Every night I have a meeting to update the boss on the day after the techs have gone home. Sometimes things dont sound right like something took too long etc. I keep being told by one tech that the other is not really putting alot of effort. and this does account for alot of it.

But it's a million little things never anything big . Like today the tech that's hard working was at a service call. The other guy stayed at the shop waited till he was done and said the he needed two people to do the service call. The hard working tech said I'm 20 mins away , head over there start with out me and if you fix the problem call and I will just go to the shop.

The tech pulled in 25min later and the other tech was sitting in the van texting and hadn't gone inside and it turned out to be a one man job that took 2 mins. And he didn't need to be there. And it wasted company time

The hard working tech seems like he's getting mad for nothing but something like this happens almost everyday. What do we do with someone that isn't really doing wrong but isn't being a good employee either.

Fire him

Tell/ask him exactly that, you might get lucky and inspire a positive reaction- if not then at least you'll clear the air.

+1

I HATE slackers!!!

Put him on blast, tell him other people want his job and unless he gets with it, he's gone in 30 days.

Stop letting him run the show. No more "Let me know how long it takes". Instead give him specific tasks and a time limit for completing them. Any time he misses the mark have him stay late to write a report about why it took longer than expected.

Eventually he will catch up or get tired of being held accountable for his actions and quit.

not a team player?

Sounds like hes just Lazy to me.....

I like Mac's answer. He's avoiding work, and avoiding work will cause him to have to do more work in the form of a report, on his own time. The guy might just quit!

The lazy tech is costing your boss a lot of money, creating animosity with the good tech and ultimately making stress for you and none of these are good things.

I don't have employees now, but have managed lots of people in the past.  I've seen this type and I don't think you'll ever change him, but talk to him, set some guidelines, discipline him in a timely manner when he messes up and then terminate him if he doesn't shape up.

Make sure that you (or someone else in the company) understands labor laws in your area and does the proper due-diligence leading up to termination if that's the end result.

Maybe you'll get lucky and he just needs some motivation...

Time to start going out into the field to observe. If you can (and if this guy knows what you drive), use a different car, so he won't know it's you driving past. If you see him sitting in the van and not doing anything, make him walk away. Literally. Fire him legally, but don't give him too many second chances if you decide to give him any.

Sit his ass down and show him how much he costs the company, just by being employed. Then, add the cost of his vehicle, company-supplied work clothes, training, tools, etc. If he thinks a client will accept paying for his time while he sits in the van sending texts/e-mails, he needs to yank his head out of his butt.

How long did he work for the last company? If it was a very short time, it may be a good indicator. Not being a good employee is 'doing wrong'. He's not there to take up space, he's there to generate income. Do a full inventory of all parts/accessories/supplies on the vans. NOW. Do the installers take the vans home at the end of the day? Make sure he's not doing side jobs with company parts, etc.

Document x3. You (the business) don't want to have to pay unemployment when he is shown the door.

Maybe he's not challenged enough, or bored, or feels entitled, but probably not - just a bad hire. The boss needs to reevaluate the hiring process. Work ethic is generally one of those untrainables, you can't teach it and it ain't gonna change.

You would be wasting your time with all the documentation. Even if he quits he still gets unemployment. Ask me how I know.

Tough spot to be in. Talk to him, observe him, retrain him. If nothing changes -demote him to helper, take his van.

If he has no van he can't sit in it and text.

See if he puts in the effort to turn it around.

I agree with this. The over-achiever will continually be irritated by him and eventually may refuse to work with him. Expect results with time limits.

Sounds like the guy should run for office.