MANAGEMENT
28 Fleet Maintenance | AUGUST 2017
It’s In Their Genes
The genetics of maintenance personnel
helps explain their behavior
There has been continuing “research” into the
genetics of maintenance workers. Signifi cant
research, funded by major corporations, has
continued to crack the genetic code to an even
more granular level.
Companies invest in this type of research
because they would love to clone their best maintenance
workers. Just as importantly, companies
would like to make fewer mistakes in the maintenance
worker selection process. Imagine the
competitive advantage of being able to identify
great maintenance folks at birth.
In my original article on maintenance genetics,
Maintenance Worker Genetics, published in
Fleet Maintenance in 2004 when maintenance
genetics was in its infancy, fi ve genetic traits
were identifi ed:
Pissing and Moaning Gene – Maintenance
personnel are never satisfi ed.
Packrat Gene – Maintenance personnel can’t
throw things away.
Tool Gene – Maintenance personnel spend
an inordinate amount of time with tool truck
people.
Independence Gene – Getting maintenance
personnel to go in the same direction is like
herding cats ... it’s a diffi cult task.
Dirt Gene – Maintenance personnel seem to
attract dirt to their person, even right aft er
arriving at work.
Extensions to Known Genes
Further investigation has identified some
variations and additional traits in the initial
genes, plus some overlooked genes from the
original research.
It is important to note that not all maintenance
folks have all the identifi ed genes.
Th e recently discovered additions to the maintenance
worker genes are:
Extensions to the Dirt Gene – A new aspect to
the Dirt Gene is the inability to see the dirt they
create doing a maintenance job, and thus they
don’t clean it up. Naturally, if someone can’t see
the dirt, they can’t be expected to clean it up.
Researchers found that some teenagers temporarily
share this gene, but it reverts to a healthy
form when they become adults, so clearly more
research is needed.
Extensions to the Independence Gene – In addition
to it being hard to get maintenance folks to
align and pull in a given direction, the research
shows there are some other related traits. Th ese
include being hard headed and always thinking
that they are right, even if it is clear they are
wrong. Th is hardheadedness serves them well
95 percent of the time when they are right. Th e
other 5 percent of the time is usually painful for
their organization.
New Genes
Th e most recent research into maintenance worker
genetics has detected these new genes:
Barrier Fixation – Th is is the trait of spending
most of their time in meetings fi xated on
things outside their control. It might be vendors
or suppliers, or it might be inside departments
such as purchasing, accounting, fi nance, etc. No
matter what is brought up in a meeting, this gene
will force the person to come back to this barrier.
Monosyllabic Gene – Ask any maintenance
person a question, particularly when they are
doing something or possibly ignoring you, and
they will answer in as few syllables as possible.
While maintenance folks are people of few
words when questioned or in meetings, they are
veritable gushers of information when you say
the magic word or phrase. For example, if you
happen to muse about the head bolting pattern
on a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette, you might never get
to go home. Th e problem is, it is almost impossible
to know the magic word or phrase.
Th e bottom line to maintenance worker genetics
is this: Regardless of what genes maintenance
folks have, it is necessary to show mercy and
compassion to them. Th e health of your equipment
may depend on it.
By Joel Levitt
DIRECTOR OF
PROJECTS,
RELIABILITY
LEADERSHIP
INSTITUTE,
RELIABILITYWEB.COM
The company
(Reliabilityweb.com) provides
the latest reliability
and uptime maintenance
news and educational
information to help
make asset managers,
reliability leaders and
maintenance professionals
safer and more successful.
The Reliability
Leadership Institute is a
community of practice to
improve how organizations
deliver asset performance
through the
use of Uptime Elements,
a reliability framework.
» “Research” is
continuing into
decoding the genetics
of maintenance
personnel to help
explain their behavior.
Photo from iStock
VehicleServicePros.com/11669575
Editor’s Note: Th e
research into the
genetics of maintenance
workers is
tongue-in-cheek and
is not to be taken
seriously.