Every Plant Has a Joe. That’s Why Training Is Inconsistent.

Every shift has a “Joe.” He’s been there forever and is the one: 

• Everyone trusts 
• Who can run any line in his sleep 
• People turn to when a machine sounds wrong 
• You lean on when a new hire shows up for training 

Joe is invaluable to your operation — but as a high-performing producer, not as your default trainer. 

When you rely on him to carry your training program, you put his productivity — and your business — at risk. 

Joe may do his job well, but does he teach it correctly? 

When new employees arrive, the plan is almost always the same: 

“Shadow Joe. He’ll show you how things work.” 

But Joe isn’t teaching from a documented, structured, or standardized process. He’s teaching from experience — decades of institutional knowledge built through trial, error, and instinct. 

That’s what makes him exceptional.   But while Joe is your best operator, his training approach isn’t: 

• Driving consistency across shifts 
• Available every moment an employee needs training 
• A substitute for documented role expectations 
• Scalable as hiring accelerates 
• Delivered the way the next generation learns best
• And none of this is Joe’s fault — because you didn’t hire him to be a trainer. 

Inconsistency is everywhere, and it’s not Joe’s fault 

When Joe trains someone, that employee learns Joe’s version of the job.  When the next shift’s “Joe” trains someone, they learn a different version. 

Over time, these small variations become operational drift: 

• New hires receive conflicting instruction 
• Operators improvise around unclear expectations 
• Each shift develops its own “method” 
• Supervisors spend time correcting avoidable mistakes 

Employees aren’t the problem. Inconsistent training is. 

Shadow-based training drives turnover, slows production, increases safety risks, and keeps you dependent on a shrinking group of individual experts. 

What happens when Joe isn’t there? 

Joe is a phenomenal operator — but he’s also human. What happens when he: 

• Gets sick? 
• Takes time off? 
• Covers another line? 
• Hits burnout? 
• Retires or quits? 

When he’s gone, even briefly, the cracks show.   If he leaves permanently all the institutional knowledge he carries — the techniques, adjustments, warnings signs, and “feel” for the equipment — leaves with him. 

A training system centered on one person disappears the moment that person does. 
That’s a risk your business can’t take. 

Consistent training protects your operation — and Joe 

The answer isn’t to replace Joe. The answer is to stop building your training process around him. 

Instead, create more Joes by building a consistent, scalable, modern training program that: 

• Captures the institutional knowledge he carries 
• Standardizes how tasks are taught across every shift 
• Ensures employees receive the same instruction, every time 
• Supports upskilling without overwhelming your best workers 
• Gives Joe space to focus on what he does best 

When consistent training becomes the system, Joe no longer has to be everywhere, fix everything, or train everyone. He gets to be what he truly is: your best operator.   

A final question 

If your Joe unexpectedly left tomorrow — even for a week — how much of your operation could keep running without interruption? 

If that question makes you uneasy, you’re already seeing the need for a consistent, scalable training path that works across every shift — not just the one Joe happens to be on.