3 Ways to Make Training New Hires Easier

Bringing on a new employee can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, you’ve got a new resource to use for the betterment of your business. But on the other hand, most new employees don’t come in on their first day ready to get right down to the nitty gritty. It takes time and patience to train a new hire, something that many business don’t seem to have enough of. So to help make the onboarding process easier on both the employee and the company, here are three ways you can make training new hires go a little smoother.

Make Key Resources Readily Available

The first few days at a new job can be overwhelming. Not only are you trying to learn the ropes of your new job, but you’re also trying to figure out how the administrative side of the business works, set up your benefits, get to know your coworkers, and familiarize yourself with your surrounds. One thing an employer can do to make this a lot easier, according to Jessica Taylor, a contributor to The Muse, is to provide the key resources a new hire will need in a place that’s easy to refer back to. This information could include bios on the people he or she will be working closely with, annual reports, recent developments within the company, and how a typical day at work goes. This information will prove invaluable to a new hire, especially when it’s right at his or her fingertips.

Give Training The Time It Deserves

While training can seem like it takes forever, this part of bringing on a new hire shouldn’t be rushed. When you don’t give the training aspect the time it deserves, you could wind up with an employee who becomes more of a problem than a solution. James Parsons, a contributor to Entrepreneur.com, shares that it’s much harder to break a new habit or a bad behavior in a new employee than it is to teach them correctly from the get-go. So even if you are anxious to get back to your normal routine and to have the employee function solo as you think he or she should, make sure you’ve covered everything in the training so the proper growth and learning can take place for the new hire.

Ask The Questions Rather Than Answering The Questions

Because so much information is given to a new hire in their first few weeks on the job, it can be hard for them to know if they’re getting everything. While you might have asked them if they’re keeping up or have questions, it’s not uncommon for a new hire to not know what they’re missing because they don’t have the experience in the company yet. To combat this, Alison Green, a contributor to Inc.com, recommends asking the new employee questions rather than waiting for them to ask you questions. Ask them to run a report using QuickBooks if that’s something you’ve recently trained them on. Ask them what your process is for a certain task. This will help you to see if they’re retaining what you’re teaching or if you need to circle back to some information.

If you’ve struggled with bringing on new employees, consider using some of the tips mentioned above to make onboarding your future new hires as seamless as possible.