Are Maintenance Workers Different from the Rest?

Uniqueness of work Unlike production jobs, where the outputs can be estimated and quantified, maintenance jobs cannot be easily evaluated. Detailed research and analysis by various authorities over the decades has proved that maintenance workers are indeed different from the rest.

Individuality The production workers work in the same place everyday. However, maintenance workers may work in Shop A one day and Shop B on the other. Even the nature of work is not the same. A Pipe fitter may be fixing a 6 inch pipe one day and brazing a 3 mm copper pipe the next. Maintenance workers may have to work in dirty, cramped and dangerous conditions. They may be quality work oriented and like to see the fruits of their labor but do not get enough time to savor it. They may spend a short time to repair a machine or part but may have to spend hours standing and observing it. They may undergo heavy backbreaking work for sometime and thereafter there may be a lull. Their workload pattern is not consistent. Sometime they may have to move on to the next job without sufficient time to check and observe their work. Maintenance workers move from one crisis to another and are subjected to enormous emotional pressure and stress. They very rarely get appreciated for the good work done but get blamed if anything goes wrong. They become nervous and high strung over a period.

Group Behavior Maintenance work calls for greater set of skills. The cross section of people who join maintenance work may vary from highly qualified to highly skilled people from the ranks. You may also have less skilled people doing menial jobs as gang labor. The highly skilled people acquire the tricks of the trade by experience, are secretive and very rarely make good trainers.

Maintenance people are ‘thing’ oriented and not people oriented. They are tuned to what is called as ‘Cause and Effect’ syndrome. They generally have weak interpersonal skills. They work in pairs or very small teams with similar set of skills. They are also subjected to peer pressure and do not deviates from the group norms set up by their small teams. Maintenance is the choice of some people because they rarely get laid off. They are not high risk takers and value job safety. As a result, they become good workers in maintenance departments.

Motivating maintenance workers They also respond to various motivating factors like any other, but need to be handled differently. They generally tend to be introverts and have to be drawn out of their shell. They respond to trust, faith and reliance showing high confidence in them. Research indicates that they are highly motivated when asked for suggestions or participate in decision making. Unfortunately in practice, the maintenance people are not consulted at all and production people unjustly make snide remarks at them.

Motivating maintenance workers can be done by the work itself. Some working examples are given below:

Recognition – A welder can be praised for the even bead in the presence of his fellow workers.

Utilization of his ability – A rigger may be asked his judgment while planning a building alteration Access to information – A tinsmith may be asked to choose his own print file. A mechanic asked to be speed up his work may be shown the cost history of similar jobs Challenging assignments – An electrician may be asked to look into a complex control panel and save valuable time instead of loosing time calling for specialist assistance.

Freedom to act – A fitter sent to pack a pump may change the rings without waiting for approval.

Involvement in planning – painters can be asked for the order of painting to be carried out in the premises.

Involvement in problem solving – An iron worker sent to repair a crane way can discuss with the shop engineer rather than be handed over a drawing from the engineering department.

Maintenance people are as much human as the rest with different skill and mind sets. Many confrontations between production and maintenance people can be avoided once the above differences are understood.

© August 2007. www.madgopes.com. All rights reserved.

Reference: Professor Lester R Bittel, School of Business, James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA quoted in the Mechanical Engineers Handbook, McGraw Hill, NY, USA, Fourth Edition, 1988

Are Maintenance Workers Different from the Rest? - To learn more about this author, visit Madhavan T Gopalachary's Website.

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