Look, we all know how this goes, right?  You’re falling behind on projects and need some additional help so you put on some new hires and you need these new workers to finish them now.

That’s not good onboarding, I’m afraid.

You’ve got to be realistic about new hires and their ability to learn a new job. It doesn’t matter how experienced a worker may be, a new job requires some new skills, new software and new expectations and this takes time.

According to TalentWise, it takes a full eight months for a new employee to fully grasp and master a new job and 49% of millennials said they would like a more intensive onboarding process.

Now, I’m not saying you should implement an eight-month onboarding process, but your training program has got to be better than throwing everything under the sun at a new hire on day one.

Good onboarding is laying the groundwork for success because the new hire knows exactly where they’re beginning and where they’re going during all of the onboarding stages.  They will be better prepared to successfully complete projects in the future if they’re given the proper onboarding from the start. This is how people get started with a forex practice account.

There are some steps you can take in order to develop the right onboarding process that works for you and your new hires.

Slow it down

There is plenty of research supporting that a one-week onboarding isn’t really effective.  All you’re really doing is rushing an employee through probably inadequate training which is only going to confuse them more.

You’re not really saving any time by rushing training or piling on a heavy workload right away.

It doesn’t matter if you are overwhelmed with projects you can’t keep up with and you can’t throw them all at the new employee on the first day.  This doesn’t do you any good or the employee, as all it’s going to do is further the frustration of the new hire that is already a little overwhelmed just by the new job.

Slow down and don’t place tough expectations on the new employee.

When you pile on too much work on the new employee it just creates more stress which is only slow down their productivity, even more, so don’t rush it.

Have a plan

Any onboarding procedure is worthless if you haven’t got a plan for it in the first place.

If you take the time to develop a proper and thorough training program right away, you’re only saving yourself time and headaches later. A completely trained worker is a lot less likely to be pestering someone later on with simple questions and easy problems. 

Develop an onboarding process that’s realistic and that you stick to with new hires.  Prioritize your projects and tailor your onboarding steps according to that and the new employee’s ability on the first days.

Think about the step by step process of your projects and adapt your onboarding procedure accordingly.

For example, if this is software intensive work you’re performing, then emphasize learning and mastering that software before the employee moves on to the next stage.

You also want to consider the equipment an employee may be using and take the time to walk them completely through the steps it takes in order to operate them. You’ll also want to properly inform them of any equipment quirks and common problems that arise and how to handle them.

Set a timeline

A good onboarding process is broken down into a designated timeline.

You can use a 30 day, 60 days or a 90-day program in order to schedule and plan the training program for new hires.

Develop a timeline that works for your business and for the new employee.  Obviously, there is no one size fits all in training procedures.  Each onboarding program is unique to the business and the requirements of the job.

Break the timeline down to include a specific training order depending on the work that you do.  The sequence should include office procedure, software training, equipment function and any other pertinent factor of the job.

A timeline for complete training also forces you to develop an efficient and effective training program by setting time limits on each training stage.