of work order ID’s and a routing ruleset ID, this method allows a buyer to create and route a bundle of work orders in one step utilizing the filters of the specified routing rule. When this method is successfully called, the buyer is returned a list of ID’s for the pros whom were sent the work order bundle.

Instantly dismiss your work order alerts

The work order alerts list surfaces important events — such as appointment change requests and new reply-requested notes — to provide buyers and pros with a top-level overview of what’s happening on your work orders. We’ve made managing this list even more efficient by eliminating page refreshes after alerts are cleared.

New printer sub-category available: Plotters

Buyers needing to find qualified service pros to work on plotter equipment can now select the specific Plotter sub-category when creating work orders. Experienced service pros should add Plotter skills to their service profile to be eligible for this work.

Stay up-to-date with the latest OnForce product updates

The OnForce team works hard to bring you the tools you need to deliver world-class service using our powerful field service platform. In order to keep you informed about improvements to the product, we’ve added a Product News feed to the left sidebar in your PCC or BCC. Stay tuned to this feed to learn about new features you can leverage to improve your OnForce experience.

Reference: OnForce Inc

Technology Innovation in Field Service

New advancements in technology always amaze me. Promises of faster delivery from days to minutes, instant access to information and people, and the ability to get more done with far less effort -- become reality and effectively change how work gets done.

As technology continues to evolve, so does the field service delivery landscape. Smarter and faster tools like mobile solutions, for example, help to drive better processes that enhance your customer’s experience, and ultimately, your bottom line.

Current street buzz is on 3D technology. Is 3D technology the new wave that will hit the field service landscape? Quite possibly, according to Smart Van that highlights how 3D printers and scanners could very well be the next big thing.

Do you agree? Which of the latest technologies do you think will impact you and how you deliver field service today?

Posted By Diana Ermini, Director of Marketing, OnForce

Reference: OnForce Inc

Five Critical Skills That Can Help Service Technicians to Succeed In 2013 and Beyond

For most, a New Year brings the desire for change. It means re-evaluating your current situation, setting a goal, and then taking action. It’s a time that causes us to reflect on where we are and where we want to go. As a field services technician, what are your New Year professional goals? Where do you want to take your business in 2013 and beyond?

Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or are just getting started in your IT career, there are a number of soft skills (i.e., personality attributes) that I have often found with field services technicians who are successful.

As you embark into the New Year with specific business goals in mind, here are the top five soft skills that can help you stand out with customers and encourage repeat business:

Know your technology. With technology innovations coming out every day, it’s almost impossible to stay on top of it all. Regardless, do your best to be an expert in your particular area of interest. Is most of your work focused on mobile solutions? Make sure that you stay current with the latest trends and developments in the mobile space. The key is to complement your years of experience with the latest skills to help you navigate the latest IT terrain.

Set expectations. If a customer expects you to arrive at a specific time (and you have confirmed that you will) but then show up late, it’s not good. Of course, things happen that are out of our control (e.g., there’s an unexpected traffic jam, service event location details are inaccurate...etc...) but if the unexpected happens, then let your customer know as soon as possible. This will not only help prepare your customer accordingly, but also will demonstrate that you are proactively managing the situation.

Be a strong communicator. The ability to manage multiple service events and allocate resources, all while juggling a variety of customer requests requires strong communication skills. While it’s important to be able to effectively communicate what you want to say, it’s also about being a good listener, observer and being willing to ask questions.

Stay positive. No one likes to work with someone who views life with a “glass is half empty” mentality. Instead of focusing on what’s going on with the economy, direct your attention to where you see opportunities and go after them. Are networking skills in hot demand? Make sure you have them and indicate it in your service profile. Are you losing time between service events because you are getting bogged down with important, yet inefficient, administrative tasks? Use a mobile app to help you streamline processes so you can stay productive.

Love what you do. Life as a service technician involves dealing with a wide variety of tasks and challenges every day. It’s important to have the motivation and persistence to keep going even when things get complicated or when problems arise at a job site. If you don’t, customers can pick up on your lack of enthusiasm and choose not to work with you again. If you really care about your work and consistently strive to do your best, you are often called upon for repeat work.

Are these soft skills that you practice on a regular basis? Is there a skill that you would add to the list?

Posted by Diana Ermini, Director of Marketing, OnForce

Refrence : OnForce Inc