As soon as an asset fails, there’s a negative ripple effect that spreads across departments. Labor stands idle, and supply chains choke while you divert resources to make up for lost opportunities.  

Because your maintenance team ensures assets stay online, everything depends on them. They make productivity possible.  

So, when you find new ways to motivate the maintenance department, you create organization-wide benefits.  

First, let’s quickly review the reasons why a motivated maintenance department is so important.  

Why the maintenance department is important  

Other departments have traditionally seen maintenance as a cost center, but your maintenance techs produce a lot of value for the organization by ensuring assets and equipment are up and running. The department ensures the efficient operation and longevity of the company’s assets, which is vital for maintaining continuous business operations. 

Across industries, maintenance departments are the oxygen every other department breathes. In fleet maintenance, techs ensure vehicles stay on the road. In manufacturing, they keep the production line online. In healthcare, maintenance techs ensure the comfort and safety of staff and patients. Without maintenance techs, expensive labor remains idle, leading to missed deadlines followed by damaged reputations and lost opportunities.  

They’re also key architects of preventive maintenance plans and the main experts of your organization’s advanced monitoring technologies. Using these plans as techs’ compass, they’re in charge of optimizing asset performance, anticipating issues before they escalate, and managing resources more effectively. This proactive approach not only saves costs but helps businesses hit sustainability goals by enhancing energy efficiency and reducing emissions. 

Why does motivating the maintenance department matter?  

Employee motivation is crucial for maintaining engagement and performance in your maintenance department. According to Gallup, only 33% of U.S. employees feel engaged at work. However, engaged teams are:  

  • 17% more productive  
  • 21% more profitable 
  • 70% less likely to experience burnout than their disengaged counterparts

A motivated employee is also more likely to stick around, which directly impacts profits.   

But those good numbers don’t come automatically. And for a lot of organizations, a lot is standing between them and a happy maintenance department.    

Identify why the maintenance department is unmotivated 

Just like most things in business, many different causes can create the same effect.  

The maintenance department is often one of the most underappreciated and overlooked departments in an organization. This sentiment, although not always an outspoken one, will inevitably trickle down to the maintenance team members and affect their morale.

Additionally, the size and level of autonomy of a maintenance department vary by industry, organization size, and business model. When your maintenance department is small, team-building exercises or even attempts at creating camaraderie can be challenging or close to impossible. Small teams are often overworked and underappreciated. 

A lack of motivation in a maintenance department can often be traced back to several other key issues: 

  • Lack of empowerment: Employees may feel disconnected if they lack the freedom to make decisions impacting their work. 
  • Insufficient support: Without adequate support, particularly in terms of mental wellbeing, employees can feel undervalued and overlooked. 
  • Limited growth opportunities: The absence of clear career advancement paths can demotivate staff who aspire to develop professionally. 

How to keep the maintenance department motivated 

You could fill entire libraries with research and studies on leadership styles and motivational strategies, but these have changed a lot over time (and continue to change). There’s an abundance of trends that have worked for different leaders, but these are the ones that resonate most with the technicians in a modern maintenance department. 

Listen to your employees  

More often than not, people want their opinions heard. Make sure your employees feel comfortable coming to you with issues and suggestions by assuring them their contributions are important. Ask for their opinions frequently and try to implement employee suggestions whenever possible. Once employees see real change based on their feedback, they are more likely to come forward with potential problems or ideas. 

 Remember that opening up communication channels is more than a feel-good exercise; often, the people who do the work have more insight into current problems and potential improvements. For example, your maintenance techs have informed opinions on which maintenance strategies work best on your assets.  

Reward good performance instead of pointing out the bad  

In every department, managers are busy people, and when issues arise, they can sometimes be negatively reactive to mistakes. Change the conversation by pointing out the positive more frequently (also known as positive reinforcement) and make feedback constructive instead of highlighting what a team member might’ve done wrong. The last thing you want is to foster a company culture where employees are afraid of approaching you, so make sure to give positive feedback often and “without warning” instead of scheduling meetings to review lists of complaints.  

And you don’t have to limit yourself to verbal praise. Many organizations have seen a lot of success with larger, more formalized reward programs. But you can also always start small.  

Improve operational efficiency  

Streamline processes to lighten workloads and increase job satisfaction. Prioritize preventive maintenance to reduce stress, avoid disruptions, and create a more efficient, motivating environment where teams can thrive. 

Help techs solve their own problems  

A maintenance technician is automatically more invested in their workplace if they develop a sense of ownership over their job. Encourage employees to solve problems on their own so that when they complete a task, they are the ones who receive the proper credit. Creating a sense of ownership signals that you trust your employees enough to make decisions and carry out projects without micro-managing them.  

Invest in safety gear for maintenance technicians  

Your employees work hard and experience a lot of wear and tear on their safety gear, including goggles, steel-toed boots, and gloves. If your company doesn’t already do this, budget for these so techs can upgrade these items annually.

Provide each employee with a budget to spend on work gear that needs replacing. The incentive is two-fold: first, it creates a safer environment for your maintenance department. Second, by being able to purchase new items that they chose themselves, employees feel empowered to make decisions.  

Perform regular performance reviews  

Continuous feedback in a structured environment is invaluable for your maintenance team. Make sure there are formal performance reviews for each team member to discuss their work performance, attitude, and challenges.  

Ensure there is an adequate amount of time, and make sure managers spend most of the time listening instead of talking. By turning the meeting into a conversation rather than an interrogation or lecture, employees feel more open to discussing important issues or providing in-depth feedback for the organization.

The key is to have frequent reviews on a quarterly or semi-annual basis so that managers can discover issues early on, address them in a timely manner, and give positive reinforcement. If a review isn’t going to have a wage or salary increase associated with it, let technicians know ahead of time so they know what to expect.  

Share feedback in the moment  

Pats on the back and congratulations for a job well done are important feedback for technicians. People need to know that their efforts are appreciated. An important component is the timing. Provide positive feedback in a reasonable timeframe so techs now that you’re actively paying attention. 

And sharing in the moment doesn’t necessarily have to be face-to-face (although you should consider this one of the best forms of communication); emails, texts, and internal company newsletters are all good communication channels, depending on the content of the message.  

Always praise publicly but keep negative feedback to small, private venues. 

Create a sense of team  

Promoting a sense of teamwork brings the department together. Schedule regular meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and successes. These meetings provide a platform for open communication and collaboration, ensuring everyone is on the same page and feels valued. You can also create cross-training and skill development opportunities. This not only enhances individual capabilities but also promotes a culture of mutual support and knowledge sharing, strengthening the team dynamic.  

Do more than just lunch with lunch-and-learn  

Lunch-and-learns are a great way to educate your techs on a specific topic such as safety standards or how to stay compliant with government regulations. It also provides a welcome break from the daily routine. This change of pace can rejuvenate team members, reducing burnout and increasing their enthusiasm for their work. 

Invest in continuous learning and development 

Knowledge is the key to success. An informed maintenance staff can do their jobs more efficiently and feel more invested in their organization, helping increase employee retention and create an environment where employees shift from maintenance workers to specialists in their field. Invest in training sessions on current industry practices, encourage workers to read articles, blogs and forums about new processes, and add resources to the budget for techs to take evening or distance education courses. Education should be continuous, as employees can always use a refresher on best practices. Make sure courses are aligned with job roles and that they provide value to both the technician and the organization. 

Make life easier for techs with preventive maintenance software  

Preventive maintenance software helps techs standardize, schedule, and track tasks, making the entire maintenance department more efficient. In addition to streamlining communication between your maintenance department and management, it also delivers time-saving functions that reduce unscheduled downtime. 

 

With maintenance management software, techs stop wasting time on slow, error-prone manual data entry and can finally focus on completing maintenance tasks.  

The power of sophisticated software paired with a motivated team  

A motivated maintenance department is the backbone of operational efficiency, productivity, and business continuity. By fostering an empowering, supportive environment that recognizes their value, facility managers can boost engagement and job satisfaction.  

Take your team to the next level by integrating powerful CMMS software with your preventive maintenance strategies. Learn more about how Eptura Asset can help by getting in touch with our team for a live demo 

 

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Jonathan writes about asset management, maintenance software, and SaaS solutions in his role as a digital content creator at Eptura. He covers trends across industries, including fleet, manufacturing, healthcare, and hospitality, with a focus on delivering thought leadership with actionable insights. Earlier in his career, he wrote textbooks, edited NPC dialogue for video games, and taught English as a foreign language. He holds a master's degree in journalism.