Building a Better Working Environment Using Your CMMS

In an ideal world, your technicians are one step ahead of you.  You phone them with an emergency work order, and they have anticipated your call, finishing up their current assignment right on schedule.  They work right up to the minute they’re scheduled to clock out, with all jobs completed and no overtime necessary.  They’re punctual, reliable and accountable, always ready to take the ball and run with it.  And they understand the mission of the company, and are willing to do what it takes to complete it.

If you have employees such as this—even one—congratulate yourself.  Such an employee is a hard find these days.  The recent economic woes have forced many companies to manage with fewer employees, leading to a definite decrease in morale.  Some companies took it upon themselves to lay off the employees with the highest salaries—usually, the most experienced and dependable technicians—leaving behind an inadequate workforce.  As a result, maintenance managers find themselves trying to stay on schedule with a skeleton crew, causing more frustration and even lower morale.  The question then remains; how do you create a stellar crew from the hand that you’ve been dealt?

Many successes in this area have started with a quality Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS).   Most experienced maintenance providers have relied on CMMS for preventive maintenance scheduling, automated work orders, and other features necessary to better manage assets.  But how does a system build a better workforce?  By recognizing that the employee is one of the businesses greatest assets, and maintaining them in a manner that makes them, like other assets, more efficient and reliable.

Some of the ways a good CMMS does this is:

  1. Human Resources Suite:  To better manage equipment, you need to know details about that equipment.  And the same goes in the management of employees.  Contact information, detailed work performance, training history, and integrated time keeping are just some of the features necessary to solve employee issues quickly, so that they can do their job.
  2. Performance Evaluation:  Providing employees with feedback on their job performance is imperative in producing better employees.  An employee who understands the goals of the company—and how their job helps to attain those goals—will take more initiative and complete their tasks quickly and completely.  And studies have found that good performance from one employee is contagious, leading quickly to a positive work environment.
  3. Advanced Time Keeping Methods:  How would you like your employees to start their day?  Working on their first assignment, or driving to the main office to punch in?  Many of the more advanced systems allow your workers to clock in through a mobile device or online, so that they spend more time on the assignment.  In addition, time keeping information inputted electronically leads to more efficiency within your administrative team.
  4. Mobile Technology:  Through the use of a web-based system, your employees have everything they need to complete their job in a timely and thorough manner—literally in their hands.  Even if there is no Internet access, the information needed for their assignment can be found quickly on their SmartPhone or Tablet, leading to a better job, performed by a better employee.

These are just some of the ways a quality CMMS can transform your workforce.  Talk to your system vendor about the new features that can make average employees excellent.