How to make the rental industry attractive for younger people – outcome of the ERA Future Group workshop, part 1

On 8 June, during the ERA Convention, the Future Group held a workshop on making careers in the rental industry more attractive ‎to all generations, including younger people.

The workshop included a presentation on ‎‎‘Technology as a driver for change in the rental industry workforce’ by Magnus Thibblin (Hexagon) ‎and Jean-François Sourdoire (Trimble). The presentation dealt with the opportunities and challenges ‎of technological development and the possibilities for rental companies to adjust, for example, by ‎providing training to keep the workforce’s skills up to date and creating new job positions dealing ‎with modern technology.

The participants were then asked to reflect on how we can make the rental industry attractive to younger people and keep ‎them loyal to their companies. They agreed that the difficulties for rental companies lie in attracting (younger) people ‎and, to a lesser degree, keeping them loyal to the company. Although most difficulties are attracting young people, attention should be paid to all ‎generations and backgrounds.

Aspects to consider when attracting and retaining people

For ‎both attracting and retaining people, there is a need for rental companies to invest in their HR ‎departments to make hiring and supporting employees as efficient and effective as possible. To attract people, ‎the focus should be on communication, including active recruitment, focusing on specific ‎groups such as young people, women, or disabled people, to name a few examples.

It would be ‎beneficial to target young people by campaigning at schools. It would also be helpful to ‎ focus on attracting and recruiting experienced people from other sectors with the skills ‎necessary for the rental industry.

Second, it is essential to boost the image of the rental industry. ‎The general public is unaware of the industry’s magnitude and different career opportunities or may ‎have a negative idea of what the industry entails. Therefore, it is essential to advertise all ‎the positive aspects of the industry, such as sustainability, fast technological ‎development and a dynamic and diverse job environment.

Employers also need to ‎invest in training. ‎Although attracting people is the more significant challenge here, effort should still be made to ‎retain people, especially by larger rental companies. The most critical aspects in this regard are ‎providing purpose and flexibility, as well as training and ‎lifelong learning options to keep their skills and knowledge up-to-date and ensure an efficient and ‎safe environment.

One specific group that tends to leave is technicians. Therefore, listening to ‎them carefully and understanding why they leave is essential. Creating better career ‎development options with training for them would be beneficial. ‎

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If you are a rental company and would like to be represented in the ERA Future Group, please contact the ERA team at [email protected].