Just like any great company, you’re probably interested in hiring the top talent to make your company reach new heights. That said, optimizing your hiring process is not quite enough if you want your employees to be dedicated, focused, and productive. It is also essential to put a lot of effort in training new employees to ensure that they can help you improve your bottom line.
Unfortunately, far too many companies today view training in a very formal and sophisticated light and tend to follow the textbook definition of the word. While that is all well and good, training is supposed to be an ongoing process that isn’t quite limited to certain settings.
Wondering how you should train your new hires? Read on as we tell you 6 vital pointers for training new employees and improve employee morale in 2020 and beyond.
Listen to What They Have to Say
Listening to your employees is the first – and most important – step when it comes to training and retention. You need to listen to your employees to know their opinions regarding the company and get a better idea of their skills and talents.
Once you have enough information regarding the employee, you can create a customized training plan especially for them.
This is important for a few reasons. First, you shouldn’t follow a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to training. Everyone’s expertise, experience, and skills are different which is why you need to train them in a manner that’s best suited to their individual needs. After all, training someone you’ve hired as a manager the same way you’d train an intern doesn’t make much sense.
Secondly, listening to the ideas and opinions of your employees is a great starting point to build a professional relationship with your new hires and opens doors for communication. If you start listening to – and acting upon – the suggestions of your new hires right from the get-go, training, mentoring, and retaining them will be a lot easier.
Set Realistic Goals
When you hire a new employee, you’re probably expecting a lot from them – but you need to know where to draw the line. Chances are that your new hire is just as excited about being on your team as you are about hiring them. For this reason, they might even over-deliver in the first few weeks or months just to be appreciated by you.
And that’s the perfect recipe for burnout.
As an employer, it’s not only your job to teach your employees how to work hard but also work smart. By setting realistic goals, you can not only keep your employees motivated but can also teach them key skills they should learn about time management, setting personal deadlines, and working efficiently.
Start Slow
The last thing you want to do is intimidate your new employees and make them feel like they’ll be penalized for not learning at the same pace as everyone else. Even if your employees are taking a little longer to grasp a concept, it’s your job as a great employer to take it slow and give them time. After all, treating your employees with compassion and being there for them at this point can make all the difference.
When you’re training new employees, it’s also important to be flexible and accommodating. This will make you come across as a great and supportive mentor and will make your employees more happy and comfortable with working with you.
Assign a Work Buddy
Your new employees won’t know how you do things at your company unless you tell them. This is especially true for fresh graduates or employees who switched careers.
As an employer, you should either check in with them a lot more regularly than you think you should, or assign a work-buddy who can help them get the hang of things. When you assign someone who already knows what they’re doing to train this new employee, chances are that they’ll learn more quickly. Additionally, this will make your new employee get over the initial hesitation and ease into the workplace.
Ask Them to Complete a Task
Once you’re done with the preliminary training, it’s time to ask your new hire to complete a task. Whether you run a content marketing company or a travel agency, you should assign a project to your new employee and ask them to complete it.
This way, you’ll be able to assess how much of your training was effective and how much they understood the way you work. Additionally, you’ll be able to provide them with feedback to improve.
And that brings us to our final point…
Give Regular Feedback
Not giving your new hires regular feedback is a recipe for disaster. If you really want your employees to give the work their all, it’s important to give them constructive feedback so that they know just what they could be doing better. In fact, this is one of the most important parts about training new employees and perhaps the area that you should concentrate on most.
Conclusion: Training New Employees is Important
Follow these great tips for training new employees and creating a good benefits outlook, and you’ll certainly increase the employee retention rate. Plus, giving employees practical benefits such as access to student loan forgiveness (check this student loan forgiveness directory for guidance with that).