Re: Maintenance Department Personnel Reductions and Facility Condition
Dear Brothers:
The Personnel Committee’s letter HWC:HLB September 17, 2015, No. 40661L, provided various at-tachments with suggestions on how to reduce personnel. Regarding reducing personnel in the maintenance department it was stated:
“Building Maintenance—Consideration should be given to limiting regular improvements to the branch in order to reduce the maintenance staff. For example, could older, functioning building systems be retained, even if newer, more efficient building systems are available? Building finishes should not be re-placed simply because they are out-of-date but are still in reasonable condition. If departments are able to accomplish their work in their current configuration, is it really necessary to approve requests to modify their workspace? In all of these examples, branch improvements and renovations need to be considered very carefully, even if they are minor, as ongoing adjustments result in an increased maintenance staff. Trained Bethel family members may be needed to care for maintenance on specialized or technical equipment. How-ever, many other tasks, such as handyman repairs and preventative maintenance can be accomplished by us-ing part-time commuters. Please work closely with the Worldwide Design/Construction Department before implementing any of these changes.”
In harmony with this direction, we would like to inform you that the Regional Design/Construction Department (RDC) will be contacting your branch to assist with recommendations to meet the reduction in maintenance personnel without adversely affecting your installations. You will find it helpful also to consid-er the following points as you evaluate the maintenance needs at your branch.
1. Adjust the preventative maintenance ratio. You may now calculate your maintenance staffing so that scheduled preventative maintenance hours represent 50 percent of maintenance work and staff-ing. The figure in the staffing guidelines is currently 40 percent. Reducing the number of small pro-jects as directed in the Personnel Committee letter and other suggestions below will accommodate this adjustment and reduce the number of members needed in the department.
2. Outsource where possible. Determine the critical systems at the facility along with the technical skills of those in the department. This will help you determine which jobs can be outsourced to commuters and companies based on local circumstances and which will need to be cared for by members in the department.
3. Yearly schedules. Maintenance overseers have been asked to review yearly schedules and preventive maintenance frequencies to avoid spending too much time on less critical building elements, systems or equipment. An additional tool will be provided in the near future to identify more easily areas where we may be over-maintaining.
In an ongoing effort to support you in caring for the maintenance of your facilities, your RDC will soon as-sist you to implement the following initiatives.
1. Conduct a facility Life-Cycle Principles Course for your branch maintenance department
2. Perform a facility condition survey every second year. Synchronize and budget future element re-placements/refresh cycles based on end-of-life, using life-cycle analysis (LCA).
3. Set annual maintenance budgets for necessary small projects based on the information from point 2 and other factors such as facility size, age, and usage of a buildings
It is hoped that these initiatives will serve to assist your branch in reducing the maintenance personnel and in caring for the maintenance needs of your facilities. Thank you for your ongoing support and care of facilities in your branch territories. Please be assured of our warm Christian love and best wishes.