Maintenance Training

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13 years 4 months ago - 13 years 4 months ago #6688 by Tara Furiani
Fellow Insiders-

I have a question for your industry brilliance! Have you developed in-house maintenance training? If so, what do you find to be the most effective delivery method?

My instinct tells me that an experiential learning environment (hands-on) would be the best approach, but I wonder if more of a blended experience might work too? Has anyone tried something like this? What were the results?

Thanks for your insight!

Tara

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13 years 4 months ago - 13 years 4 months ago #6688 by Tara Furiani
William Fannin
13 years 4 months ago #6697 by William Fannin
Replied by William Fannin on topic Re:Maintenance Training
Hi Tara,

Blended training is by far the best. It is great to have hands-on experience, but, do you as a maintenance technician know why something is in need of repair. It's also great to have classroom/textbook instruction, but, it is only theory if you can't lay your hands on equipment. It is best to have an instruction in air conditioning theory, and then take the technician to a malfunctioning air conditioner and apply the classroom training. It will "click" for them much faster. This would apply to any industry, not just our own. You wouldn't let your cousin perform a triple bypass on you just because he read a textbook on heart surgery, would you? Of course, not.

Being a maintenance man myself I would like to see every company invest in the education and training of its technicians. It would reduce turnover, increase job satisfaction, and property managers could rest assured that the number of contractor call-outs would decrease sharply.

B)

Hope this answer helps
13 years 4 months ago #6697 by William Fannin
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13 years 4 months ago #6700 by Chiccorra Connor
William that was a GREAT response! :woohoo: We live by the same words!
13 years 4 months ago #6700 by Chiccorra Connor
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13 years 4 months ago #6704 by Jonathan Saar
Great topic. Almost all of our clients use a blended approach. They have also highlighted to us how much the maintenance team appreciates the education. Too often they are overlooked. Especially with the OSHA fines being levied out it is absolutely imperative to keep the team educated
13 years 4 months ago #6704 by Jonathan Saar
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13 years 3 months ago #6709 by Tara Furiani
I absolutely agree with all of you... I think a blended approach is best for all training, frankly!

I appreciate your feedback :)

Tara
13 years 3 months ago #6709 by Tara Furiani
David Lasly
13 years 2 months ago #6912 by David Lasly
Replied by David Lasly on topic Re:Maintenance Training
I fully agree with all that has been said to support a blended learning approach. The classroom "theory" portion is an important first step. It gives the instructor the opportunity to build discussion around what will be done "hands-on" in the field exercise. Proper procedures can be discussed, as well as safety concerns and personal protective equipment, not to mention local, state, and federal regulations that may apply to repairs being performed.

The course curriculum is like a skeleton. The task of the instructor is to put some meat on the skeleton. Apartment maintenance technicians should always be encouraged to view multifamily maintenance as a profession, not just a job. As a profession, they should not only develop the skills they already have, but should be challenged to add new skills to their skillset.

Never assume they have a certain skillset in place. Provide training for all technicians. As a veteran maintenance instructor, I can verify that there is always room for improvement.
13 years 2 months ago #6912 by David Lasly
Jeff Clark
13 years 1 month ago #7025 by Jeff Clark
Replied by Jeff Clark on topic Re:Maintenance Training
I would be sure to hire someone with prior knowledge to begin with. I personally think that as a prerequisite of employment all maintenance staff should take a "Maintenance Test". As far as training goes mixed training is great. As opposed to in house training I would send staff out to apartment association training and maybe even yourself go as well. From there it may be easier to set up in house training that is hands on. HDSupply also offers training programs. You could also use information gathered from OFF-SITE classes to create your own.

I also believe that management companies should have a "maintenance trainer"!
I am a maintenance tech. who has a supervisor who doesn't know what he is doing...

Hope these thoughts are helpful!

Jeff Clark

If you have further questions feel free to contact me at [email protected]
13 years 1 month ago #7025 by Jeff Clark