How to Train Your New Employees Effectively

Why Train New Hires?

Although a training program can be an investment, it’s a necessary investment. To succeed in today’s tough economy, a company must retain its employees. A low retention rate can negatively affect productivity and company revenue since recruiting and training requires time and money. Meanwhile, efficient and effective training pays off in the long run because it improves productivity, performance, company morale, and the business’s reputation.

When employers take the time to train their new hires, positive changes occur.

• New hires gain an understanding of the company’s policies and an overview of the operation.
• They will be able to familiarize themselves with the position’s duties, workstation, and technology.
• They learn about their department’s inner workings and guidelines.

The Very First Steps in a Training Program

Before the new hires start, send them an email summarizing the start of their job for their review. This will hopefully ease their mind and kick off the training program in an approachable manner. For example, you can send them a schedule for their first day. Almost everybody is nervous at a new job, so providing details will better prepare both the new hires and your company.

Why This is Crucial

Sending out any relevant documents before the actual training will send the message that your company is prepared and ready to welcome their new hires to the team! Plus, all of the managers involved with the training process must be on the same page before the hires arrive. You can do this by putting together an onboarding checklist with free online templates.

Being able to distribute an onboarding training program at scale without taking time away from your staff’s other responsibilities is huge. Therefore, we recommend that you take all of your basic training skills and deliver them through an online corporate training program.

The easier you make the onboarding process for your new hires, the easier you make the onboarding process for your company.

To learn more about how to simplify the new hire training process and find a partner that can help you scale your program online, book a free consultation.

What To Cover During Training

The big day is here! Now’s your chance to engage, inform, and share a connection with your new employees. So, where do you start? Well, when you follow the advice above you will alleviate a ton of pressure for your new hire’s first day.

In addition, when you have a strong online onboarding and training program, you are no longer the trainer, just a guide in your new hire’s journey to greatness.

Company Overview

Take the time to introduce your new hire to the business as a whole. Sharing the company culture is a great way to kick off training because it’s the backbone of every effective company.

Your online training program should include your company’s history, mission statement, achievements, and goals.

Your time in person should be spent answering your new hire’s questions and exposing them to the actual culture of the teams they will be working with. And if your new hires are going to be working remotely or by themselves, this is where an online training program becomes even more important.

Our research shows that people learn best by doing and experiencing, therefore, getting your new hires integrated with their teams as quickly as possible is ideal. It is your job to guide them and hold them accountable as they learn on the job and through the online training program, you create for them.

Company Policies

Although this step is more technical, teaching new hires the company’s policies is essential in any training program. This can easily be developed into an online learning module. Don’t forget to cover:

• Workplace rules (e.g., hours, breaks, keys)
• Paid or sick leave for new hires (vacation, maternity, etc)
• Information concerning remote work
• Detail the company’s performance review process – when they can expect their first review, how many times per year, etc.
• Ask the new hires to sign any necessary agreements
• Provide a FAQ document on the company’s policies

Company Benefits

Ensure your hiring manager lays out the insurance, stock option plans, and other benefits in the simplest way possible. Make sure to thoroughly cover the actions each employee needs to take to receive their benefits. Developing a simple micro-learning video module to showcase this information can save you a lot of time and allows your new hires to have a place they can easily go back to and reference when they want to look at their benefits again in the future.

Benefits topics to cover:

• Life and health insurance
• Company stock
• Requests for remote work, if it’s an on-site position.
• Mobile plan or company car
• Gym memberships

Role-Specific Duties

Hiring managers should also take the time to discuss the specific role of the new hire. Of course, they will learn from their fellow team members, but a hiring manager can still introduce them to the position’s responsibilities. Since you will most likely be hiring employees for different roles it can be difficult to remember all of the responsibilities they will have in each of their roles. This is where creating a micro-course using a micro-learning video for each role can save a lot of headaches and time.

You should cover the following in your course:

• Go through what a typical workday looks like
• Explain job-specific tools and technology
• Present business goals for the new hire’s team
• Summarize the chain of command within the team

The time you will save onboarding new employees with a microlearning course can be used to facilitate and schedule meetings with the new hire and their team members. Your time should be spent on helping them create personal connections, not on the checklist above.

For the most part, this where the IT Staff takes over. IT team members should help new hires, if they need it, to set up their stations, and ensure everything is running smoothly. They can also answer any questions the new hire has on data privacy, proper use of the software, and security.

An online course can aid in answering the most frequently asked IT questions in addition to basic setup processes. This will save your IT department time and empower your new hires further to take care of their technology themselves.

A well-structured online training program can make a new hire’s workplace experience. If you and your hiring team follow this training checklist, then consider it a successful onboarding process.

Now, if you haven’t already, start capturing the process with video and upload it into a simple learning management system so you can simplify your job and create massive value for your business.

We’ve all been the new kid on the block at one point. So put yourself in the new hire’s shoes and give them a warm welcome to the company. And remember, focus on the culture and people just as much as you focus on the technicalities of the position.