Friday Freebie VII: Effectively integrate+train your new hires+efficiently train your legacy employees
Quality training is worth the time+money, every time.
I. New hires: get them up to speed fast in short, concise, easily accessible a road map of the company with trainings and digital links for more info.
Despite reality at many companies:
1. It should not take 1 year to get to know the intranet of a company.
2. It should not take 1 year to get to know the basic service and product offerings of the company.
3. It should not be the case that employees don't know how to do basic things like log time, expense something, where a policy is, or who to reach out to for what.
4. It should not be the case that employees don't know there is a customer service team for example.
Training right takes pressure off/ time sucks away from legacy folks forced to do it when the corp doesn't. When trained right, new hires will get to their actual job faster+make less mistakes. They'll be happy with the corps organization and see a standard they need to meet. Share with others the new hire is here.
New hires getting lost or posturing like they know is not a good thing. New hires should not be in inefficient 'rabbit holes' or lost in 'black holes' of company policy or intranets. It should not be frustrating or difficult for them from the start.
They should know what is expected of them, what the company offers, who certain people are, what departments do what ( how and when to contact them), how meetings should be structured, the companies priorities and values, where benefits are located, what is and is not accepted culturally (from on time meeting arrival, to short meetings, average time to respond to emails, what platforms are and arent ok to use) etc.
II. Legacy employees:
A. Up-skill them. Teach them but don't waste their time. Pro tip: if you groan after a training so will they - fix it or cancel it. What is imperative that everyone in the company know? Short, genuine (not condescending), materials/videos and as limitedly as possible. What do they need to know in their role? When doing their job it might be hard for them to keep up so have someone updating efficiently. Give spend to them to get external training.
B. Keep them current. They should know where everything is located, have clear + simple digital portals for any + all information (no dead links or old/wrong information), they should know who is currently with the company and what they do, where tools are to make work easier.
The harder+longer to get info the less likely folks will try to get it. Train legacy folks to know any updates/changes on priorities/values, if the company is in wartime or peace time, if there have been changes in product / service offerings, who the important customers are - who arent, what new resources are be available, the future direction, and spend climate. Dont miss 1 on 1s, push genuine Q+A, give or get As.
Cheers+good luck,
One Vie, Team
