Ideas On How to Make On-Call Less Stressful So Good Maintenance Techs Stay

On Call Ideas That Can Make It Better

1) Outsource it.

While I know this isn’t feasible for a lot of properties, there are a lot of successful properties who do this. Their maintenance staff absolutely loves it and the maintenance positions are no longer a revolving door. The property management company has a call center who calls vendors to handle after hours emergencies. If it’s an HVAC issue, they call an HVAC vendor. If it’s a plumbing issue, they call a plumbing vendor. Also, the property has a list that states what constitutes as an emergency that the residents can magnet to their refrigerator. If an issue isn’t on the emergency list, no one’s calling you back until normal business hours. No more letting residents decide what’s an emergency and running the on call tech ragged. Letting the residents determine what is an emergency is like letting the patients run the asylum. Yes, great service is a must. However, there will soon be no one to give great service if we keep letting entitled, needy, people run the property who are too good to use the back bathroom because they clogged the front bathroom. Not an emergency. See you in the morning!

2) Let someone who’s been on call before and knows what it’s like to be on call make the rules for going on call.

I’ve never understood why companies have someone who’s never been on call in their life make the on call rules. While they conveniently get to enjoy their nights and weekends with their family, they expect you to come out for everything and let the residents decide what’s an emergency. Refrigerator light bulb out at 11:30 pm on a Monday night? You better take care of it or else! Ugh, and we wonder why everyone is leaving the industry. Make a list as to what constitutes as an emergency that residents can magnet to their refrigerator. If it’s not on the list, someone will address your issue during normal business hours. This will cut down the B.S. calls and allow more peace during the on call rotation.

3) If a technician receives an emergency call after midnight, that technician gets the next day off (PAID) but will remain on-call when normal business hours end for that day.

Folks, when you get a call after midnight you don’t just come back home and go right back to sleep. Your heart is pounding and your brain is racing with anxiety. What if it happens again tonight? What if I didn’t tighten the nut tight enough? Coming in the next day tired and in a fog is a safety issue and can cause major accidents or injuries. Give your on call maintenance tech the next day off if they had to address an emergency after midnight and watch their loyalty to the company skyrocket.

4) No working regular hours on the weekends.

The on call technician only comes in on the weekends if there’s an emergency that needs to be addressed. If they don’t get a call, then that technician got to enjoy their weekend. One of the biggest complaints I get is from technicians who have to work normal hours on the weekends when they’re on call. So, they miss their children’s games or recitals. They know that life isn’t a dress rehearsal and you can’t go back and watch your son’s first homerun or your daughter’s first soccer goal. So, instead of remaining loyal to your company, they leave and go down the road to your competitor who lets them enjoy their weekend and they only have to come in to work if there’s an emergency. 

5) Pay technicians $100 or more for going on call.

So, even if they don’t get a call all week, they still get paid for putting their life on hold and babysitting the on call service. Or, if they answered some calls but didn’t have to go out because they were able to handle the issues verbally over the phone, they still get paid and didn’t work or put their life on hold for free. 

6) If your company has 3 or more properties in the same city, put all the technicians who work those properties together into an on call rotation.

If 3 properties each have 3 technicians, then each technician will be on call every 9 weeks. That’s awesome and a great work life balance. Sure the on call may be busy working 3 properties but one week every 2 months or so isn’t bad. Another major complaint I’ve seen is from technicians who were on call every other week. If that technician has a wife who works nights or kids with busy lives in sports, it’s just too much to add 24 hour on call responsibilities to an already chaotic schedule. And for those who keep one technician on call 24/7/365, that’s wrong and should be illegal. Your company lacks morals and ethics and I hope you lose.

7) Have a call center.

I’ve seen this from a lot of technicians who say that having a call center cuts down on a lot of the B.S. calls. They love calling a call center back and not having to deal directly with the resident. They said that combining a call center and a list of what constitutes as an emergency really turned their maintenance department around. If it wasn’t on the emergency list, they simply told the call center operator to inform the resident that someone would address their issue the follow day during normal business hours.