In today’s modern workforce, speed is crucial. The technological world is moving faster than any of us imagined, and as maintenance technicians, we have to keep up as best we can with our clients’ fast-paced business environment. However, this emphasis on efficiency can pressure maintenance workers into doing less-than a perfect job in order to meet upper management’s expectations.
If your maintenance department seems to be stagnating, ask yourself, “Am I pushing for quality work or faster service?” The attention to detail that a highly skilled technician can perform is incredibly valuable, but only if you encourage it over pushing service ahead of schedule. The extra time they take to diagnose or to perform preventative maintenance while onsite can save you thousands of dollars in emergency maintenance repair. Isn’t that more important than shaving off a few minutes or hours of labor time?
In maintenance, “good enough” is rarely what you want. Any technician out of their apprenticeship or technical school can do a “good enough” job in order to fix your plumbing leak or repair a blown fuse. However, what you pay for at MaintenX is the years of time and dedication to the job that develops an artisan-level of skill. This expertise not only helps you get the job done but allows your maintenance technician to identify root causes and prevent rework. Attention to detail is what separates efficiency from exceptional standards.
One of the problems is how we measure performance. Wrench time studies are critical to improving performance where a lack of knowledge or skill is slowing down service. However, oftentimes these studies don’t account for the additional time it takes for a skilled technician to fully diagnose and prevent future problems during the repair. When you’re working with your maintenance team, be sure to conduct performance reviews beyond wrench time and partner your most experienced artisan technicians with new hires to show them that skill does indeed improve efficiency.
Your maintenance team is capable of incredible work if you empower them to work beyond their most “efficient” capabilities. When attention to detail is a top priority, your business will thrive.
Ask your MaintenX technician about how our preventative maintenance strategies help to improve facility performance long-term or visit our resource center for more information.
