The facilities management industry is facing a major skills gap across its leadership, engineers, and maintenance tech roles. Closing this skills gap is a challenge that's being felt across the American economy. To close this gap, organizations need to take a multi-faceted approach, from revamping their recruitment strategies to offering higher pay and better training programs. But the root cause of the problem may be deeper than just a lack of skills.
Research and polls indicate that the "Great Resignation" is driven by toxic workplace cultures, poor management, and a sense of being unvalued by employers. A recent Gallup poll shows that only 24 percent of American workers believe their employers care about their well-being.
To improve job satisfaction, reduce turnover, and close the skills gap, companies need to address the root cause - toxic workplace culture. A toxic culture is the biggest factor pushing employees out the door, according to a recent MIT Sloan Management Review study. 
One avenue of combatting this issue is investing in your leaders and potential leaders through training of current and future managers, in addition to job skills training and continuing education for maintenance technicians.
Closing the skills gap across facilities maintenance roles requires a concerted effort from everyone in the organization. However, managers hold a special role in this process and are so crucial in retaining employees.
One of the first steps a manager can take is to support the creation of a positive workplace culture.
Workplace culture is a complex beast and everyone plays a part in shaping it. Managers, in particular, have a major influence in creating or perpetuating the culture. It's not something that can be changed overnight, but it's something that managers can and should work on.
Employees often cite toxic workplace culture and a lack of feeling valued as reasons for leaving their job.
It's up to managers to change this by building real, human relationships with workers, asking questions, and considering their concerns. This leads to improved trust and psychological safety, which is key to high-performing teams.
Managers play a big role in shaping the day-to-day work environment and the overall workplace culture, but they can also impact employee learning and development. They can help workers set learning and professional development goals, provide feedback, support ongoing training, and more. It's important for managers to recognize the value they bring to their workers' professional growth.
Being a good manager is not an easy job, and not everyone is naturally good at it. However, with training and self-reflection, anyone can become an effective manager. Many managers are promoted without proper management training, and their role is often pulled in different directions. However, if organizations want to attract and retain maintenance techs, they need to reconsider the role of managers and provide them with the training they need to support workers and grow the traits required of managers.
Some courses to pursue to grow your manager’s leadership- and decision-making skills include:
While you're training current managers, don't forget about future leaders for your organization as well. Many future managers may be working in non-management roles within your organization now. By providing soft skills and professional development training and experience, your staff will be developing a strong management pipeline that will power your organization's success.
Your goal should be to create a learning organization with a culture of excellence, where workers are satisfied, engaged, productive, and continuously developing.
Vector Solutions provides comprehensive training solutions for facilities management, including maintenance training with 3D animations and management training covering topics like leadership, HR issues like diversity and inclusion, and more. With our learning management system, organizations can develop a skilled maintenance workforce and effectively manage your employees. Contact us for more information on our online training courses and workplace solutions for safety and risk management.
