Recruitment is an expensive and lengthy process if you want to hire the best employee available. With such investment made, it is important to provide new starters with adequate training to make sure that they quickly become a fully-functional member of your team, and ensure they want to stay with you long term. If you need to know more on how to train new employees then you should consider these things.
Line manager responsibility
Firstly it is important to remember that it is your job as a manager to guide new employees through the initial period. A new start who shows no signs of improvements after a couple of months can discredit their manager, whereas an excellent candidate with effective training from the offset will reflect positively on them and grow into an invaluable member of the team.
From the recruitment process, and as part of standard organisation procedure, you probably have a clear idea of the training your new recruit will need, so ensure this is discussed with them and planned accordingly.
Training style
We all learn in different ways, and even at our best, we sometimes want to do something different for variety. Find out what your new recruit's learning style is (there are some great online tests for this) and ask them how they like to take in information. Some people are very hands-on, while others prefer to read and observe. Whatever works best for your employee, structure their training accordingly.
A blended approach
You should give your new employee a written manual for performing the tasks they will be responsible for, with well-defined processes in place. Given clear guidelines to follow your employees will be far less likely to make mistakes, and if they do it will not reflect poorly on you. Streamlining your processes before they start and creating easy-to-implement guides will assist a smooth transition.
Rather than doing all the training yourself, why not delegate some responsibility to more senior team members? This will allow your new recruit to get to know their team better, and learn from those who actually do the job. Ensure this responsibility is discussed and planned in advance.
Completing a task during training allows new employees to settle, while doing something useful and showing their strengths and any areas for improvement. Provide cross-training allowing employees to learn how the entire organisation operates and gain a broader working knowledge of all departments.
Remember…
The candidate you hired was the best person for the job, so be sure to allow them to choose their own path and learn for themselves; a fresh pair of eyes and a curious mind will be nothing but beneficial to your organisation.
