Introduction:
This is a continuation of a discussion of fundamental “lessons” that new Maintenance Managers need to know in order to effectively manage an industrial maintenance operation in a proactive fashion. The first set was discussed in “Maintenance Management 101”, presented as an iPresentation on ReliabilityWeb.com and published in “Uptime” magazine in October, 2007. As with Maintenance Management 101, some readers may find this information to be elementary – but experience shows that few organizations have fully implemented the concepts.
- You have the right to manage.
Managers in many organizations feel “handcuffed” by bargaining unit agreements, past practices, traditions, and Human Resources policies in their attempts to manage personnel. They feel powerless to address poor performance on the part of employees for fear that any decision they make will be overturned. The lament “They won’t let me” is often heard.
This does not have to be the case. No union contract or HR rule will prevent you from setting clear expectations for all personnel within your department and following up to make sure those expectations are delivered. When people fall below expectations, the reason should be identified. (If the reason for failure to comply is due to the “system”, please refer to point 6.) If the reason is within the employee’s control, determine if it is a skill problem or a performance problem. If a skill problem, it is your job to provide the necessary training. If a performance problem, it should be documented with a clear explanation of the consequences of failure to comply in the future.
Another point is that authority is given on the basis of your position, but respect of the workforce, peers, and management must be earned. It is earned through fair and consistent treatment of individuals on your team. If employees lack the resources to meet expectations, it is up to you to provide them. If employees do not have the skills to do the job, it is up to you to provide training or reassign them to a position where they can be successful (more on this in point 2). You will lose respect if you fail to take action to address poor performance. - The right people will help you be successful.
Management of people is clearly a different job than that of an individual contributor. Your performance is no longer solely due to your efforts; it is dependent on the performance of your subordinates. It follows, then, that your success depends on having capable individuals in every role on your team.
In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins describes one of the key attributes of great companies as having “the right people on the bus”. This attribute applies to smaller organizations as well. Some people are simply not capable of performing some tasks well because they do not have the innate talent to do so. As a manager, you will be tempted to devote a lot of time attempting to “correct” performance that is ultimately not correctable. When you do this, you are not helping the remainder of your team – you should be devoting your efforts to helping your good people produce at peak capacity.
Clearly, keeping someone in a position where they are a poor fit benefits no one. If you have an individual that continually produces substandard results, the other team members will spend their time compensating for the results of the poor performer. They will become frustrated and their performance will ultimately slip as well. Your organization will not produce superior results if you are continually compensating for someone who is not pulling their weight. The kindest thing to do in this case is to find a position – within the company or outside of it – where that substandard performer can excel. They will experience greater job satisfaction and your team will be more productive. - Field supervision of the craft workforce is critical.
Maintenance work is different from most other jobs in that it constantly varies - craftspeople are doing a different task every day. One day they are rebuilding a pump, the next they are replacing piping, and aligning a compressor after that. It’s rare to find a craftsperson that performs the same job day in and day out. Even with a good planning process, they still may encounter obstacles in the field that may cause delays, mistakes, or wasted effort. Crafts need the support of supervisors to make sure they have what they need to do quality work and to make sure any barriers to good performance are eliminated.
The most important job of supervision is to develop their team of human resources. They should identify skill development needs and create opportunities for their subordinates to practice new skills. First line supervision is also the point at which management decisions are turned into action. Supervisors need to enforce policies and procedures as well as ensure that standard work processes are followed.
Most supervisors are saddled with extraneous duties that keep them tied to their desks or attending meetings. If they are not allowed to spend adequate time in the field, they will not be able to provide the level of support needed to maximize the quality and quantity of work or to nurture the development in their people. The Maintenance Manager is responsible to make sure that the first line supervisors have at least 50% to 60% of their day devoted to field supervision of the craft resources. - You have to have procedures for performing maintenance.
When one considers the wide variety of equipment encountered in the average industrial facility and the variety of tasks performed on that equipment, it is surprising to realize that, in most organizations, few procedures exist for maintenance and repair. Most organizations depend on “skill of the craft”, memory, or (even worse) an “educated guess” to determine the technical details required, such as clearances, torque values, tolerances, belt tensions, and the like.
Studies have shown that a high percentage of “infant mortality” failures occur in the absence of detailed written procedures1. Equipment does not perform to standard or experiences a failure soon after startup. These can only be due to mistakes and errors made during maintenance or repair. These errors are not the craftsperson’s fault; failing to provide the necessary resources to enable quality work to be done is the fault of management. Even the most talented craftsperson does not have an infallible memory!
Ideally, maintenance procedures should be developed by the Planning function. In creating these procedures, it is natural to want to avoid inserting too much detail to avoid “insulting” the craftsperson’s intelligence. Rest assured that it is not an insult to make technical specification details available, nor is it an insult to spell out the proper steps to complete the job in the most expeditious fashion. In fact, the vast majority of crafts people would appreciate having the information available to do the job right the first time!
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