I love love love our clients. They value their partnership with our firm and often ask our advice on 'people' issues. One issue that comes up regularly across multiple clients is the ongoing struggle to retain engineers related to commissioning projects. Companies that build stuff for other manufacturers such as complex machines or automation equipment usually require members of their staff to spend extended periods of time at the customer site. That staff is typically made up of Field Service Engineers, Controls Engineers, Robotics Engineers or similar positions. These are the roles we refer to as Commissioning Engineers. They are often asked to be at a customer site for months at a time.
These 'road warriors' are becoming increasingly harder to hire and retain. As we all know the pandemic changed everything and people's willingness to travel for work just is not what it used to be.
So what do you do? How do you not only attract road warrior commissioning talent but also retain them long-term?
Below is a list of six strategies our clients are employing that seem to be having an impact.
- Get Your Commission Engineers Home! It seems that the best practice has become cycling your engineers out every three weeks and allowing them to be home for two to three weeks before returning to the field. "So I need to hire and pay more people?" you're likely asking yourself. YES! And you're going to struggle until you accept this. But imagine for a moment what the world would look like if you were fully staffed, had a happy commissioning team, had happy customers, and were not constantly burning through employees having to recruit on an ongoing basis. The world becomes a better place I promise you!
- If You Can't Cycle Them Out Completely, Get Them Home on Weekends. It shocks me when I talk to companies that don't pay for their commissioning engineers to travel home on a regular basis to recharge. The best practice here seems to be allowing team members to return home for three day weekends every two weeks.
- Raise Your Rates and Pay More. Your road warriors must be paid a premium if you want to retain them. Most technical professionals opt to become road warriors for the financial gain, not because they like living out of a hotel. If there's no significant financial upside for your team members you will lose them. The best practice here is O/T for anything over 40 hours regardless of the role AND a travel premium. Also road warriors don't want your company credit card, they want per diem. Those that have made a career living at customers sites have come to count on per diem as an expected perk.
- Spoil the Shit Out of Your Best Road Warriors. As a career sales person we all know companies spoil their best sales people. It's the road warriors that need to be spoiled. Recognition programs, bonuses for hitting deadlines, reward trips - these are all things the companies that want to keep their best people are investing in. Take a step back and think about it. Yes your sales professionals are the 'tip of the spear' as we say, but its your commissioning team that not only has to deliver, they leave the lasting impression with your customers and are core to long-lasting business relationships. Happy commissioning engineers typically mean happy customers.
- Bring the Customer to You. This can be difficult because not all customers will agree. You have to 'sell' the importance of this when you sell the project. Maximize the testing being done at your site. Bring the customer to you, even pay for it, and involve them in every step of that testing process. One of our clients made a change two years ago, requiring their customers to come to them, and it cut their engineers' time on the road by an astounding 50%. It also had a significant impact on their ability to hire and retain commissioning talent. So much so that engineers from competitors are actively seeking out employment with this company.
- Virtual Commissioning. Note I'm not entirely sold on this idea yet. The technologies are coming along but not quite there. Virtual commissioning software remains extremely expensive and has major implications earlier in the design process. It requires a major change in process, design philosophy and ultimately culture. Most companies aren't ready for it. Of course software makers like Siemens are touting reductions in commissioning times of as much as 33%. I believe that's possible but far from easy. It is something everyone should keep an eye on though as the technology will get better.
There is no magic bullet but simply put, the answer is put your people first. Figure out ways to keep them happy. They are after all your most valuable assets.
What did I miss? What is your company doing to overcome the 'people' challenges related to commissioning? Comments are encouraged and welcome.
Side note - if you need help hiring Controls Engineers, Robotics Engineers or Field Service Engineers we can help! Reach out to the team at Wright at (216) 377-2205 or visit www.workwithwright.com
