Surveys indicate that, on average, employers spend over 50 days and $4,000 finding each new employee. After sinking so many resources into a new hire, it’s understandable you want to see a rapid return on your investment. If you’re interested in making your onboarding process faster and more effective, these tips will help you get your new employees up to speed.
Rethink your onboarding materials
In a business or industrial setting, it’s natural to adopt a serious and professional tone during training. After all, trained professionals should be able to adapt and learn quickly without any flashy gimmicks, right? Well, humans don’t really work that way. Multiple studies have shown that learning and comprehension are heightened when information is presented in a stimulating (even entertaining) way. In short, your training process won’t be effective unless it’s also fun. How can you improve your training materials?
· Interactive learning
Interactive learning provides instant feedback and will dramatically speed up your onboarding process. Simply walking with your new hires and providing a guided, interactive tour of your facility and equipment will give much better results than pushing a binder of policies into their hands and expecting them to learn on their own.
· Online and social media learning
Though social media and internet usage can sometimes be the bane of a manager’s existence, they can also be useful training tools. If your new hires can learn procedures and policies from a YouTube video, for example, they are much more likely to complete their training than if they are forced to do heavy reading or sit through lengthy seminars.
Use the buddy system while onboarding new hires
Enough has been said about the value of mentors to fill many articles. In contrast, a point that many managers overlook is the desire of their new hires to connect, not with a leader, but with their peers. Are you hiring multiple employees at once, or have you hired someone else within the last few weeks or months? Onboarding multiple employees in a group does more than save time and resources. Assigning your new hires to complete training exercises in pairs helps them complete their tasks quicker while also building long-term connections.
Give frequent follow-up
Once you’ve finished the paperwork and brought in a new worker, don’t just leave them on their own and hope everything will be fine. Even if you trust your team to help them learn the ropes, your new employees need frequent input from their superiors. Not only will an occasional check-in help them learn faster, it will also make them feel valued and appreciated in their new position.
Find out how Expert Staffing can help YOU!
At Expert Staffing, we believe that efficient, high-quality hiring and training are vital to your company’s success. To learn more about our comprehensive staffing solutions for industrial and manufacturing professionals, contact our representatives today.
