2024 Maintenance Grit Programs 1 and 2

This descriptive research examines the role of grit, defined as the combination of consistency of interest and perseverance of effort, in shaping leadership, maturity, job satisfaction, and retention among U.S. industrial maintenance workers—an inglorious profession facing major labor shortages. Using the Grit-S scale combined with additional measures, survey data were collected from 462 industrial maintenance workers, and several tests were conducted, including a comparison with the grit scale data from a sample of 4,270 general population responses. The findings reveal higher grit levels in industrial maintenance workers than in the general population, with perseverance of effort being particularly pronounced. Another important finding was that leadership roles significantly enhanced effort but surprisingly did not influence interest, whereas maturity increased interest over time. Another dimension added to explorations was job satisfaction, where the data strongly correlated with effort. In contrast, the measurement of job retention aligned more closely with interest, particularly among experienced workers. The research results distinguish the grittiness of maintenance workers in general and highlight the differences between leaders and veteran workers regarding interest and effort, as the subgroups are often considered similarly. Moreover, these differences affect job satisfaction and retention in similar modes. Future research should explore cultural and organizational factors that influence grit based not only on filling the needs with additional labor but also on maintaining leadership and the most seasoned workers as long as possible.