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New Hire Training That Focuses on People

The time right after the initial hiring process is a critical time period. Employers need to provide the necessary employee onboarding experience and orientation tools that give the right first impression for the new employee, as well as shape their future with an organization. The sooner new or transitioning employees feel a connection to the organization and are up to speed and productive, the more agile, flexible, and stable your organization becomes.

Some key components of new hire training include:

    • Key Job Knowledge: You can help employees stay engaged and retain information better by delivering more practical job training in ways that tell stories and catch learners’ interest. Avoid information overload by telling employees only what they need to know.
    • Culture/Mission: New hire training is a chance for an organization to introduce itself and its unique aspects. Make sure employees feel welcomed and excited to join your workplace environment.
    • Initiation/Orientation: Onboarding supervisors should conduct the new hire training in a centralized, well-designed and comprehensive orientation program that’s not just filling out HR paperwork. Engagement is also a key aspect of initiation and the new employee orientation process.
    • Compliance: A part of orientation should include information about compliance and what is expected of the employees in order to avoid issues down the road. Knowing what applicable compliance laws relate to your specific organization protect the company and the employee.

Learn how AllenComm helps clients build employee confidence early on through impactful learning experiences.

Why You Need High-Impact New Hire Training

Advantages of effective employee onboarding are more than just informing the employee about organizational systems and conduct. Onboarding training can help the employee and the organization in the long run through:

  • Speed to productivity
  • Cultural adaptation
  • Retention
  • Alignment

How We Can Help

  • Needs analysis
  • Performance Consulting
  • Interactive scenarios and simulations to allow hands-on practice
  • Gamification
  • Microlearning
  • Learning in the flow of work support resources
  • Progressive onboarding
  • Conversion of ILT to digital learning
  • Delivering training to a widely dispersed audience
  • Reduce seat time

Signs of an Ineffective New Hire Training Program

On the flip side, when new-hire training is executed poorly and there’s a disconnect between the organization and the employee, it becomes more likely that employees will pack up and leave you wondering what went wrong. Signs of poor new employee training programs may include:

High Employee Attrition and Turnover

Poor new hire training doesn’t engage people and making them feel connected, which leads to higher turnover. On average, 25% of new employees leave in their first year with a company. Furthermore, the average tenure of employees age 25-34 is a mere three years (Source case study: Aviation and Aerospace). Effective new employee training combats these trends and helps retain top talent for the long run.

Poor Productivity

An employee’s poor work ethic may sprout from a delayed understanding of core responsibilities from a new hire onboarding process that’s unengaging, disorganized, or has too much information overwhelming the learner. Poor productivity also opens the door to decreased team morale and frustration from managers and leaders.

Greater Number of Preventable Mistakes

Similar to poor work ethic, ineffective new hire training programs that fail to give vital information, such as basic job roles or systems, to the employee can lead to misunderstandings about corporate processes and culture.

Inadequate Motivation

Employees may start out strong within the company, but their motivation and engagement quickly wanes because they feel no connection, and therefore have no investment in the organization’s goals and mission that should have been established during the new employee training process.

What an Effective New Hire Training Program Looks Like

How can you improve and enhance your new-hire training and new employee orientation? For more than 35 years, AllenComm has designed and developed new hire training initiatives for many of the world’s largest companies. By tapping into our onboarding expertise, you’ll be on your way to effectively transfer key knowledge to employees in ways that help them adapt, adopt, and apply it soon. We’ll help you scale your efforts around effective new-hiring training keys, which include:

Give an Excellent First Impression of the Company

According to a study done by the Aberdeen Group and quoted on the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) site states that 86% of HR staff feel that new hires decide to stay or leave within six months. Simply put, your onboarding training and process is the most crucial time to make a good impression on new employees. What constitutes a good first impression? Be welcoming, give good instruction, show off your unique company culture, have room for feedback channels, etc. In the end, make your onboarding experience a memorable and engaging one for the employee.

Have Clear Learning Objectives and Timeline

Any successful program is armed with learning and outcome objectives for both the employee and employer as well as a schedule of when these tasks and objectives should be met. Training for new employees should have objectives such as:

    • New Employees have a clear first impression of the culture and work environment, including key elements identified by program sponsors
    • New Employees meet and understand the role of HR, direct managers, and key co-workers
    • New Hire Training gives employees a better understanding of their job duties, policies, and team dynamics
    • New Hire Training should help employees develop skills that are immediately put to use with relatable job tasks and practice

As for having clear timelines, map out what employees should accomplish and understand as they go through the new-hire training. A sample timeline with objectives could look like this:

    • First day (readiness): Introducing the leadership, brand, and vision of the organization
    • First week (discovery): New Hire Training and introducing team dynamics
    • First month (reinforcement): Training that reinforces the brand and vision of an organization as well as engaging training that puts learned skills to test
    • First-year (leadership): Career development and future company goals

Case Study

Delta

How does an airline industry leader reinvigorate and scale its customer experience during times of major change in both the travel industry and global markets, while elevating its branding and service experience? [...]

View case study

representative talent profile

instructional writer

Position(s): Lead or supporting writer
Years of Instructional Experience: 2+
Number of Completed Projects: 15+

Key Skills: Instructional Writing, Technical Writing, Instructional Design, Content Curation, eLearning Development, Curriculum Development, Course Authoring, Storytelling, Learning Assessment, Editing, Proofreading, AI Prompt Engineering

Media Skills: Use of stock media libraries

Strengths: Problem-Solving, Clear and Concise Writing, Tone and Style, Formatting, Consistency, Creativity, Communication, Active Listening, Research, Brainstorming, Collaboration, Attention to Detail, Adaptability

Career Highlights:

  • Scripted over 100 hours of learning content and supporting materials for different modalities for both US and global audiences  
  • Adapted writing style and reading grade level to suit design specifications and learner needs in several different industries (finance, healthcare, manufacturing, etc.) 
  • Used generative AI to supplement source content and to accelerate the writing process (without plagiarism) 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

learning experience designer

Position(s): Learning Experience (LX) Designer or Strategist
Years of Instructional Experience: 7+
Number of Completed Projects: 30+

Key Skills: Learner Experience Design (LXD),  Instructional Design, Learning Assessment,  Hybrid Learning, Learning in the Flow of Work, Project-Based Learning Methodologies, Cohort and Social Learning, Learner Experience Platforms

Media Skills: LX journey maps and representations of other interconnected or integrated learning strategies 

Strengths: Systems Thinking, Stakeholder Communication, Instructional Design Strategy, Learning Theory, Training Effectiveness

Career Highlights:

  • Designed personalized learner experience (LX) journeys for an organization of 30k (with 5 tiered tracks) 
  • Curated existing LXs that could be leveraged in new learning journeys for other roles, with measurement at key milestones to evaluate progress and success 
  • Wrote up the specifications for branching scenarios, question libraries, options for audio/visual media, and more, connecting each learner experience to a personalized journey 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

instructional media specialist

Position(s): Lead or supporting graphic designer, lead motion video artist
Years of Instructional Experience: 6+
Number of Completed Projects: 40+

Key Skills: Visual Design, Illustration, UX/UI Design, Storyboarding, Animation, Audio Engineering

Media Skills: Engaging illustrations, 3D models, character design, storyboarding, live-action and motion graphic video creation, audio recording and editing, client branding, and more to enhance media and create engaging touchpoints that resonate with learners 

Strengths: Brainstorming, Collaboration, Visual Communication,  Color Theory, Typography, Layout and Composition

Career Highlights:

  • Completed projects with extreme attention to fonts, colors, spacing, and more that ensured integrity with client branding requirements 
  • Designed and integrated media based on project-specific content that reflected the learner audience, established realistic learning environments, allowed for hands-on practice in virtual environments, and promoted diversity and engaging storytelling
  • Created quick-reference illustrations learners could access on the job to help them make fast, effective decisions   

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

lms admin

Position(s): Admin or sub-admin for Learning Management System (LMS)
Years of Instructional Experience: 5+
Number of Completed Projects: 15+

Key Skills: LMS Configuration, User Management, Course Management, System Maintenance, Reporting, Data Analysis, System Integrations

Media Skills: Network and tech-stack diagrams to communicate system architecture and integration 

Strengths: Troubleshooting and Analysis, Learning Analytics, User Administration, Technical Proficiency, Documentation, Adaptability

Career Highlights:

  • Managed a curriculum of more than 1,450 course offerings in the LMS for more than 10,000 learners 
  • Uploaded, tested, and ensured the readiness of new and relaunched programs 
  • Created and maintained reporting workflows to meet stakeholder needs 
  • Provided on-demand support to the learning team to answer questions and promptly address concerns 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

learning project manager

Position(s): Learning project manager, project lead, or coordinator
Years of Instructional Experience: 5+
Number of Completed Projects: 35+

Key Skills: eLearning Development, Resource Coordination, Project Management (PMP Certified), Agile and Waterfall PM Methodologies, Budgeting and Forecasting, Scheduling, Quality Assurance

Media Skills: Visual reporting of project plans via Gantt charts and other standard formats

Strengths: Problem-Solving, Communication, Active Listening, Collaboration, Decision-Making, Attention to Detail, Adaptability, Time Management, Risk Management, Budget Management, Team Coordination and Delegation

Career Highlights:

  • Managed concurrent award-winning projects without missing deadlines or wasting resources 
  • Completed several projects earlier than the expected timeline and under the anticipated budget 
  • Built strong relationships with returning client partners for multi-phase initiatives or course maintenance projects 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT (SME)

Position(s): Industry-specific specialist
Years of Instructional Experience: 5+
Number of Completed Projects: 5+

Key Skills: Content Curation, Specialized Content Development, Industry-Specific Expertise, Domain Expertise (e.g., Leadership, Onboarding, Compliance), Content Review

Media Skills: Recommendation and review of technical diagrams or industry-specific images

Strengths: Specialized Content Knowledge, Content-Gathering, Simplifying and Organizing Complex Material, Brainstorming, Collaboration, Documentation of Source Content, Decision-Making, Technical Content Review

Career Highlights:

  • Helped create, gather, and organize over 50 hours of content for projects with specific industry or learning needs and contextual nuances
  • Facilitated the decision-making process and collaboration between internal and external teams to consolidate feedback into actionable next steps 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

LEARNING STRATEGIST

Position(s): Lead strategist or performance consultant
Years of Instructional Experience: 7+
Number of Completed Projects: 20+

Key Skills: Needs Analysis, Learning Theory, Learner Experience Design, Learning Analytics and Measurement, Performance Mapping, Behavioral and Performance Analysis, Content Curation, Curriculum Analysis, Change Management

Media Skills: Curriculum maps, learner experience journeys, and conceptual program wireframes

Strengths: Big-Picture Thinking, Critical Thinking and Analysis, Problem-Solving, Creativity, Stakeholder Communication, Research, Design, Collaboration, Facilitation

Career Highlights:

  • Conducted a comprehensive learning needs analysis for customer services representatives that included both product knowledge and interpersonal skills development 
  • Prioritized alignment of business and learner needs, such as high-impact accessible design solutions within budgets or agile timelines, for award-winning projects
  • Designed strategies for measuring performance and results over time to inform continued client success 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

Instructional Designers

Position(s): Lead or supporting designer
Years of Instructional Experience: 3+
Number of Completed Projects: 15+

Key Skills: Instructional Design, Adult Learning Theories, eLearning Development, Learner Experience Design, Curriculum Development, Course Authoring, Writing, Learning Assessment

Media Skills: Simple graphic design using stock imagery, audio production

Strengths: Adaptability, Problem-Solving, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Technical Proficiency, Attention to Detail

Career Highlights:

  • Led the design and development of an onboarding program for new manufacturing employees
  • Scripted technical instructional content for high-tech, product knowledge training
  • Developed hybrid materials for both instructor-led training (ILT) and microlearning tutorials

Technical Skills: