Not a Matter of Training

Posted on January 29, 2013 by

“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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Orientation kicks off this Friday. Registration is now open for Hiring Talent – 2013. This is the only program that blends Elliot Jaques’ Levels of Work with the Behavioral Interview. This 6-week online program is practical, hands-on, coached by Tom Foster. Follow this link for more information and registration.

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About Tom Foster

Tom Foster spends most of his time talking with managers and business owners. The conversations are about business lives and personal lives, goals, objectives and measuring performance. In short, transforming groups of people into teams working together. Sometimes we make great strides understanding this management stuff, other times it’s measured in very short inches. But in all of this conversation, there are things that we learn. This blog is that part of the conversation I can share. Often, the names are changed to protect the guilty, but this is real life inside of real companies.
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2 Responses to Not a Matter of Training

  1. Niel Dawson (@ATL_GA_Electric) says:
    January 29, 2013 at 10:20 am

    I would say that it is mostly a good leader that can encourage, challenge and instill in workers a desire to grow and develop.

  2. Jamie Salcedo says:
    February 7, 2013 at 1:25 pm

    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.

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