New employee training can be viewed as an extension of the recruiting process. The type of training received and how employees are treated can have an impact on a person’s willingness to stay.
Employee training has a direct connection to how long people stay with your company. Companies with an effective onboarding process are more likely to retain top talent. Research from TinyPulse found:
- 91% of employees stick around for at least a year when organizations have an efficient onboarding process
- 69% of them stick around for at least three years when companies have well-structured onboarding programs
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5 Ways to Make Your New Employee Training More Effective
As Toronto recruiters, we know how much new employee training can affect their ability to ramp up and do the job successfully. It can also be a predictor in how long employees choose to stay with the company. Here are some key ideas to make your new employee training more effective:
Establish a Defined Training Program
What does your new employee training program look like? Many companies don’t have a specific process in place. That is where many go wrong. If you want all your employees to have the same level of training, you need a formal process. While the type of training received will vary based on the role, there are specific steps all employees should complete as part of the training.
Create an employee training checklist not only for employees but also for trainers and managers to follow. This will ensure everyone is on the same page and no steps are missed.
Make It Specific to the Role and Employee
Effective training needs to be specific, not only to the role, but also the employee. There will always be some level of general training employees will need to receive, such as codes of conduct and HR processes. But make all other training as specific as possible. Make it relatable to specific job functions. Train employees on how to do their job and understand how what they do impacts the organization as a whole.
Offer Training When It’s Needed
One of the most common things you see with employee training today is that it’s all up front. Employees spend the first few days or weeks of training. They learn about company policies, processes, strategies and everything else. The problem with this strategy is you risk overwhelming them with too much at once.
There is no rule that says you have to do all new employee training all at once, especially on things they will not work on right away. For example, you may want to hold off on training someone on a type of software they won’t use for three months. All the training you provide now will need to be reviewed again when the time comes to use the software. So, train as needed to make it less overwhelming for employees. This will make it easier for employees to retain more.
Make It Fun
Training isn’t exactly the most exciting thing, but there is a lot you can do to make it more enjoyable. Make it social and get people involved in the process. No one wants to sit in a room for hours and listen to someone talk about rules and regulations. Break up the training, do it over lunch and order in. Think of other ways to make training more engaging. Remember, you are making a big first impression on new employees.
Mix It Up
There are many ways you can approach training. You can do it in person, have hands-on tutorials, online modules, and more. Choose the right training method for each component. For example, reviewing company policy and procedures can easily be done online, whereas specific in-role training is more effective as a tutorial. Mix up the ways to train your employees to keep it fresh and engaging.
When was the last time you reviewed your training process? Time for an overhaul? Try the above ideas to more effectively trained new employees.
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