Follow These 4 Steps To Train New Hires Faster and More Efficiently
If your business is growing, adding new team members is inevitable. When it comes to training them, a lot of companies will use the “train by observation” method with their new hires. In other words, “Follow that guy around and watch what he does. Then do that.” Although there is some merit to shadowing an exemplary employee, it is a passive and slow form of training. You are essentially “hoping” that the person picks up the skills you want them to.
Here are some steps you can take to ensure your new employee gets the training they need.
STEP 1: IDENTIFY YOUR NEW EMPLOYEE’S CURRENT SKILL LEVEL
For the areas that you want your new hire to perform in, start by assessing their current skill level in that area. What abilities did they bring with them? What are they missing or need to develop themselves in? Do they need to learn new methods or are they already in sync with your expectations? Once you have a baseline, you can move on to designing a training program around that baseline.
STEP 2: CREATE A TRAINING PLAN
Now that you know where your new hire excels and where there are gaps, you can build a plan. The plan should include:
What skills they need to be trained or retrained on
Who specifically should do the training
How long each skill should take to learn, and
The expectation at the end of the training in terms of efficiency, performance, etc.
This information will produce a schedule that you can hand to the trainee so they will not only know who, what, when, where and why, but will also know what they will be tested on so they know where to focus, and where to ask for help when needed.
STEP 3: GIVE THEM YOUR BEST
Instead of sending them to one person for training on everything, pick out who is the best at each area they are learning and have them train with that person in that area. Maybe Tracy is highly skilled at working with your customers, while Teresa is the best at organization, and Tony has the most efficient work process. Pick out what your people are best at and make sure your new hire pays close attention.
STEP 4: PROVIDE THOROUGH FEEDBACK
As your new hire goes through their training, there should be check-ins to assure they got value from their training each day. The plan you created in step 2 should be reviewed by the training supervisor as well as the new hire’s supervisor (ideally on a weekly basis) to be sure they are progressing and in order to make any adjustments. Be sure to test the person after they are trained on a skill to be sure they can do it before you mark it off the list. It’s a good idea to review a few older items from the plan as well, to be sure they are retaining older material too.
Hiring a new team member takes time and is a process in and of itself. Once you have that person on board, getting them up to speed quickly and efficiently can save your company lots of headaches, not to mention time and money.
Take the initiative and create a plan that supports their success. Don’t “hope” that your new hire will get the information they need. Give it to them, test them on it, and then move on. Your new team members will be happier and your company will be set up for success, all leading to a bigger bottom line.
