{"id":6223,"date":"2020-03-24T18:41:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T18:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/?p=6223"},"modified":"2021-06-02T17:28:19","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T16:28:19","slug":"how-do-you-help-underperforming-technician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/how-do-you-help-underperforming-technician","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Help an Underperforming Technician?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having a technician who is underperforming can impact your business in different ways. For instance, a slower employee can cost you in efficiency and profitability. Similarly, an employee who lacks customer service skills can impact the business by costing you five-star reviews and customer referrals. So, what can you do if one of your techs isn\u2019t up to scratch?<\/p>\n

In order to answer that question, we need to define what qualifies as underperformance. There are several elements to a technician\u2019s job. It\u2019s possible to have employees who excel in some elements but underperform in others. parts of a technician\u2019s job that can have a negative effect on the business and therefore be considered underperforming. Your first job as a business owner or manager is to set proper expectations. This means setting goals during the hiring process and at least once, if not twice, per year. Each technician should have goals that contribute to the overall success of the business but can be measured and attributed directly to the technician as an individual. As a starting point, you should set these goals around the following, each of which contributes to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of an MSP:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Process and policies<\/li>\n
  2. Tool proficiency<\/li>\n
  3. Technical skills<\/li>\n
  4. Customer service<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Over the rest of this blog, I will focus on each topic above, looking at the things you should measure and some ideas for increasing performance in each.<\/p>\n

    Processes and policies\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Processes and policies are the foundation of your business operations. The lack of adherence to these can cause confusion, delays, and errors in execution. For technicians, this has a direct influence on the time spent on individual tickets and ultimately increases the \u201ctime to resolution\u201d measurement.<\/p>\n

    A common example is tickets that sit for too long with tier one technicians before being escalated to tier two. You should have a policy that dictates how long a ticket can sit with tier one technicians before they escalate it.\u00a0Also, you should track escalations to know which tickets\/technicians aren\u2019t escalating after the allowed time has passed.\u00a0Finally, have a training policy to educate tier one techs regularly on items they should escalate to tier two techs so they don\u2019t spend time on them needlessly.<\/p>\n

    Tool proficiency<\/b><\/h3>\n

    MSPs rely on a variety of tools to run their businesses efficiently. Measuring how much time it takes for a technician to do routine tasks like documentation and timekeeping can show where certain employees are lacking. Taking longer can indicate a need for more training on the tools they\u2019re using\u2014which is an easy fix. However, in order to measure they\u2019re performance, you must track these types of activities. This is one of the reasons to make technicians accountable for every minute of their day. Once you measure all of their activity you can find inefficiencies and address them. Make sure to check with your vendors to see if they offer technician training to save you time.<\/p>\n

    Technical skills\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

    It can be tricky to measure technical skills. The easiest way to do it is to look at similar types of tickets and average resolution times per tech for each type of ticket. The techs who take longer could use additional training on that particular type of ticket. For example, if technician A always takes longer than technician B to work tickets involving firewalls,\u00a0get technician B to train technician A on common firewall issues and their resolutions. Better yet, capture that training in a knowledgebase article you can share with the entire team.<\/p>\n

    Customer service<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Lastly is customer service. This one can be tricky for two reasons:<\/p>\n