Construction Middle East: Arabian Civil Engineers by GineersNow GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 014, Sau | Page 29

Design and operation engineers
design, develop and manage
integrated systems for the
production of high-quality products.
These systems may include
computer networks, robots,
machine tools, and
materials-handling equipment.
Electrical engineers make sure that
the power supply in a
manufacturing site is enough for the
company to meet its production
targets. This is of particular
importance for industrial
manufacturing businesses like
ArcelorMittal, ThyssenKrupp,
Boeing or Airbus. They maintain the
power infrastructure and facilities
within the manufacturing plant, or
liaise with temporary electric power
suppliers in times when the factory
needs additional power, say during
peak production seasons, or when
load shedding or peak shaving are
implemented in the area.
Whatever the area of specialization
is, engineers play highly essential
roles in manufacturing facilities, and
as such, it is important to keep
them motivated at work and retain
their services. While there is not a
world of difference between what
keeps engineers engaged at work
and what it takes to do that for any
other member of the organization,
paying keen attention to the unique
motivational needs of engineers
can spell a huge difference.
Here are some things to take into
consideration in keeping engineers
motivated in ma nufacturing
companies:
1. Allow them to be free,
creative
Engineers value a strong sense of
autonomy and the freedom to
choose how to approach various
issues at work. They appreciate if
they are given the opportunity to
creatively resolve
engineering-related challenges at
work. Based on our experience with
our electrical engineers, they thrive
on a results-driven environment,
and appreciate having a degree of
independence to perform at their
best with minimal supervision and
instruction. They are also
stimulated by a work environment
that promotes and rewards
innovative thought.
2. They are not enticed
by promotion
Okay, hold your horses. When I said
that engineers are not enticed by
promotion, I meant the type that
follows a conventional progression
across the company organization.
Many engineers in manufacturing
companies, like in India’s Tata
Motors or Tejas Networks, may not
be interested in traditional
leadership positions, because they
may not want to manage other
employees or sit in the office for
hours on end – they just want to
keep building and developing
products, and maintain the
challenge and dynamism of a
thriving engineering career. It is
possible that promoting them to a
traditional manager will suppress
their creative engineering process,
and this may dampen their
motivation at work. For example, if
a manufacturing company
promotes an electrical engineer
(who is actively engaged in
installing, running and maintaining
onsite power generation facilities)
to a conventional manager (who will
spend eight hours of his day
preparing documents and
responding to e-mails), then it is the
running the risk of demotivating the
previously-engaged engineer.
Having said this, if an engineer
really deserves a promotion, then
let it be to a position that is equally
energetic and stimulating, that will
still require his engineering
creativity and ingenuity.
3. For engineers, learning is
an ending journey (Kaizen)
Manufacturing companies hire
engineers because of the latter’s
mastery of what they do. While they
may already be specialists in their
own fields, engineers are always
hungry to learn more and do more.