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How can we expect others to perceive us as professionals?

Partially in response to Keith Mobley’s blog about the “image” of maintenance and also Angelo’s blog about Management’s Leadership Commitment:

I just returned from one our industry’s premiere conference event – held in a cold, windy northern city in the basement of an old urban convention center.

It is going to be hard to write this email without it seeming like a bunch of sour grapes so if it sounds like sour grapes – then sour grapes it is as I think this is important to say.

We all talk about the problem that maintenance is perceived as a bunch of grease monkeys with dirty hands (I used to be one so I can say that) and that we need work to upgrade the perception of professionalism of the “Reliability” worker and manager. In fact that is one of the stated goals of the sponsoring organization of this particular event.

There were plastic buckets hanging from the ceiling to catch the water leaks with mold and rust all over this conference center. The expo was held in a basement and the meals were held in an old broken down gymnasium. You could rarely find a bottle of water or a cup of coffee without going outside the conference center.

We cannot ask others to raise their perception of our professionals when we are not willing to do so ourselves.

On the bright side – I am prepared with some really good answers the next time someone asks my opinion about how we can raise the perception of maintenance and reliability as a profession. It seems like there are really easy steps we can take to get started.

- Terry O

Posted by Terrence O'Hanlon on Nov 7, 2008 8:29 AM EST

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Terrence O'Hanlon

Date Posted: Nov 11, 2008 at 6:47 AM

Ed, I was not attempting to place responsibility on the facility maintenance crew - as I am sure you are correct - they are making due and doing the best they can with much less than would be required to make that place function. I was referring more to the set back in perception created by hosting the event in a run down venue. All of us that participated have to accept responsibility. I for one will be much more selective where to apply my reputation in the future. Terry O

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Angelo Agresti

Date Posted: Nov 10, 2008 at 9:03 PM

Performance has nothing to do with your qualifications or title. Respect (or even better, appreciation of your efforts) is the result of delivery of required performance. If we as understand how our function interacts with the other operation systems then we can communicate this to others. Also we can deliver the results that will help others develop a perspective which value our contribution. If we do not posess persal mastery (self respect, self awareness, emotional intelligence there might be another element to Personal Mastery that I have forgotten) then we will always doubt our abilty and contribution, we will not be able to see the 'others perspective' and we will tend to argue our cause instaed of clarifying the system dynamics of our collective circumstances. Back to the conference .... if the organising body chose to use a crappy venue then they have rocks in their head. Why do they expect any particpants to attend their next event of this is the standard of experience they provide? The venue owners however are in a precarious place ... why do they expect anyone to use / return to their venue if it is in such a run down state? How would their insurere feel if they thought the building was in a state that couse cause injury to the occupants / public? In both cases it is as Terry has suggested - we can not expect anyone to develop a perception that values the maintenance function contribution unless the plant / assets under our care demonstrate the required / expect performance.

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Terrence O'Hanlon

Date Posted: Nov 9, 2008 at 9:05 AM

There is the issue of the parts of the business we cannot control - and as Sniffer states - how participation is structured says a great deal about how the function of maintenance is held. Perhaps it is an inward look toward self mastery (I finally got the Peter Singe book) where we can each make the most difference. I am not convinced we can demand to be perceived as professionals as the viewer gets to pick the perspective. If the viewer (our CEO, our plant manager or the business community in general) is not seeing the professionalism within our community - where does the responsibility lie?

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sniffer

Date Posted: Nov 8, 2008 at 12:30 PM

Sorry but I have to disagree with dibyendu. I am not an engineer but I have been very successful as a maintenance manager (hitting Ricky's targets etc) because I am just that -A Manager- I manage the business of maintenance with same constraints tactics strategies as the Plant Manager or CEO. the tools we use are different but the priciples the same. It's the idea that we are different (perpetuated by the designation Engineer) that makes our raising our status harder.I manage people who help me be successful and as long as we have the combined skill sets required we're OK. Respect won't come unless we demand it and we demand it through results and integration. I won't join a company where I'm not part of the plant business team because that quickly demonstrates their attitude to maintenance.

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Ed W

Date Posted: Nov 7, 2008 at 5:11 PM

Hi Terry, I took your comments two ways, one we don't have enough self-respect as an organization of professionals or the lack of maintenance care in a public setting is detrimental to our profession as a whole and reinforces the stereo-type you mentioned. Perhaps in defense of the maintenance professionals located on the North Coast we should look at the age of the facilities and the investement profile; I suspect the convention center was build around the time the city in question last had a team win a professional sports championship. I prefer to give the benefit of the doubt to the Maitnenance Professionals who manage the facility, I really believe they are doing the best they can with what they have. You may want to look at Ricky S's PRV chart and see if they had a 2%-$% of PRV; I bet they don't. I think the best thing we can do, as maintenance professionals who are quick to spot the deficiencies you mentioned, is to notify the host city that the conditions are appaling and the group should not return until the facilities are brought up to a reasonable standard; also , if they were that bad, ask for the money back! Ed W

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dibyendu337

Date Posted: Nov 7, 2008 at 8:54 AM

Terry, you have hit the nail on the head. It depends on the maintenance engineers/professionals to change the way others view us. You are right in saying that the perception would only change if we care to change ourselves. To my mind the trap most maintenance engineers get into is to think that their job is to repair and replace and get things up and running. That is no doubt vital and it is more of a technicians job (if I may be allowed to compare it to nurses). One of the easy ways I see to elevate the perception is to not to think oneself as a maintenance engineer at all -- but only an engineer. Then his mind opens up and he then starts looking at things differently. He may then get involved in the design, risks, reliability and a host of other management issues to elevate himself. In brief he must see his/her connection in a much broader manner. We are connected to costs. We as maintenance engineers are connected to safety. We are connected to profitability and performance of the plant or facility (like the conference center you have described). Such connection might be done by asking the question 'Am I only a maintenance engineer?' Regards, dibyendu

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