We Trained Field Technicians to Train Other Field Technicians (And It Worked

My client was implementing SAP S/4HANA across 20+ sites. About 800 technicians plus planners, and maintenance staff needed training before go-live.

I knew what would happen if we used outside trainers or corporate folks. People would sit through the sessions, nod along, then go back to work and ignore the new system.

We Found People Already Doing the Work

I talked to site supervisors and asked who people actually listen to. Not who has the best title. Who do they trust when something breaks or they need real answers?

We identified 24 people:

• Maintenance supervisors who had been at their sites for 10-15 years

• Senior technicians everyone goes to for help

• Planning coordinators who knew the old systems inside out

None of them volunteered. Most thought SAP was going to make their jobs harder. Some were right about that. They had credibility with field staff. That mattered more than enthusiasm.

Eight Weeks to Build Trainers

We brought them together for focused development.

Weeks 1-2: Learn the system

Functional leads walked them through SAP. Not just clicking through screens. The actual business processes - why work orders flow this way, how materials get tracked, where vendor invoices go.

They asked hard questions. "This takes more clicks than the old way." "Why do I need to enter this twice?" Some of those questions led to configuration changes. Others we just had to explain.

Weeks 3-4: Learn how to teach

We taught them how to structure a training session. How to break down complex processes into learnable chunks. How to handle questions without losing the group. They practiced on each other. It was uncomfortable. These aren't people who normally stand in front of rooms and talk.

Weeks 5-6: Teach-backs

Each person delivered a 30-minute training session to the group. We recorded it. Watched it back. Gave specific feedback. "You lost them when you used that term - try this instead." "That example worked perfectly." "Slow down through this part."

The first round was rough. By round three, they were good.

Weeks 7-8: Co-facilitate real sessions

They shadowed training with pilot groups. Started by answering questions. Then took over sections. By the end, they were running full sessions with support nearby.

What Training Actually Looked Like

Field staff showed up because their colleague was teaching. Someone who understood what their day looks like.

When people asked questions, the trainers answered in operational terms:

• "This is how you will process the equipment notifications you already write"

• "Remember how you had to call three people to find vendor contact info? It's all here now"

• "Yes, this part is clunky. Here's the workaround until they fix it"

They didn't sugarcoat problems. They didn't oversell benefits. They showed people how to do their jobs in the new system.

Attendance was 96%. Confidence scores averaged 4.2 out of 5.

More importantly: people came to follow-up sessions voluntarily because they wanted to learn more.

After Go-Live

The trainers became the support network. When someone hit a problem, they called the person who trained them.

The trainers couldn't answer every question. When they didn't know, they figured it out and got back to people. They started sharing solutions with each other.

They created their own job aids in language that made sense to field staff. They flagged system issues with specific examples instead of vague complaints.

Why This Approach Works

When you are implementing new technology, you can hire the best trainers in the world. You can build perfect curriculum. You can have executive sponsorship and unlimited budget.

If field staff don't trust the person teaching them, they won't adopt the system.

We invested eight weeks developing people who already had that trust. We gave them real training skills. We let them translate system language into operational reality.

The training worked because people learned from colleagues who do the same work they do.

At IHCP Global, we help organizations build internal training capacity that drives real adoption. If you want to learn more about our approach to developing credible change leaders within your organization, reach out.