I was going to type a long PC type post about this (which I did anyway sorry) . But instead I am going to just ask how you guys go about trying to teach / train a new installer to work faster?
We have a guy right now that was hired to be an installer with other duties as assigned. He is good at the other duties and has a good understanding of networking, computers and even RF. The problem is that he is very slow on installs and the primary job he was hired to do. I spent quite a bit of time with him last week trying to figure out where the speed issues were coming from. So I took him on site surveys ahead of time with me and we laid out the entire installs during the survey. Install here, wire down here, across here in through wall here and terminate. You could see the tower from these sites so hanging and tuning the radio was a breeze. I sent him out on two installs the day after that. First one I considered a hard install. The second one easy. They took him over 10 hours not counting drive time. I spent the next morning doing site checks on them with the customers permission. Both customers were happy with him and his install and not a single thing on the install was done incorrectly I took another installer with me and asked him to run the time frame in his head. He came up to 3 hours for each install. So had I but we are both experienced. So I talked really briefly with the new guy about getting faster and then took him to an install I had surveyed myself. Ran him through the entire install. Radio here, wire down here... in and terminate. Install router. I left the more experienced guy with him to answer questions but told him to not physically help and explained to the new guy that if he had questions to ask because the other guy is there to help him figure out a faster process and would be talking with me after the install about ways to speed up the process so we can help him. I should mention the experienced guy is a supervisor so no hard feelings should be had here. I left him at 9:00 I was thinking that maybe I was being unrealistic in my time frames on installs since normally I have a helper on my installs and we knock out three to four a day. I felt like I got my installs done in 3 hours max when I was alone but never really timed them. So when I left the new guy I drove a half hour to what I considered a hard install and did it alone. Was done at 12:30 and driving back to check on the new guy. When I got there he was just about done with the install but the truck was spread around the driveway ( not throwing stones I have been known to do this). So he was going past hour 4 at this point with paperwork and packing the truck he was going to be at 5 for sure. I stepped in did the paperwork and quietly asked the other guy to pack up the truck some. This was done for selfish reasons ( its Friday and I have a family) and also because we had a between 1 and 3 to hit for the final install of the day. Grabbed subway. Scoffed it down. I bought and we headed to the last job. I had the supervisor guy in my truck and we have worked together a lot 100s of installs together. So on the way to the install which he had never seen I prep him on it. Big ladder ( 32") up on the gable on the back of the house. Take the little giant around to the deck so I can access the roof. And it's a tripod install. So when we pull into the drive I point to the back of the house "that's the back" he says okay and I go to ring the doorbell and say hello. He has the new guy with him so he told him to help with the ladder and then instructed him to start an rj45 on a wire. When I walked out the ladder was up and the supervisor was at the top screwing down the tripod. I grabbed the mast, mounted the antenna and put the wireless unit on it to tune and scurried up the small ladder and up the roof. Ill make this short. We hung the gear and tuned and marked the tripod and I went down and he had just finished the RJ45. In his defense he had put one on a 3 foot scrap piece that he had confused with the rest of the wire in the box( I don't know) so this was his second end. Anyway we just ran the job and he stayed out of the way. This was a hard roof, tall and not LOS and we were done in the truck heading home in just under two hours. But that was two guys and we ran. Ok so this is getting long sorry about that but I just am at a loss with this guy. I did realize on that last job I run on job sites. I always run to the truck back from the truck and I think ahead. This guy defiantly does not run and nothing is done with any sense of urgency. He is certainly smart and I hate to let him go because he has other values but I don't know what I can do to help him. He was hired to take the load off of me and I realize at the beginning new guys are work but its been over two months now he just recently took on jobs alone and he is not taking the load off. He is adding to it. Thoughts? Is to wrong to say, your slow I don't know why but I am going to fire you if you don't get fast. I wish I could tell you how to get fast but Its lots of little things. Start with running everywhere you go and see if that helps? Seriously.. I do want to know from those of you that have hired lots of guys what are your thoughts? Should I not be running one man crews with the expectation of two installs in an 8 hour day with an hour of drive time in there? Thanks, Brandon
