Every shift has a “Joe.” He’s been there forever and is the one:
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.
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:
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:
Employees aren’t the problem. Inconsistent training is.
Joe is a phenomenal operator — but he’s also human. What happens when he:
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.
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:
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.
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.