“And that’s where he stops. He can keep one or two machines busy, but we have fifteen machines and plenty of work for all of them.”
“Who was the supervisor before Ryan got hired?”
“Oh, he was a good guy, kept the place humming. Got promoted to our other plant in Michigan,” Drew explained.
“And there was no one else on the production crew that could take over?”
“No, a good technician doesn’t necessarily make for a good supervisor. It’s one thing to push out today’s work. Totally different to make sure all the machines are scheduled for each shift for the next three weeks. Lots of moving parts.”
“Can’t you train someone?” I probed.
“It’s not a matter of training,” Drew shook his head. “Some people have it and some people don’t.”
“So, what is it, that some people have and others don’t?” I wanted to know.
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I would say that it is mostly a good leader that can encourage, challenge and instill in workers a desire to grow and develop.
I always have reservations about “who does and doesn’t” have talent. It’s difficult to gauge that skill, whether on-site or even before when a prospective hire is describing their abilities to an it staffing firm, etc. It is more important to make better techs than hope on finding great ones.