Your team is an integral part of your overall facility maintenance program. After all, they’re the ones you rely on to carry out day-to-day operations and ensure everything is up to snuff.
So how do you build a reliable team of facility maintenance supervisors? Here are some tactics we’ve found effective.
Focus on Culture
One of the most effective ways to build a reliable team is to focus on your company culture. In order to go about doing this, it’s important to first voice your vision and lay out a path that will take your team to the next level of success.
Your plan and vision should evolve over time. Assign tasks, follow-up, and review often to ensure continuous improvement.
As we’ve discussed on the Insights blog before, it helps to make work fun, make orientation engaging, have interactive training sessions, and host team building events.
Know Who You Want
Before any interviews are conducted, it’s important to know exactly who you’re looking for. Instead of rushing through the process, take time to craft solid, accurate job descriptions that clearly outline requirements and expectations. You’ll also want to know what type of person you want to hire: Are they good collaborators? Do they take feedback well?
If you dedicate the time and do this right, you’ll know exactly who you’re looking for and lay a solid foundation for the hiring process.
Remember: you can train for skill, but not for attitude.
Take Your Time During the Hiring Process
Using the job descriptions you so carefully crafted, begin to eliminate any unqualified or marginally qualified applicants before moving on to the interview phase. Once you have a solid list of applicants, begin the interview process.
Before starting in-person interviews, you might want to first conduct quick phone interviews to test for culture and see if they’re a personality fit. If they are, invite them to an in-person interview.
The interview process is your first chance to choose reliable team members. During this process, ensure that a manager or supervisor is involved. Peer interviews are another great way to determine fit within the rest of the team.
Remember: you only get to do the interview process once. So be prepared, be thorough and take your time.
Conduct Reviews
In order to ensure that your team of facility maintenance supervisors is hitting the mark, conduct periodic reviews. In addition to personal performance reviews, it’s also important to take customer satisfaction surveys and overall work audits into consideration.
Reward Your Team
Yes, you should expect the best from your people. And when they meet or exceed your expectations, you should reward them. Whenever possible, recognition should be made public to encourage others to step up their standards.
Not only does rewarding a job well done reinforce the behavior and make for happy employees, it will improve overall morale and deepen your team’s commitment to the organization.
Closing Thoughts
Building a reliable team will take time and dedication on your part, but ultimately it will benefit your overall organization tenfold. Don’t rush any part of the process, as true, meaningful progress takes time.
Last but not least, by demonstrating that you’re dedicated to the success of the organization by investing in building a better team, your employees will take note and feel more connected to their workplace and team members.
What tactics have you found effective when it comes to building a reliable team of facility maintenance supervisors? Please let us know in the comments.
