People transition from their jobs for different reasons ranging from better work oppurtunities, better pay, convenient commutation to even career change. But most people change jobs because of their superiors such as director etc.
On top of this, a job such as that of Maintenance Director requires a fair bit of technical expertise. All these factors make the job an extremely challenging position.
Today, technological advancements are taking giant strides, and the human factor too is getting its relevance. So, specific characteristics are important for any company seeking to find their Maintenance Director.
With regard to these skills and qualities, it is necessary to explore them so that the position is understood better.
1. Technical Expertise
Maintenance is one such area where deep knowledge of any machine or system’s working is essential. Not only this, but Maintenance Directors also have to find out the ways to keep these machines operational with restrictions on resources they can use or money they can spend.
Areas pertaining to problem-solving and improvement of processes are factors for which a maintenance director’s salary is high. Therefore, if a Maintenance Director has a deeper understanding of the mechanics, hydraulics, electrical, and cost management aspects, they can give more than one solution to any problem that might arise.
An important point to remember is that this knowledge or expertise must not be limited to prior experience. The ability to implement modern technologies and learn newer skills with the intention of specialization in other areas is also important. Today, the workplace scenario is very dynamic, so learning and specializing in technological implementation has gained more importance.
2. Listening Skills
Having great listening skills is pivotal in running a maintenance department efficiently.
Why?
Any team benefits from open-ended communication between top-level management and on-ground employees. Suggestions from workers and other staff of the team can be crucial in tough circumstances. This can only happen if there is a willingness to listen, complemented by a maintenance manager’s listening skills.
Listening skills tend to cover more ground than it is given credit for. A Maintenance Director who is always sitting behind his desk in a plush office or is off-site cannot implement suggestions even if he receives them on time. A director who is willing to shove his body into work, get his hands dirty, and leave his office can improve relations with his team.
Improved relations foster better and deeper communication channels and which in turn leads to quicker problem-solving ability. Finally, listening skills do not just mean to listen to the problem out, and it focuses more on sensing the underlying conditions that lead to the problem in the first place. So the team can act accordingly and resolve problems before they even arise.
3. Organization and Prioritization of Work
In the maintenance department, a haphazard setting or a disorganized workplace leads to no productivity. On the contrary, if a maintenance director can prioritize work and organize it correctly, the team stars acting in complete control and focusing on objectives. A clear objective ensures all efforts are well directed and ensures that the team acts in complete control and with power.
If the work is not prioritized, it leads to confusion, and all members of the team start working with their agenda. In many cases, this agenda is neither aligned with a sense of timing nor with a sense of the company’s benefit.
It is also important to consider that an organization does not rely on the staff alone. The work is done with the help of numerous third-party contractors and other departments too. To keep the various parties satisfied, a maintenance director must display a lot of focus and good time management skills.
In this regard, having experience in dealing with bigger projects and their implementation can also be quite handy. This also ensures that the Maintenance Director has the requisite experience of implementing bigger changes such as transitioning from reactive maintenance to preventive maintenance strategies.
4. People Development
No leader can function without his team, and therefore it is this resolve of a collaborative effort that gets the job done. A maintenance director has to display commitment and resolve in keeping the team together and honing their skills. Apart from his dedication to ensure development, he also tries to ensure that the team respects the authority, is skilled, and is always engaged and never idle.
To increase the potential of the team, a Maintenance Director has to ensure that the development process begins at the very inception, i.e., at the time of hiring. With appropriate hiring and proper training, a Maintenance Director ensures that the team gets along well and learns new skills.
It is equally important to understand the skill-set possessed by each technician and member of the team and allocate work accordingly. For instance, some members may have experience working with machines but don’t have the work experience with electrical works. So, the technicians better suited for a particular job type must be deployed in specific scenarios.
The other reason why being aware of the team’s core strengths and weaknesses is a great opportunity for maintenance work is that it fosters skill training. If the director can ascertain from the maintenance report form, which technician works best where he can ensure proper training in areas where the technician is relatively weak or has no experience or confidence.
5. Some Other Must-Have Skills
Besides the skills mentioned above, they need to have some other skills too. For example, they should be flexible enough, should give importance to deadline and time constraint, solve different problems of people and have a good rapport with their own team and also others.
Conclusion
A maintenance director must mandatorily present a high level of technical knowledge and organizational skill. This is precisely why the position is considered to be exceptionally demanding and sensitive.
The pressures of the job entail a constant requirement to fulfill the organization’s expectations and the department in general, which can be tough at certain times. With the proper employment of skills and techniques enlisted here, a Maintenance Director can easily scale those challenges and emerge victoriously.
