The Aging Workforce and change it can bring

We do a lot of work in councils and different utility’s and the aging workforce is a hot topic these days. As the baby boomers are starting to retire, buy a caravan and spend their kids inheritance, it's leaving many holes in the knowledge base that many places rely so heavily on. The good news (well not that good really, but it’s something) is that everyone is in the same situation. I try to keep up with the information out there which affects the industry that we work in, I came across this article recently which discusses the topic of the aging work force and it’s affect on the workplace and the changes that it will cause. The interesting thing is that it also raises something that I’ve discussed with Nige a number of times which is the affect that we think it ‘should’ have on the systems that are in place and used within councils and utilities.

Now before this becomes a rant about how so many systems are old school and we’re way ahead of the pack (most are old school and we really are way ahead…but that’s another topic….), what I’m getting at is the mentality that systems have to stay the same and the fear about moving to something or someone new because you ‘might’ have some problems. When it comes down to it, Adapt Solutions is pretty new and so is our software but if you speak to someone using it, you’ll quickly get to understand that this definitely hasn’t been a problem for them. Instead it has been the breath of fresh air that they’ve been waiting for.

I can actually relate this to my old TV recently blowing up and having to get a new one. Now I loved that old TV, it was big and in its day a real beauty…..but this was a long time ago. The kid selling me the new one went on about HD this, HI-FI that but it made no sense to me. I told him it all sounded very good, but really I just want to watch the rugby this arvo so here’s my card, I’ll help you load it up. Unfortunately, I got it home and it took me an hour and a half to get it plugged in, tuned etc and I had to use the manual which was a first. My old TV had one cable in the back or the aerial and when I turned it on the channels were already tuned. This time, WAY different story……and if the new TV wasn’t so heavy I’d have taken the thing back.

But, when that TV shone bright as the game started I realised what the pimply kid in the store was on about. It was magnificent! The picture and sound were amazing and within about 2 minutes I wondered why the hell I’d put up with my old one for as long as I had. Since then, I’ve never looked back and as much as I hated the pain and dollars for the new box, I couldn’t be happier.

For me, this is no different for your IT systems. Just because something’s there and it’s just doing the job is no reason to not look at something new and wonder what can be achieved. The stuff we are putting out to our clients is kicking goals daily for them and the users love what we’ve put together. Gone are the nasty old blocky screens of yesterday and they’ve moved to the glitz and bright lights of slick web controls and user interfaces designed by designers, not programmers. Integrating to other systems is done through a configuration screen, not a once off tool that costs a ton and takes weeks to get right. Reporting is built right in and directly integrated to the rest of the application. Web services are there to push data in and out, blah, blah, blah……

While I could go on, I won’t any more. But the question begs, what do people thing about the changing face of our work force and the systems we use? Should we settle for something that has been there forever and put up with its shortfalls or should people take a step back and say “you know, we really could do this better”?