Some new hires don’t learn as quickly as we would like. So how can you speed up the learning curve with new employees?
Consider the following if you find yourself frustrated with a slow training process.
Determine Skills Gaps
Skills gaps of new employees are one of the most common areas employers struggle with. If you have an employee with an unforeseen skills gap, this may be due to:
- Employers making too many assumptions or not doing due diligence.
- Employees embellishing what they are actually capable of.
- There may be a miscommunication about what the job or skill actually requires.
- The role is new – new positions come with new skills gaps both for the employer and the employee.
Address these issues, and you will set yourself up for less work and quicker training.
Invest In Training
Investing in good training sets your employees up for success and quicker learning.
Having a program or method to train new hires makes it easier to track progress and put the focus where it is most needed.
Allow extra training time in case any issues come up that you might not have anticipated.
Give Real Examples & Let Them Shadow Their Colleagues
This tip goes hand in hand with setting expectations with new employees. Give lots of examples of past work quality and approximately how long it might take.
When employees have a target to aim at, they work harder and faster to achieve it.
Some learn best through first-hand interations. So allowing new employees to shadow more seasoned staff will also be a great help!
Get Ahead Of The Issue
Get more indicators about what your employee is capable – the earlier the better.
Don’t wait for employees to start struggling before you pay attention. Many employers don’t pay attention to proper training until an employee makes a big mistake.
Save lots of time and money but protecting yourself from any issues that may come up by getting ahead of them.
Use past examples of mishaps and create a projection of possible issues.
Give It Time
Though this post is about speeding up the learning process, it’s important to have patience and realistic expectations.
The average employee is likely to take 3-6 months to settle into a new role. Allow for the natural growing pains that come along with any new position.
Employee common sense is a myth. While it would be great to be able to hire employees who just “get it”, this is often an unrealistic expectation.
But, when expectations, deadlines, and protocol are set up, employees might “get it” sooner than you expect!
If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send us an email, and my team will get in touch with you!
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