Chief Engineer Succession: Seniority Versus Performance
You manage a 600,000 SF commercial portfolio with a chief engineer who retires in 90 days. The department has two technicians. Technician A has 14 years of service, holds an HVAC certification, and is the informal lead, but has two unresolved tenant complaints and incomplete preventive-maintenance logs. Technician B has four years of service, an EPA Universal certification, strong tenant ratings, and led an energy project that saved $85,000 annually. The budget allows one supervisor at $95,000. The owner wants a seamless transition and no overtime increase. The HR file contains no written discipline for either technician. A tenant with a 120,000 SF lease has threatened to escalate service complaints to ownership. The local labor market for chief engineers is tight; a search would take 120 days.
1. Who should be promoted, and how do you make the decision defensible?
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Use a written decision matrix: technical certification, documented performance, tenant service, safety record, project leadership, and supervisory readiness. Technician A has seniority and certification but unresolved complaints and incomplete PM logs. Seniority alone is not a defensible criterion. Technician B has stronger service and documented savings but less supervisory experience.
Recommend B as supervisor with A as senior technician and mentor, or a 90-day acting assignment for B with formal training. If A is passed over, document the objective reasons and offer a development plan. This reduces age-discrimination and retaliation risk. Check pay equity before setting the $95,000 salary.
2. How do you communicate the decision and manage the transition without overtime growth?
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Meet both technicians in person. Explain the criteria and give A specific examples and a 60-day improvement plan. Do not promise future promotion. Update job descriptions and post internally if policy requires. Assign B to scheduling, vendor oversight, and escalation; assign A to PM logs and the two tenant issues with deadlines. Use the retiring chief engineer for knowledge transfer in the first 45 days. Monitor overtime weekly; if coverage slips, reprioritize preventive work rather than automatically adding hours.
3. What 90-day metrics should you use to judge whether the promotion is working?
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Track PM completion (target ≥95%), tenant satisfaction and response time, open complaints, safety incidents, overtime versus budget, energy use, and vendor performance. Hold 30/60/90-day reviews. If B is not meeting supervisory expectations, provide coaching and document it. If A's PM logs and complaints are not corrected, escalate formally. Keep the tenant escalation path visible so the 120,000 SF tenant sees accountability.