Free tools · Field crews

sageful Free tool · Field crews

A new tech's first 30 days, one week at a time.

For the owner or lead bringing on a new field tech. Fill it in before day one and check it every Friday.

20 minutes to set up, a 5-minute daily check-in, and a 15-minute review each Friday for four weeks.

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Why it matters

Techs leave. Annual technician turnover runs 21% in electrical, 18% in plumbing and 16% in HVAC (ServiceTitan, 2026). Every early exit means another round of ads, interviews and ride-alongs, and a truck that sits or runs short in the meantime.

The first month is where a new tech decides whether they made a mistake. When nobody can tell them what week two looks like, or they get thrown on a solo job in week one because the schedule is tight, they start looking. A plan they can see answers the questions they will not ask out loud: am I doing okay, and what happens next.

It also protects them. First-year employees made up 35% of workers' comp claims (Travelers 2024 Injury Impact Report, 1.2M claims). A clear, slow ramp keeps a new person off work they are not ready for. Check this against your own safety program and the person who signs off on safety for you. It is a starting point, not compliance advice.

How to use it

  1. Before day one, fill in the boxes at the top. Name the three jobs they will see most. The whole month is built around those three.
  2. Show the tech the week-by-week table on their first day. Let them keep a copy.
  3. Each week, work that week's checklist. Check items off as they happen, not from memory on Friday.
  4. Hold the 5-minute daily check-in at the same time every day. Same three questions. Write anything important in Notes.
  5. Every Friday, review the week's Done when test with the tech. If it is not met, repeat that week. Do not skip ahead to fill the schedule.
  6. In week 4, run the ride-along sign-off and the 30-day conversation. Write down what they say about nearly quitting, and fix what you can.

The worksheet

Week by week

WeekFocusLead doesDone when
1Ride along only. Learn the truck, the PPE and the three common jobs.Explains every step and every hazard out loud.Can find any tool on the truck and name the PPE for each of the three jobs.
2Do the three jobs with the lead watching.Watches, coaches after, not during. Daily check-in.Does each of the three jobs start to finish with only small corrections.
3Run easy jobs alone. Call in before and after each one.Answers calls, reviews every piece of paperwork that day.A full week of easy solo jobs with clean paperwork and no callbacks.
4Sign-off on the 5 ride-along skills. The 30-day conversation.Runs the sign-off and the conversation.All five skills initialed, and you know what nearly made them quit.

Week 1: ride along only

Weeks 2 and 3: doing, then easy solo

Week 4: sign-off and the 30-day talk

Questions: daily check-in and the 30-day talk

  1. Daily: What went well today?Name it back to them. New techs rarely hear it.
  2. Daily: What was hard or unclear?Cover it tomorrow morning before the first job.
  3. Daily: What do you need for tomorrow?Gear, a phone number, a part, a ride.
  4. Day 30: What nearly made you quit this month?Ask it plainly and then stay quiet. The answer is your fix list.
  5. Day 30: What do you wish someone had told you on day one?Add it to the first-day sheet for the next hire.
  6. Day 30: What do you want to learn next?Tells you what will keep them interested in month two.

Notes: check-ins, fixes and what they said on day 30

Free from Brian LeSage · Sagefulsageful.app/free/30-day-tech-plan
Example: a made-up 15-person HVAC company

Peak Air hires Andre in October. The lead, Tom, lists his three common jobs: maintenance tune-ups, filter and thermostat calls, and no-heat diagnostics on gas furnaces. Andre gets the week-by-week table on his first morning.

Week 2 runs long. By Friday Andre still needs help with the furnace diagnostics, so Tom keeps that job in week 2 for a few more days while Andre starts solo tune-ups. The plan bends without anyone pretending it did not.

At the 30-day talk, Andre says what nearly made him quit was day three, when he was sent to the warehouse for four hours with no explanation. The owner adds a line to the first-day sheet: no warehouse days in week one. Andre's month-two goal is a refrigerant handling certification, with a date on the calendar.

Common mistakes

  • Putting a new tech on solo work in week one because the schedule is full. Fix: the schedule bends, the plan does not. Use the lead or a sub for overflow.
  • Moving to the next week by the calendar instead of the Done when test. Fix: if the test is not met, repeat the week and say so out loud.
  • Skipping the daily check-in on busy days. Fix: five minutes, same time, same three questions. Busy days are when it matters most.
  • Reviewing paperwork at the end of the month. Fix: review it the same day while the tech still remembers the job.
  • Asking 'any questions?' instead of the real ones. Fix: ask what nearly made them quit. Then listen and do not defend.
  • Ending the plan at day 30 with nothing next. Fix: agree on one goal for month two before they leave the conversation.

Make it yours

  • Electrical and plumbingMake the three common jobs your bread-and-butter service calls, and keep anything that needs a permit or license above theirs with the lead past day 30.
  • Pest control and lawn careBuild week 1 around product mixing and label reading, and make week 3 a short route of repeat residential customers.
  • Stormwater and underground workKeep confined space entries and traffic control out of solo work entirely, and use week 3 for inspections and above-ground maintenance.
  • Experienced hire from another companyShorten weeks 1 and 2 if they pass the Done when tests early, but still run the sign-off. Your way may not be their old way.

Use it with

A new tech's first day, in 7 checks.Open →Before a new tech runs a job alone, they show you these 5 things.Open →5 questions for your next tech interview, that show who will stay.Open →

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