Employee Performance Objectives for Maintenance Mechanics

Your company's maintenance mechanics keep the bricks-and-mortar side of your business running, Glassdoor says. Plumbing, HVAC and electrical systems need repairs and maintenance in both white-collar businesses and manufacturing companies. Just like you do with other employees, setting benchmark objectives and goals can help you review a mechanic's performance.

Tip

If you're not sure what good maintenance performance goals would be, study standards of other organization to get ideas. Set performance standards that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

Smart Goals for Maintenance Technician

It might be tempting to use a simple standard such as "Is everything working?" when judging a mechanic's performance, especially if you don't know much about maintenance yourself. Nevertheless, you should approach goal-setting the same way you would for any employee when setting SMART goals for a maintenance technician.

SMART, the Corporate Finance Institute says, is an acronym that identifies the standards for good goals. If you're setting SMART goals for a maintenance technician, the goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

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Characteristics of Performance Appraisal Systems

• Specific goals are clear and well-defined.
• Measurable goals are quantifiable. "Fix machinery when it breaks" isn't as quantifiable as "Respond to service calls within two hours," for instance.
• Achievable goals are doable. Regular maintenance checks are achievable, but it might not be doable to demand no equipment break down, ever.
• Realistic considers whether the goal is achievable given your resources. One or two maintenance techs might be good enough to keep everything running in a boutique operation, but as you grow, you might have to hire more people or lower your expectations.
• Timely goals have a deadline: "HVAC system checked twice a year" or "Regular maintenance on all factory equipment once every two weeks," for instance.

To decide what SMART goals for a maintenance technician should be, consider their essential functions: What is it you want them to do for you? For example, the city of Montrose, Colorado, lists multiple duties as essential functions for facilities maintenance:

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• Complete work orders as assigned.
• Use the maintenance management software to track work and resolve work orders.
• Inspect facilities for malfunctions and needed repairs.
• Perform minor, routine maintenance on plumbing, electrical systems and HVAC.
• Follow all job-safety requirements and precautions. If the mechanic is working with electricity, for example, they should take all necessary precautions against shocking themselves.

The city also lists several standards that apply to city employees in general. The mechanic should follow city procedures and employee requirements, for instance. Their conduct should be above reproach; they should be willing to exercise initiative, react well under pressure, be open to other opinions and welcome constructive feedback. If their supervisors want information, they should be ready to provide it.

SMART Maintenance Goals

If you're not sure what performance objectives you want to set, study examples of SMART goals for maintenance workers. Even if you have different requirements from what the city of Montrose wants, studying employee performance goals examples from other employers can get your ideas going. Employeepedia suggests some considerations:

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• Do you care if the mechanics' workspace is tidy and organized?
• Should they be ready to work overtime and respond to an after-hours emergency promptly?
• Is your maintenance department large enough you want and need your best people to be team leaders?
• Can they handle their schedule and duties without you checking up on them?
• Do they communicate clearly? When they tell you about maintenance issues, there shouldn't be any confusion what problems they're dealing with.
• Do they have the skills they need? As your company upgrades equipment, the mechanics may have to adapt and upgrade their abilities.

You can develop SMART goals based on questions like these. For example, maybe you want your technicians to set up a rotation so that someone's always on-call to respond to emergencies within a half-hour, and you want this set up by the end of the month. That's specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

References

• Glassdoor: Maintenance Mechanic Job Description
• Corporate Finance Institute: SMART Goal
• Employeepedia: Employee Performance Goals Sample: Facilities Technician