6 Min. Read

How to Train New Employees?

March 28, 2019

Training a new employee properly sets them up for success and also allows your company to benefit from the best of their skills. Onboarding new employees take time, patience and a lot of clear communication. As a new hire starts within your business you need to let them know what is expected of them, your company’s procedures and how they will be evaluated.

It is also important to remember during the onboarding process that all individuals learn in different ways and different rates. The task of training a new employee can be overwhelming for both parties but with the right kind of focus, both the company and the new employee will benefit.

When making your training plan for your new hire, consider these three stages of onboarding.

1. Before They Start

Before your new hire arrives to work on their first day, you should run over your training process yourself. You know what is expected of the employee in their position, but are those expectations clearly stated in your training process? Go through the process yourself from the perspective of a new employee to make sure you are answering all possible common questions and concerns. Consult your staff to see if you are missing any relevant information that you might not have considered.

Have an organized and thorough onboarding package ready for when the employee arrives on site. Ensure the package includes a clear process flow for their first day or week. Giving too much detail is never a bad thing as they can read this material during their off time too. This package will be their resource to check before they go to anyone to ask for clarification.

2. The Early Weeks

Take things slowly in the first few days. If you overwhelm your new trainee, you will make it harder for them to retain information. Everyone has a different threshold of how much information they can take in, so observe and inquire as to how your employee is reacting during the process. If they are adapting quickly and not having trouble, or bring relevant experience to the position, don’t let them work below their grade longer than they need to.

Once they start to get comfortable, start to challenge them. Give them achievable goals and responsibilities, and let them do it. Always be available for clarification but you don’t need hover. Availability is key during this period. The longer indecision or bad behavior persists, the harder it will be to correct.

Offer praise and criticism in equal measure, as deserved. Encouragement is especially important at this stage. A lack of appreciation and feedback during the beginning of new employee’s time with a company might get them questioning why they took the job in the first place. Criticism allows you to intercept and correct bad behavior before it becomes a habit. Offering this feedback shows everyone you’re paying attention as to whether your employee is on track.

3. Ongoing Feedback

As the employee settles into their position, make sure to schedule weekly check-in. This a designated time to air concerns, give feedback, get feedback and keep the lines of communication open. Keeping a weekly is not necessary beyond the first few months but you should still make it clear to your employee that you’re available to talk about their concerns at any time. This is the point in their journey that you need to maintain awareness and encourage their creativity.

Encourage your employees to think outside the limitations of rules. Expecting your employees to blindly follow procedure without considering alternative options might deny your company some innovation that would help the business grow. Some rules, of course, must always be followed, such as safety regulations or industry-specific laws. Make sure your employees know what the rules are and why the exists.

If you’ve done your job well you will be left with a happy employee who knows how to do their job, follows the rules and bends them when appropriate. You will also have a team member with ambition and talent to help your business get to the next level.

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What Are the Methods of Training Employees?

Choosing the best method to train your new employees is an important consideration for any company. Some methods are more affordable than other but you want the option that gives your employees the transferable skills to do their job and accommodates their learning style. The goal is for this training is to give them the skills they need to do their job successfully.

On-the-Job Training

Training in the actual job site or an approximation of it happens in on-the-job training. The conditions where this training takes place should match the workplace as closely as possible. The employee will get detailed instructions on how to complete their job task. During this time, they will try new skills like operating a cash register and get feedback from a fellow employee or trainer.

Business who chose this method believes immersion is the most helpful way to learn the job quickly and for them to determine whether the employee is a good fit. Some business expects an employee to jump right in without any classroom training.

Classroom Training

You can keep cost low when you do classroom training. You only are required to have one trainer and the only other cost would come from binders and copies of training materials.
Small groups of five to 10 or large groups of up 40 new employees can be trained by one trainer. This trainer must make learning fun and interactive. Classroom training will involve new employees reading material, presentations by the trainer, group discussions, small group tasks and solving problems. Feedback is offered on what the trainees have learned by reviewing the result of their assignments.

Web Seminar Training

With web conferencing software, trainers can set objectives and measure learning. Employees might not retain all the information provided in the webinar by just passively listening. These webinars can be designed to be interactive by using tools with the software. Your webinars can also feature discussions amongst participants, via audio or video conferencing, and visual pop-up questions.