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

• The ERA Future Group held a workshop on 8 June during the ERA Convention, focusing on making careers in the rental industry more attractive to all generations, particularly 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 discussed the opportunities and challenges of technological development and how rental companies can adapt, such as by providing training to update workforce skills and creating new job positions related to modern technology.

• Participants agreed that the main challenges for rental companies are attracting younger people and, to a lesser extent, retaining them.

• To attract and retain employees, rental companies need to invest in their HR departments to make hiring and supporting employees as efficient and effective as possible.

• Communication, including active recruitment targeting specific groups like young people, women, or disabled people, is crucial for attracting people.

• Boosting the image of the rental industry is essential, as the general public is often unaware of the industry’s size and the various career opportunities it offers.

• Employers need to invest in training and lifelong learning options to retain employees, provide purpose and flexibility, and ensure an efficient and safe environment.

• Technicians are a specific group that tends to leave the industry, so understanding why they leave and creating better career development options with training for them is crucial.

• Rental companies interested in being represented in the ERA Future Group can contact the ERA team at era@erarental.org.

On 8 June, during the ERA Convention, https://erarental.org/event/era-convention-2023/, the Future Group held a workshop on making careers in the rental industry more attractive ‎to all generations, including younger people. 

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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. ‎

If you are a rental company and would like to be represented in the ERA Future Group, please contact the ERA team at era@erarental.org.