Being the new person at work can feel overwhelming to most people. The procedures manual can read like a foreign language on a good day, making learning the job more difficult. There’s also the newness factor, where the newbie doesn’t yet have friends, making work feel awkward. For hiring managers, helping their new employees feel less overwhelmed means the difference between keeping the new employee or not. Here’s a look at how managers can successfully onboard their new employees and prepare them for success.
Give Proper Training
Some managers nowadays don’t do much training. They allow their new employees to learn “on the job” by trial and error. However, nothing is more frustrating to a new employee than a lack of training. Feelings of overwhelm grow bigger and lots of mistakes are made by the new employee that could be sidestepped with the proper training.
If you don’t have a proper training manual, get one or make one. Make sure that it not only covers policy and procedures, but that’s not all. ANSI training should be part of new employee orientation to help ensure that your new employees get proper training. This training is critical for companies that want to do business internationally because adhering to ANSI’s regulations means products and services will be ready for international markets.
Establish Relationships
Most work environments today require employees to work together to get the job done. However, working relationships should begin long before a project starts. Being a new employee is already challenging. This position is made even more so if the new person doesn’t know who to talk to about policies and procedures, regular work breaks, technology issues and the like. Therefore, making introductions should be one of any manager’s first priorities.
Make It Fun
While most onboarding will take place onsite, it’s also important that employees begin developing relationships and having fun outside of work. Doing activities together, like solving an escape room puzzle or participating in a Habitat for Humanity, makes getting to know one another fun. It also allows new hires to be on more equal footing with people, at least for a time. This makes life back at work a little less intimidating.
Most organizations cannot function without the help of hardworking, qualified employees, and it can cause a major upheaval when an important employee leaves. This is why it’s so critical to make a new employee feel welcome. This can only be accomplished with some forethought, meaning that the hiring manager should consider every aspect of new employees’ training, from instructions on industry standards to building relationships with colleagues outside of work.
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