Use New Hire Training to Ramp Up Quickly

Your new hire employees have to be up and running fast. Should you use on-the-job-training? Online courses? Classroom? You can bring them up to speed quickly with a new hire training program that combines all three. Here's how.

Many organizations choose to train new hires strictly on-the-job (OTJ). This can be a good practice if the line employees have the time to bring a new hire up to speed - but how many of us can be assured that this is the case 100% of the time? But by using a formal new hire training program you can ramp up the new hire force much quicker than on-the-job-training.

Implementing a formal new hire training program doesn't have to mean the end of on-the-job training. In fact, a combination of OTJ, online learning, and classroom instruction can create a strong new hire program. For example, if your formal new hire program is three weeks long, deliver week one and then send the new hires to the job for a few days to observe what they've just learned in action. Then bring them back to continue formal training. For this plan to work effectively, you must have a structured observation in place - and a rule that new hires will not be forced to go to full time work just because they showed up to the job. You can also accomplish this is by offering e-learning or online modules while the trainees are doing their observations. This way, trainees can observe "real life", work on some online courses, and then return to the classroom. This combination gives your new hire a well-rounded look at the job and the knowledge necessary to carry it out.

Another way you can prepare new hires quickly, in addition to formal training, is by creating a mentor program. This doesn't mean simply assigning mentors on the job because they've been around for a hundred years - it means that you must look for field employees who have a natural ability to coach and mentor new people. This also means that you should develop a formal program. For example, once a new hire leaves formal training, the mentor should know what was and wasn't covered. You should also create a checklist of tasks or observations that the mentor must go through with the new hire - and a designated time frame to do so. On the mentor side, outline the behaviors and expectations of the mentor. With a mentor program in place, you're able to provide the continuation of new hire training on the job.

The expectations of your formal new hire training program are very important to know and to communicate to supervisors and managers. First, you're sending a new hire out to the field with a base of knowledge. Managers and supervisors need to understand that the new hire is probably not going to be the next superstar right away. Second, managers and supervisors need to understand what the new hire's limits are. What tasks should they be able to complete with no help? What parts of their job should be done with some assistance from a mentor?

When your new hire program is in place, you'll be certain that new employees are getting a base of knowledge that's consistent with management's expectations. Each new hire will start on day one with the same base of knowledge as the next new hire. But they'll start on the job with much greater knowledge than if they were starting blind with only on-the-job training to support them. The ramp up to full function will be much quicker - and you'll have the ability to start looking for successors for advanced positions. There's an investment of time and money in the development and delivery of a new hire training program, but you'll find that the investment is well worth it.

Bryant Nielson - Managing Director and National Sales Trainer - assists executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for sales organizations.

Bryant's 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering. Subscribe to his monthly ezine - Lengthen Your Stride! (tm) - and learn the legendary secrets of top business achievers at: http://www.BryantNielson.com

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