Some key components of new hire training include:
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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:
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- New Employees have a clear first impression of the culture and work environment, including key elements identified by program sponsors
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- New Employees meet and understand the role of HR, direct managers, and key co-workers
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- New Hire Training gives employees a better understanding of their job duties, policies, and team dynamics
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- 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:
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- First day (readiness): Introducing the leadership, brand, and vision of the organization
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- First week (discovery): New Hire Training and introducing team dynamics
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- 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
