Job shadowing: A day in the life

Last week our Scheduling team took part in a job shadowing initiative alongside our Operatives in order to gain a better understanding of their roles, the challenges they face and how the work they do impacts on their colleagues.

The job shadowing initiative gave the Scheduling team the opportunity to learn how Operatives use the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) systems, how the jobs and descriptions inputted by Schedulers look onsite as well as the impact route planning has on the Operatives daily.

It also gave Schedulers the opportunity to explain the issues they face if Operatives fail to provide sufficient information relating to a specific job or to communicate with them regularly throughout the day.

The team started the week with a health and safety briefing covering site safety and lone working before buddying up to begin their job shadowing.

Over the course of the week they shadowed Operatives on a wide variety of jobs including plastering, plumbing, joinery, tiling and electrical works, both reactive and planned investment works.

Repairs & Maintenance Scheduler, Jane who shadowed Kevin on his compliance works said: “The shadowing was very worthwhile, not only to see the properties, but also to meet the customers. I found it particularly useful visiting the high rise blocks as I was able to see the equipment that we service under compliance.”

Scheduler, Abbi who spent time shadowing on a plastering job said: “I really enjoyed the experience and it was great for building relationships with the Operatives. I was impressed with how much effort they put into ensuring the customers property is protected whilst they carry out the works. I think the job shadowing exercise will help me in future when it comes to scheduling jobs as I have a better understanding of the reality of time spent on individual jobs.”

 Repairs & Maintenance Scheduler, Lindsay said: “It was a good opportunity to see the challenges our colleagues face daily and what is involved in carrying out electrical inspections. It was really interesting to see how jobs can become more complex when onsite and the impact that has on the time allocation for a job.”

Coming soon: We will be turning the tables with the Operatives downing tools to spend time in the office job shadowing the Scheduling team.