Training – Their Ability to do the Job Relies on YOUR Ability to Teach

11 Mar

Posted by: JobsGuru in: Trainee Jobs

                It’s a definite necessity that all new employees must be trained after being hired in order to do their job efficiently, but are you training your employees correctly? Poor training can result in tons of mistakes that aren’t always easy to clean up. Employees must be trained EFFECTIVELY in order to learn the things they need to do and stick with them.

                Employees who are not trained correctly from the beginning feel unsure of what they are really supposed to be doing and often falter on the job. This isn’t necessarily their fault; they just weren’t taught what they were supposed to do well enough. The first thing you should create is some sort of standard procedure for common tasks that you will be expecting this person to do. These procedures need to be written using terms that are easy to understand and they should also be updated when necessary and kept so that they can be passed on to anyone else who is placed in that position. It’s very helpful for your employees to have something to refer to when they are unsure about what they need to do to complete a task. Also, if the new employee has a procedure that they can flip to when they are confused, then they won’t have to interrupt you to ask questions. Additionally, some people feel dumb when they are confused or they are too shy to ask questions, but they have no problem with flipping through a few pages to remind themselves of a couple of forgotten details.

                Take the three most common methods of learning into consideration as well. These methods are hearing, seeing, and doing. Explain everything that you’re doing to the employee that they need to know and show them while you’re doing it. After you’ve showed them the task a few times, let them give it a try and walk them through it. If you only allow an employee to watch then they will probably forget or feel very uncomfortable when it’s their turn to attempt the task on their own. Be sure to encourage questions and be patient with your new employee. Even though you have (hopefully) provided them with a book of guides and procedures, you should still introduce them to people that will be close by that can provide them with assistance if they need it.

                If you won’t be training your new employee personally, be sure to choose the right person to do most of the training. Most employers or managers choose the employee that they think does the job best to do the training for a new employee, but sometimes the best employee isn’t necessarily the best teacher. Choose someone who does the job well and is able to articulate the responsibilities in detail to your new employee. If you only have one person who knows all the responsibilities of the job, go over the things they need to teach your new trainee and even let them practice a little so you can give them some teaching pointers. You should also be sure that you have the same person train your employee every day to keep things consistent. Even though you may not be the one training the new employee, check in with them periodically to make sure they understand everything and their trainer is doing a good job.

                Training a new employee requires patience and understanding as well as a good plan to begin with. Be prepared to dedicate yourself to training. Invest time in training your new employee and they will learn the job much more quickly and they will also be confident in their ability to do the job. Their