Being a part of a building maintenance team means much more than just keeping a multi-family residence clean. A maintenance team needs to keep all aspects of a property up-to-date and working properly, as it has an impact on all the tenants in the complex and the overall value of the building. That’s why having a well-trained team is important.
These 3 methods can help to improve your current multi-family building maintenance training and keep your technicians well-trained.
1. Offer a Variety of Different Training Methods
There is no right way to learn. Some people drift off in the classroom but shine during hands-on training. Others function poorly in groups and prefer individualized attention which comes with an apprenticeship program. That’s why implementing different types of training programs that cater to multiple learning styles can be more impactful for your technicians.
Go Digital with Your Multi-Family Building Maintenance Training
In addition to offering your technicians the traditional classroom style training or apprenticeships, you should also consider including digital maintenance training with Interplay Learning to provide some variety. Interplay combines traditional lecture-style training in the form of professionally hosted and narrated videos. This technique of learning provides a new-age approach to hands-on, interactive simulations using state-of-the-art 3D and virtual reality (VR) technologies.
Interplay’s training courses can be completed from anywhere and feature lessons targeted at all levels of knowledge and skill, from beginner to advanced. Using Interplay’s simulations, you can introduce your maintenance technicians to all important areas of multi-family property maintenance.
Available lessons and simulations are divided into three categories:
With Interplay’s maintenance training programs, you can offer your techs more variety and give them the essential training they need to be successful in their careers.
2. Create a Workshop
Another way you can improve your building maintenance training is by hosting quarterly training workshops for your technicians. While these workshops require some time and effort to plan, they help training and spur team bonding.
Getting Started
First, set goals for your workshops. What do you want your maintenance team to walk away with? New safety practices when using electrical panels? How to troubleshoot a gas furnace?
Then create an agenda that incorporates multiple ways to help that knowledge stick. Some ideas include:
- A speech from a team leader or building maintenance expert
- Group discussions
- Brainstorming sessions
- Creating different ‘stations’ with small groups
Keep the Workshops Going
When planning a workshop, it may be a good idea to:
- Make it mandatory
- Schedule it quarterly (or just make it recurring)
Don’t just let team members who specialize in this area attend. Encourage all maintenance technicians to diversify their knowledge and learn new skills. Additionally, make the workshops recurring (such as quarterly) as ongoing maintenance technician training is one of the only ways to ensure that your team is up-to-date and knowledgeable in their area of expertise.
3. Motivate Your Team
Some team members will eagerly attend training because they want to learn new things, while others might have little interest. To make ongoing maintenance training a positive experience for all participants, consider motivating them in ways that they’ll feel appreciated.
Give Them a Voice
One of the best motivators is giving your team members a voice. Ask them what they want to learn. Host a brainstorming session or have a “suggestion box” where team members can write down ideas and submit them throughout the year.
Additionally, allow your maintenance technicians a measure of control over their own educational journey by letting them choose which areas they’d like to focus on and how they want to learn – whether it’s through fun Interplay Learning simulations and courses or with a group in a workshop setting. You might be surprised to find just how eager your team members are to expand their knowledge when you give them a say.
Provide Cash Rewards
Of course, money also makes an excellent motivator. You can offer gift cards to your team for attending quarterly workshops – and also use them as opportunities to treat your team to catered lunches or surprise desserts.
To encourage ongoing training, you could offer a stipend for completing certain amounts of training each quarter. You could even provide a financial bonus for employees who successfully continue their training for an entire year
Don’t forget that actions can talk just as loudly as money. You can make it known that team members who stay up-to-date on their training are at the top of the list when raises and promotions are considered.
Improve Your Multi-Family Building Maintenance Training with Interplay Learning
A poorly-trained maintenance team comes with a host of downsides. Frustrated employees will leave for greener pastures, leading to high turnover, poor work performance, and a loss of both time and money.
Start improving your team training techniques with Interplay Learning, online and on-demand skilled trades training. Train your team on their phones, computers, or in virtual reality (VR) for a next-generation experience that improves performance and differs from the usual training methods. Your team members will be able to brush up on existing skills and learn something new, anytime and anywhere!
