Okay folks, I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that there’s a shortage of maintenance technicians. I’ve also noticed that when you try to discuss new ideas to make the industry better, there’s people out there who scold you and verbally attack you for doing it. So, you’d better just suck it up, be quiet and accept the way it is. Well, not me. All you wannabe Billy Bad Asses, brown-nosers, and super-techs can go hug one. You’re actually the problem and you’re why the industry has become a depressing dead end. Okay…with that out of the way, lets get started!
I do polls on my social media pages to see why there’s a mass exodus of great maintenance technicians leaving the property management industry. Not only do I do polls, but I also speak with great maintenance technicians who have left and I find out what would’ve made them stay. The pay and going on call are the biggest factors as to why most technicians are leaving. While being paid a little more than a fast food worker and expected to be knowledgeable in 10 different trades from HVAC to swimming pools is the number one issue, the on call service is a close second as to why many are leaving and will NEVER return to the industry. So, in this post I want to share ideas I’ve gathered from the hundreds of great maintenance technicians who I’ve polled and spoken with.
On Call Ideas That Can Make It Better
1) Outsource it.
While I know this isn’t feasible for a lot of properties, there are a lot of successful properties who do this. Their maintenance staff absolutely loves it and the maintenance positions are no longer a revolving door. The property management company has a call center who calls vendors to handle after hours emergencies. If it’s an HVAC issue, they call an HVAC vendor. If it’s a plumbing issue, they call a plumbing vendor. Also, the property has a list that states what constitutes as an emergency that the residents can magnet to their refrigerator. If an issue isn’t on the emergency list, no one’s calling you back until normal business hours. No more letting residents decide what’s an emergency and running the on call tech ragged. Letting the residents determine what is an emergency is like letting the patients run the asylum. Yes, great service is a must. However, there will soon be no one to give great service if we keep letting entitled, needy, people run the property who are too good to use the back bathroom because they clogged the front bathroom. Not an emergency. See you in the morning!
2) Let someone who’s been on call before and knows what it’s like to be on call make the rules for going on call.
I’ve never understood why companies have someone who’s never been on call in their life make the on call rules. While they conveniently get to enjoy their nights and weekends with their family, they expect you to come out for everything and let the residents decide what’s an emergency. Refrigerator light bulb out at 11:30 pm on a Monday night? You better take care of it or else! Ugh, and we wonder why everyone is leaving the industry. Make a list as to what constitutes as an emergency that residents can magnet to their refrigerator. If it’s not on the list, someone will address your issue during normal business hours. This will cut down the B.S. calls and allow more peace during the on call rotation.
3) If a technician receives an emergency call after midnight, that technician gets the next day off (PAID) but will remain on-call when normal business hours end for that day.
Folks, when you get a call after midnight you don’t just come back home and go right back to sleep. Your heart is pounding and your brain is racing with anxiety. What if it happens again tonight? What if I didn’t tighten the nut tight enough? Coming in the next day tired and in a fog is a safety issue and can cause major accidents or injuries. Give your on call maintenance tech the next day off if they had to address an emergency after midnight and watch their loyalty to the company skyrocket.
4) No working regular hours on the weekends.
The on call technician only comes in on the weekends if there’s an emergency that needs to be addressed. If they don’t get a call, then that technician got to enjoy their weekend. One of the biggest complaints I get is from technicians who have to work normal hours on the weekends when they’re on call. So, they miss their children’s games or recitals. They know that life isn’t a dress rehearsal and you can’t go back and watch your son’s first homerun or your daughter’s first soccer goal. So, instead of remaining loyal to your company, they leave and go down the road to your competitor who lets them enjoy their weekend and they only have to come in to work if there’s an emergency.
5) Pay technicians $100 or more for going on call.
So, even if they don’t get a call all week, they still get paid for putting their life on hold and babysitting the on call service. Or, if they answered some calls but didn’t have to go out because they were able to handle the issues verbally over the phone, they still get paid and didn’t work or put their life on hold for free.
6) If your company has 3 or more properties in the same city, put all the technicians who work those properties together into an on call rotation.
If 3 properties each have 3 technicians, then each technician will be on call every 9 weeks. That’s awesome and a great work life balance. Sure the on call may be busy working 3 properties but one week every 2 months or so isn’t bad. Another major complaint I’ve seen is from technicians who were on call every other week. If that technician has a wife who works nights or kids with busy lives in sports, it’s just too much to add 24 hour on call responsibilities to an already chaotic schedule. And for those who keep one technician on call 24/7/365, that’s wrong and should be illegal. Your company lacks morals and ethics and I hope you lose.
7) Have a call center.
I’ve seen this from a lot of technicians who say that having a call center cuts down on a lot of the B.S. calls. They love calling a call center back and not having to deal directly with the resident. They said that combining a call center and a list of what constitutes as an emergency really turned their maintenance department around. If it wasn’t on the emergency list, they simply told the call center operator to inform the resident that someone would address their issue the follow day during normal business hours.
Uh, oh! I hear comments from the cheap seats. “Suck it up, buttercup! You knew this was part of it when you signed on!” I get it. I used to be just like you. I didn’t mind on call when I wasn’t married and didn’t have kids. I would go out and party while on call and if I got called, I would go handle it and come back to the party.
But, has it ever occurred to you that not everyone has a life like yours? Not everyone has healthy children or a spouse who works 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and can hold the household down while you’re out handling on call emergencies. What about the technician who has kids under 10 years old and a spouse who works nights or is a single parent? Don’t you think they could use a little on call structure to make it less stressful? They love being a maintenance technician and they’re fantastic at it but the on call is just too much for them at this stage in their life. Or, what about the technician who has to take their child to cancer treatments every Tuesday and Saturday? Don’t you think they could use a little on call relief so they can be there for their terrified child? Again, they’re a fantastic technician who loves the job and knows nothing else. But, the on call is just too much at this stage in their life.
Everyone has different values. Some people value the extra money they can make while being on call and some people value their time away from work more than extra money and don’t like it interrupted. Not everyone has your values and that’s the cause of a lot of the world’s problems. Everyone wants everyone else to live by their own values. And if they don’t, they have something to say. Some say, “I love going 0n call and making extra money and so should you!” Listen, “super tech” Billy Bad Ass. Try to think about someone else’s life but your own. What is good for you isn’t always good for everyone.
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I love this!!
oncall is everyone I speak with’s #1 deal breaker.
mine included
Thank you so much for the support Tina!
I left property management a few years ago and swore I would never go back. I took a job as an industrial maintenance tech in a global manufacturing company. I had an former property manager call me every time she had an opening or knew of a supervisor position. I repeatedly told her NO! She called me for the last time in April of this year, and of course, I told her NO. She begged me to at the very least just interview and see what this new company was about. This company does almost everything in your article. I took the job and have never been happier.
Fantastic! Thank you for reading my stuff Chuck! Glad you found a piece of paradise.
Awesome Chuck!