Let's Get Digital with Carrie Charles

The past few weeks have been uncertain and scary. In our industry, essential personnel are out there working to keep us connected, which is both worrying and inspiring.In spite of this reality, our worries and concerns haven’t dampened the hope and optimism for the robust recovery of telecom.Our guest this week is Brett Chester, VP of Marketing for Sitetracker. On March 25, the company published its Telecom Infrastructure Provider Outlook.The report is based on survey responses from the industry, pre-COVID-19. And it includes updated information from after the outbreak. Both data sets yielded some interesting—and sometimes counterintuitive or contradictory—results.In this episode, Brett shares some of the surprising findings about growth, margins, project accuracy, hiring, competition, efficiency and meetings.Brett also talks about the industry response to COVID-19, the risks, and the positive outlook most companies are sharing.Listen now, and don’t forget to subscribe to future episodes.And keep an eye out for a new LinkedIn Group called “Telecom Strong.” The group will provide connection, support, and inspiration to the telecom infrastructure industryLove the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the 5G Talent Talk Community today:broadstaffglobal.comLinkedInTwitterFacebookYouTube

Our guest this week is Will Townsend, Senior Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. He travels the world spending time with enterprise infrastructure providers and operators. So, he understands the technology and the services that get layered over it.And he’s got solid ideas about what is coming next.Many of the most disruptive transformations will happen in industries that are still “old school.” Like how ride sharing disrupted the for-hire car industry. And many of the disruptions we can’t even imagine yet.But we can see signs of what is coming with the newest generation of technology:Industry 4.0- Cloud and edge computing are already improving manufacturing through wireless connectivity.5G- Fast throughput and lower latency allow efficiencies like extended Subject Matter Experts. These efficiencies will be cost disrupters that can help employers scale their workforce.Wi-Fi 6-This next iteration of indoor wireless supports multiple devices and the IoT to create better user experiences.Will also shares what’s going on with private networks, as well as the job opportunities that will come up even as old jobs disappear.Listen now to catch up on the latest “by the numbers.” And to hear how these technologies can help us cope with disruptions like COVID-19. And be sure to sign up for future episodes!Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the 5G Talent Talk Community today:broadstaffglobal.comLinkedInTwitterFacebookYouTube

If you’re in vertical telecom, you’re familiar with permitting delays and workforce shortages. Your counterparts in horizontal deployments face similar challenges: more applications than governments can handle; uncertainty with regulation, and not enough workforce to install the conduit.But fiber faces other challenges specific to its underground environment.This week’s guest is Chad Rasmussen. He’s the President and CEO of the North American division of Cable Runner International.He explains:The negative effect small cell fiber applications have on enterprise applications; The outside-the-industry workforce shortages that slow down deployments; and The lack of space in the ROW—where can all that fiber go?For that last one, Cable Runner takes advantage of an under-utilized existing network of conduit: sewer mains and storm drains. This disruptive technology aims to help support the entire telecom industry.Listen now to learn how using storm and sewer pipes streamlines the deployment process. And hear Chad’s thoughts tackling the 5G deployment challenges, including the importance of public and private leadership, collaboration, and educationLove the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the 5G Talent Talk Community today:broadstaffglobal.comLinkedInTwitterFacebookYouTube

Finding and retaining talent are twin challenges facing our industry. Add in rapid company growth, and those challenges get more critical and severe.And yet Leaf Communications isn’t struggling, in spite of impressive growth. In fact, candidates actively seek positions within the company.So how are they doing it?In this week’s episode, CEO Dan Leaf, shares the key factors to Leaf’s success, including:Searching for candidates with the right character rather than particular skills. Focusing on internal training (and Leaf’s target ratio). Committing to military recruiting. Giving employees the flexibility, tools, and autonomy, they need to succeed. Managing growth to retain quality of product, service, and culture. Retaining culture and energy through company growth.Then he digs into what you can do if your culture needs improvement—and what your first steps should be to get the momentum going.Listen now and be sure to subscribe to future episodes. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the 5G Talent Talk Community today:broadstaffglobal.comLinkedInTwitterFacebookYouTube

Perhaps because much of the time, it’s actually less visible.We’re talking about the fiber network. And 5G and smart cities cannot exist without it.In the top 25 U.S. metro areas alone, 5G needs 1.4 million miles of fiber. An estimated $130B-$150B in U.S. fiber investment is needed over then next few years to support the network!Our guest this week is Lisa Youngers. She’s the President & CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association. The association is seeing growth of fiber across all applications…and we’re just at the beginning of the deployment.The limits to deployment come from two directions—the barriers to construction and the labor shortage. The Fiber Broadband Association works to tackle them both.In this episode, Lisa explains the common barriers to deployment. And she describes how the association works with policy makers to ease these burdens.But having permits without people to build out the plans doesn’t speed things up.Lisa says one of the association members is short 100 crews. Not people…crews. And other members have shortages as well, so they’re forced to turn down work.Listen now to hear the creative ways the Fiber Broadband Association and its members are working to overcome these shortages to propel fiber deployment forward.And be sure to subscribe to future episodes!Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the 5G Talent Talk Community today:broadstaffglobal.comLinkedInTwitterFacebookYouTube

Episode 12: How NATE is tackling the 5G Labor ShortageGuest Todd Schlekeway, Executive Director of NATEIt’s a slow climb to train enough tower technicians. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr says the U.S. 5G rollout requires 20,000 of them. Unfortunately, that many technicians simply do not exist today. As a result, rollouts are stalling.This week’s guest, Todd Schlekeway, is well-acquainted with this problem. Todd is the Executive Director of the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE). And he says not a week goes by without someone calling to ask where they can hire more workers.There are several hurdles to bringing climbers on board… the heights, the travel, and the competition from the other construction trades.But a wider reaching problem is the industry hasn’t done a good job of talking about career paths and progression.NATE aims to change this story.Todd describes its upcoming initiatives to:Tell a better industry story to new entrants to the workforce. Reach out to high schoolers who have grown up wireless-savvy to share the story. Work with community colleges and technical institutes to launch programs specifically for our industry. Keep supporting Warriors for Wireless as the organization begins to scale its training.Beyond workforce training, NATE has a busy 2020. The year marks its 25th anniversary, which will be celebrated at the NATE UNITE conference in Raleigh, NC, February 17th-20th.Todd shares details about the event, as well as what else is in store for NATE this year.Listen now and don’t forget to sign up for future episodes!Tweet – 262 characters with spaces/no links NATE’s been an industry leader for 25 years. Executive Director Todd Schlekeway talks about the hurdles to hiring enough climbers, the initiatives NATE’s working on to alleviate the strain, and what’s in store for NATE in 2020. Listen now to this week’s episode!

.The future of telecom is much more than an advance from 4G to 5G. The entire industry is being upgraded. It’s no longer just a vehicle for voice and data. There’s a new space for telecoms and businesses to collaborate and create solutions.This week’s guest is Steve Canepa. He’s IBM’s Global General Manager for the Communication Sector.He and his team help telecom providers think beyond spectrum and 5G’s benefits. They learn to develop an ecosystem where they can help their business customers create value for their own customers.In this episode, Steve explains:How the network is part of the business solution for customer experience.The emergence of the telco network as a hybrid cloud platform and the emergence of edge computing and why that’s important.The transition of telecom into a horizontal platform that is software/integration-based, rather than engineering-based.How this open architecture lowers CapEx, OpEx, and other costs.Examples of AI helping workers do their best work.The opportunities for lifelong learning and how collaborating with clients, customers and employees creates a virtuous cycle of benefits.Don’t miss hearing how the future of technology is changing the industry and the workforce landscape. Listen now and subscribe to future episodes.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the 5G Talent Talk Community today:broadstaffglobal.comLinkedInTwitterFacebookYouTube

Culture, Diversity, and Workforce Development. They sound like corporate buzz-speak. And it’s true that some companies only pay them lip service. But for the workplaces that understand, embrace, and implement them, they form the foundation of a strong, stable, and successful company.Jay Brown, CEO of Crown Castle, talks about how Crown’s focus on each of these have made it a coveted place to work and do business.In this episode, Jay shares:The three pillars of Crown’s culture—be real, be accountable, and be an owner—that set employees up to thrive and improve; Why culture isn’t just a one-time implementation—it’s an on-going aspiration; What to consider when merging cultures during an acquisition; The way diversity of thought improves decision making; How removing implicit bias in hiring makes Crown more diverse; The challenges of fully sharing a culture with contract workers; And how focusing on general skills and abilities during hiring rather than specific, trainable, job tasks helps bridge the talent shortage.Don’t miss out on learning how industry leaders are building their teams and their companies. Listen now and be sure to subscribe to future episodes.

What does employee engagement really mean? Our guest this week, Rick Gallagos, CEO of Dale Carnegie Tampa Bay, describes it as “discretionary effort.” An engaged employee goes beyond the bare requirements of their job. Unfortunately for most companies, less than 1/3 of employees are engaged—that’s shockingly low!!!Which means around 70% of employees are on the disengaged spectrum. The merely disengaged do just their job, nothing more. The actively disengaged spread their dissatisfaction throughout your company. This costs you productivity and profits.Rick says the numbers are tough to move, but you CAN boost your employee engagement levels beyond the average of 30%.Here are just a few things we talked about:The 3 drivers of employee engagement (and the challenges leaders face implementing them); The 4 mistakes companies make when trying to boost engagement; The 1 simple thing leaders can start doing today; Behaviors leaders can look for to see if employees are disengaging; What employees can do if they feel disengagement creeping in; How large and small companies need to look at engagement differently; And the surprising age group that is typically the least engaged, and which can cost you the most.If you want to improve your employee engagement to retain your talent and boost your bottom line, you’ll want to listen to this episode as soon as possible. And be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Have you heard that tower climbers will jump to a company for even the smallest increase in pay? It’s not necessarily true.What is true is companies are under a lot of pressure to get antennas installed. It’s also true that there’s a shortage of tower climbers to do the work. The industry is trying to fix the latter but, for the near future, the reality is not going to change.So, what can companies and climbers do? This week’s guest, Kathy Gill, Owner of Tower & Safety Instruction in Phoenix, AZ, has some insights. She trains directly with tower climbers and she knows what they care about and why they leave.In this episode, she shares:The biggest reason climbers change companies (it’s not for a tiny increase in pay). What makes a crew effective and what destroys it from within. The toll travel takes and what some climbers are doing about it. The small steps managers can take to help keep their crews intact. How management and climbers can work together to get their mindsets and goals aligned.Gill’s approach focuses on improving the reality that exists rather than feeling dissatisfied about the one that doesn’t. Listen now and be sure to subscribe to 5G Talent Talk.