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By Andrew Gager, Contributing Writer

September 2026

Key Takeaways:

• Reliable core employees thrive on specific recognition, fair treatment and meaningful ownership that acknowledges the consistent work keeping operations running.
• Above-average technicians can become top performers when managers offer deliberate coaching, gradual stretch assignments, strong peer mentorship and a clear purpose.
• New hires need psychological safety, frequent feedback, clear expectations and patient coaching to build sound judgment, learn site-specific systems and adopt the team’s safety culture.

Workers known as the reliable core show up, do solid work and hold the operation together. They are easy to overlook precisely because they never create problems. They are the backbone of the crew. Give them a work order, and they will complete it correctly and safely. They know the building, they know the equipment they are responsible for, and they follow the preventive maintenance schedule. 

Where they differ from the outstanding tech is scope and initiative. They tend to fix what is in front of them rather than scanning for what is coming. They will do excellent work on the tasks assigned but might not connect dots across systems or push improvements on their own. 

To successfully manage them: 

• Recognize specifically. Saying, “The chillers performed well in the heat wave because you finished the PMs last month” beats, “Good job” every time. 
• Give them a stake in improvements. Their hands are in the process, and they see what you do not. Ask. 
• Offer growth sized to them. Provide ownership of one area. Not everyone wants a promotion. Most people want to matter. 
• Be consistent and fair. This group is motivated by stability and even-handedness far more than by adrenaline. 

Inspiring above-average employees 

Above-average workers are better than solid, though not top performers. But they could be. These are the people worth deliberately investing in because a small push can turn a good employee into a great one. To manage them effectively: 

Tell them you see it. “I think you’ve got another gear, and I want to help you find it” is a genuinely motivating sentence. 

Stretch them past comfortable. Growth happens at the edge of ability with a safety net, not a cliff. 

Pair them with strong performers. Proximity to excellence teaches faster than any course. 

Grow scope in steps. Add responsibility in increments, and give real feedback on each one. 

Give them a reason. A goal bigger than the task pulls harder than any incentive. 

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The growth path for these people is usually about broadening technical range and building the anticipation and ownership habits that define the top tier, and a good supervisor actively coaches toward that rather than letting them plateau. 

Coaching new hires 

Coaching is not training. Training gives workers skills. Coaching builds their judgment, confidence and relationship. One makes them capable at a task, while the other makes them a thinker who can handle the task you did not foresee. 

New hires can change a pump seal or wire a receptacle, but they do not know where the shutoffs are, which panel feeds what or whom to call for a permit. They lean heavily on the CMMS and other technicians for acquiring specific knowledge. Their work is sound but slower because every task includes a layer of, “Where is this? How do we do it here?” 

In these cases, managers need to: 

• Build safety first. A new hire afraid to say “I don’t understand” will hide mistakes until they become expensive. 
• Ask more than tell. Asking a new hire, “What do you think we should do here?” builds a problem-solver, not a follower. 
• Check in at 30, 60 and 90 days. Early, frequent, low-stakes feedback beats one big review after three months. 
• Catch them doing it right. Early confidence compounds. 
• Model the standard. New hires copy the way managers behave far more than what managers say. 

The goal in training new hires is to get them to competency safely. Ambiguity on day one reads as chaos and predicts turnover. A clear plan says, “We’re organized, and you matter.” 

Managers should expect a lot of questions and treat them as the right behavior, not a red flag. The good ones ask before acting, especially around lockout/tagout and anything they have not verified. They're still learning the safety culture, escalation paths and unwritten norms, such as who signs off on what and how thorough notes need to be. This is normal and temporary. The signal to watch for is not speed. It is adoption and consistent improvement.

Andrew Gager is CEO of AMG International Consulting. He is a professional consultant and facilitator with more than 20 years of experience partnering with organizations in achieving strategic objectives and goals.