To help ensure the long-term success of an employee, your company needs to have an effective onboarding process and training opportunities in place. Follow these 13 tips—ranging from providing a mentor for new employees to clearly stating your definition of success in the job—to properly welcome new hires.
By Tim Dimoff
As a small business you face many challenges daily, but having properly trained employees is one of your biggest challenges and is crucial to the success of your business. Your ability to train your employees and get them up to speed as quickly as possible will save you both time and money.
Hiring and training new employees is a long and stressful procedure. Once you have hired a new employee, it generally takes 3 to 6 months to properly train them. Training is crucial for business development and success, so it is up to you to help a new employee to become efficient and productive. Providing proper training your employees gives them the tools they will need to perform well in their duties. A good training program will include the tasks they will be doing in their jobs, any rules, and an overview of the company culture. It is not as complicated as it may seem.
Here are 13 basic tips for a successful onboarding process:
Onboarding tip no. 1: Before hiring, make sure that they are a good fit, both experience wise and culture wise.
Onboarding tip no. 2: Have a procedure in place to train them. This is best done with a written document that details the job requirements.
Onboarding tip no. 3: Utilize other employees or managers to oversee and mentor the new employee.
Onboarding tip no. 4: Figure out the employee’s strengths and how you can best optimize them. Take note of the best way they learn—observation or hands-on practice.
Onboarding tip no. 5: Utilize a new hire training checklist so nothing is missed.
Onboarding tip no. 6: Train them in your company culture as well as in the job responsibilities.
Onboarding tip no. 7: Provide guidelines to help them understand the job and the company.
Onboarding tip no. 8: Make sure they have an understanding of what is expected and how you define success.
Onboarding tip no. 9: Set goals and revisit them as necessary.
Onboarding tip no. 10: If it makes sense, you can utilize e-learning.
Onboarding tip no. 11: Take advantage of other employees’ expertise and encourage them to share their knowledge.
Onboarding tip no. 12: Plan follow-ups with them in the first few months. Give them constructive feedback.
Onboarding tip no. 13: Training isn’t a one-time thing. Continue to offer training to all employees as procedures change.
If you follow some of these suggestions, you will find it easy to onboard new hires and to help them get up to speed and become a contributing and valuable employee.
President, SACS Consulting & Investigative Services, Speaker, Trainer, Corporate Security ExpertTimothy A. Dimoff, CPP, president of SACS Consulting & Investigative Services, Inc., is a speaker, trainer and author and a leading authority in high-risk workplace and human resource security and crime issues. He is a Certified Protection Professional; a certified legal expert in corporate security procedures and training; a member of the Ohio and International Narcotic Associations; the Ohio and National Societies for Human Resource Managers; and the American Society for Industrial Security. He holds a B.S. in Sociology, with an emphasis in criminology, from Dennison University. Contact him at info@sacsconsulting.com.
