Training new employees should never be the rudimentary process consisting of a used manual, a few words of encouragement and a “here ya go” send off. Whether your business has 10 employees or is a 1,000+ strong, the training methods should be oriented in a way that excites and enlightens, while being streamlined all the same.
Skills should be seasoned; regardless of how well-qualified a candidate is from the onset. And there are many ways to make the introductory training programs adaptable and accessible for each and every employee.
Here are a few tips towards achieving not just a well-trained employee, but gaining better perspective on your company’s productivity for the long run.
Rule # 1: Have Them Walk Through the Office
Before any training begins, a company should have a structured walkthrough of the entire office, introducing new employees to their new workspace, showing them their way around and introducing them to the rest of the staff before any training protocol is put in place. A welcoming environment goes a long way in putting new hires at ease and getting them excited to work at the new workplace.
Rule # 2: Make Training Videos That Are Easily Digestible
Hitting each and every note with video recordings is important, but making each more wholesome and easily accessible is just as crucial. Here’s a breakdown of that:
- Make Concise Videos: If you’re focusing your entire training protocol around a set of videos, you want to cover all the bases of your operation, from workplace compliance to specific how-to’s on software or other applications the employee will be relying upon. At the same time, you don’t want run-of-the mill, long-winded videos that’ll hit the snooze button on your employees. Put a modern spin on your videos by making them short, catchy, and quick watches that you can upload to YouTube to rewatch later if they need to review a portion of the segment again.
- Incorporate Familiar Faces: While this may sound dumb at first, having familiar managers or trainers in the actual videos will put a face to the message much more so than some grainy, overused video that has some monotone actor mumbling about safety at the office. Not to say the employees won’t listen (because they should regardless), it’s just that better content promotes better attention spans.
- Create Mobile Platforms: Now that you’ve begun the beginning stages of creating training videos on each topic, you should consider throwing mobile applications of the same ilk in the mix. Because by having shorter snippets of training applications at the touch of a smartphone or tablet, your employees, whether their full-time travelers or cubicle aficionados, will be able to review each session for whatever reason.
Rule # 3: Access At All Times
Issuing gigantic binders with 200+ pages worth of content isn’t as effective as having a server specific to training videos for every employee to gain access to whenever they need a refresher. The business should be about having as perfect a structure in place as possible, and aside from having the right HR staff, managers and departments in place, the software and the hardware it’s run on should be just as streamlined and ready to view at the drop of a hat.
Productivity is the name of the game with training. Employees should feel encouraged at the office and sometimes the best motivation is training that’s both proper and continuous. Along with a warm, inviting environment from which to work, adapting your employees to each and every toolset out there can prepare your business for success.
Author Bio: Kyle O’Brien is an avid writer covering a vast amount of topics relative to the business world from productivity tips to learning the market and has consulted for ej4, a company that produces custom e-learning videos aimed at performance improvement for the office and beyond.
