Webinar | Getting the Green Light: 5 Strategies To Get The Resources And Recognition Your Maintenance Team Deserves

Key Takeaways

Here’s a preview of what you can expect to learn from this conversation on changing maintenance’s perception and securing executive buy-in for bold initiatives.

Audience surveys

Throughout the webinar, our moderator surveyed the audience to get their take on maintenance’s role and daily challenges.

• How does the organization view maintenance? Most attendees reported at least some level of internal clout. On a scale of 1 to 4, 72% said they’re at least a 3 or 4 in the eyes of executive decision-makers. Just 7% of audience members chose 1, meaning they are regarded as a low-value cost center.
• How difficult is it to build the business case for new equipment? A majority of audience members agreed, “It depends.” Maintenance teams are more likely, however, to face at least a little resistance than none at all. “Difficult” (19%) got a few more responses than “Easy” (16%) and not a single attendee said that advocating for new assets is typically “Very Easy.”
• How difficult is it to get approval for hiring new people or opening new roles? Once again, most audience members said that challenges vary on a case-by-case basis. In general, their answers suggest that making the case for new hires takes more time and effort than advocating for equipment. More than a quarter (28%) of attendees said getting approval is “Difficult” and 19% said it’s typically “Very Difficult.”

Making the case for new equipment

The trio of attendees all spoke to the value of having irrefutable data to support their efforts. With Limble, Allagash’s maintenance team can quickly pull up information on every preventive maintenance task associated with a given asset as well as any work scheduled for the future and all the projected costs. “I’ve done this several times in my career,” says Ryan Fisher, the brewer’s Maintenance manager, “and anytime I’ve gone in without data and facts, it’s been a really tough sell.”

Stephanie McKenna from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art described the benefits of keeping essential documents like equipment warranties handy. “That’s really helped us with our budget process,” remarks McKenna.

At Allagash, Fisher and Engineering Director, Séan Diffley, have seen Limble help settle a number of repair vs. replacement discussions. In some instances, technicians have reported recurring issues with a piece of equipment that only needed more regular preventive maintenance. Other times, Limble’s data analysis tools have shown that investing in a replacement was the most cost-effective option.

Making the case for new people

As Crystal Bridges undergoes a massive expansion, Limble’s features for collecting and analyzing workforce data have played an essential role. McKenna notes that they’ve not only hired more staff members, but also helped ensure Crystal Bridges employees are more qualified and better compensated. More recognition has meant better retention and an improved sense of job satisfaction for the whole maintenance team.

Allagash made a data-backed argument for backfilling an open role and wound up saving themselves considerable money and effort. Diffley and Fisher had a new sense of confidence thanks to Limble. “It helped me feel like I was asking for the right thing,” says Diffley.

Check out the full recording

Watch the on-demand recording of the webinar conversation for more details on using data to tell a compelling story and build a more impactful maintenance team.