How to Attract and Retain Employees with the Right Maintenance Management Software

It’s no secret recruiting and retaining qualified maintenance technicians is a challenge.  Demand outweighs supply as hiring managers struggle to fill positions and knowledgeable employees are retiring – taking their decades of experience with them.  Plus, employee loyalty is at an all-time low, meaning a great new hire will not necessarily become a long-term employee without some nurturing along the way.

While it may seem like an uphill battle, there is an unlikely source for help: A great CMMS system can help solve your challenges associated with hiring and retaining qualified employees by:

1. Making your company more attractive to prospective employees
2. Keeping employees happy by providing more rewarding work days
3. Transferring useful knowledge to new employees rather than letting it walk out the door with retirees 

Step 1: Making Your Company Attractive to Potential Employees

The new generation of maintenance technicians grew up with technology as an integral part of their everyday life.  More than 90 percent of Millennials own a smart phone, and they lead the way when it comes to early adoption and use of technology. 

Employers that required use of outdated, cumbersome technology are at a major disadvantage when it comes to attracting and retaining employees.  In fact, companies that publicize use of technology that empowers maintenance technicians mobile access to the real-time information needed to complete tasks more efficiently is bound to be considered more strongly.  On the flip side, it’s a real deterrent when potential employees see stacks of paper piled up during the recruitment process.

Step 2:  Keep Employees Happy with Rewarding Work Days

While offering a higher-than-average pay rate is among the easiest solution for recruitment, a better (and more economical) way to retain qualified maintenance talent is by offering a more rewarding workday. 

While the occasional crisis is bound to happen, constant crisis management wears thin very quickly.  Thoughtfully assigning rewarding tasks as part of a preventative maintenance program is a much better way to manage your employees’ work load and stress level. 

Plus, SOMAX completely eliminates the boring tasks associated with routine inspections through true maintenance automation.  SOMAX IoT solution uses wireless sensors, PLCs and SCADA Systems to continuously monitor the health of assets. As soon as any issue is detected, such as excessive motor temperature or vibration, the SOMAX system will instantly send a work order notification with step by step instructions on how to address the problem.  In other words, instead of wasting time checking equipment that is working properly, technicians spend their time fixing small problems before they escalate into bigger, much more expensive problems.  

By equipping employees an easy to use CMMS tool with an IoT solution that reduces the stress associated with routine tasks and crisis management, companies are also empowering employees to proactively manage small problems before they escalate.  Maintenance technicians are provided step-by-step instructions on their mobile device describing how to troubleshoot problems, eliminating frustration and self-doubt.  The result: Employees can work confidently and efficiently, and get the personal satisfaction that comes with positive results.  The decrease in job-related frustration will result in a decrease in employee turnover. 

Step 3:  Transfer Knowledge to New Employees

As it becomes harder to recruit qualified employees who have little loyalty to employers, the generation with decades of experience is retiring, and taking their knowledge with them.  However, the right CMMS system can retain that knowledge before it walks out the door.

Instead, no more relying on someone’s memory or paperwork to know the last time a part was serviced or replaced.  The SOMAX CMMS system makes it easy to create comprehensive work histories on assets and equipment, making it easy to capture, retain and transfer all the historical knowledge on equipment and assets. 

New employees can benefit from instant access to relevant information at their fingertips via the mobile app, making them more confident and self-sufficient.  Plus, the mobile app makes it easy to update the work history for any asset in your facility on the spot, including failure reasons, parts used, cost and downtime.