No matter the size, adding on another employee to your company or department takes work. From finishing the new employment paperwork, all the way down to finding a new workspace for your employee, it can get very exhausting. You want your new hire to make an instant impact even though you know that it will take time for him or her to become acclimated to their new environment. So why not make it easier on the newbie and also easier on yourself.
Sure, you don’t want to spend all your time training your new hire, but in the long run, you want to set them up for success and reap the benefits of their work. You hope to spend a few extra hours in the office now, in return for spending a few less hours in the office in a few months. Here are some ways that could help you train and prepare your new hire for a long successful career with your company or place of work.
Let them Earn It
Many times when bosses or heads of departments are training new employees, they try to welcome them into the working family right away. You did not hire a new employee to be your friend. He or she should expect to come to work and produce. I am not saying that you should be cold or rude with your new employee, but let him or her know that in this “family,” production reigns supreme. If everyone is working towards the same goals and succeeding, relationships like friendship will take form. You do not want to form any bad habits that will be hard to kick later on.
Never Stop Training
Training your employee should never stop. Moving forward it may become less frequent, but in order to get and keep an employee engaged, you should always let your employees know that they will always be learning something new. In today’s world, new technologies are constantly coming out to either optimize one task or replace one program with another. Successful professionals are always one step ahead, learning and training. Let your employees in on it. Make sure they understand that to be successful, they need to continue to evolve in their work.
Draw a Picture
Don’t you remember that 45-page training booklet that you used when you first started. It was filled with everything you needed to know about your new job. Throw it out because I bet that is all you remember about that book, the length. People remember pictures more easily than plain text. You can create something that is visually stimulating, while still reaching the goal of informing your new hire. He or she will retain more information saving you further explanation time. You could also go through some of the training PowerPoints and add some visuals. Many times people’s minds tend to wander during long presentations. Adding a little flair can not only help your employee, but can also be a change of pace from the monotonous presentations your new hire probably just daydreamed though.
Move
Learning and movement have gone together for years. There have been countless studies in the past that prove that moving around can be a benefit to learning. If you have a big group, set up stations and have your new employees move from station to station. They’ll learn something different at each stop, and it will give them an opportunity to walk around in between. Movement helps promote better blood flow throughout the body, gives more oxygen to the brain, and helps to wake up those night owls getting used to their new hours.
About James Mitchell:
James Mitchell recently left a stressful career in finance because he wanted to find a more fulfilling career. Today, he is working as a freelance consultant. In addition to his new career, he enjoys volunteering for InternSolutions.net and finds it very rewarding to connect young people with lucrative career opportunities.
