Onboarding and training new employees are pivotal elements for your talent acquisition and development process. Recruiting good employees is a challenging and costly process that makes new employee training crucial to ensure they quickly become fully functional members of your team.

In our last post, we reviewed some ideas to create your own onboarding process. This time, we delve into the differences between employee onboarding and training programs, sharing key elements that will aid in designing an individual new-hire training program.

Onboarding vs Training: Understanding the Distinction

Let's begin by distinguishing the differences between onboarding and training a new hire. Onboarding is about immersing the new hire in your company culture, extending a warm welcome, facilitating meetings with other team members, setting expectations and commitments, and understanding each other's work styles. Essentially, onboarding gives employees the affirmation that they made the right choice in joining your company, fostering an attitude and motivation that will drive them toward success.

Conversely, the aim of  training is to instruct the new hire on how to complete tasks and perform the job effectively. Training programs can run concurrently with your onboarding process and depending on the role and responsibilities, it can be as simple as providing manuals, direct instructions, and on-the-job training. During the first few weeks, you get the opportunity to observe the progress of your employee, learning the procedures you outlined before onboarding, which aids in identifying knowledge and skills gaps that will inform a more tailored new employee training program.

Designing Individual Training Plans: A Five-Step Process

Here are five comprehensive steps to create a tailored individual training plan, an essential part of effective employee training programs:

1. Define What Areas They Need To Develop Start by defining which areas you aim to enhance in your employees' performance. This can include improving productivity, customer service, or organizational skills. Conducting an initial assessment is crucial to identify potential areas for improvement. This is the first step in the training process and is instrumental in designing effective training sessions that cater to the current employees' needs.

2. Identify What Would Be The Impact Of The Training Focus on developing areas that would significantly influence the employee's current and future performance. For example, by improving productivity through sales training, an employee could increase the number of accounts managed daily. This step is an integral part of the corporate training strategy, aiming to increase employee engagement and productivity.

3. Describe The Desired Performance And Compare It With The Employee’s Current Situation Define what the employee should be able to achieve, and identify measurable indicators to recognize when they reach your goal. For instance, if an employee is attending to four accounts each day, and the objective is to manage at least ten to achieve daily goals, we have a clear objective to follow. This sets the stage for the employee development process, and we can propose an estimated time frame to achieve the improvement.

4. Identify What Skills Will Help The Employee Reach The Goal Analyze which skills, knowledge, or abilities will assist the employee in reaching the desired outcome. This can include technical training or softer skills like project and time management. Consider if there are other variables that will affect performance. For example, the employee might be able to handle the expected number of accounts by learning project and time management skills. However, we need to ensure they have other necessary skills to deal with the accounts and that their workspace and attitude align with the goal. This step ensures the training content is tailored to the needs of the existing employee.

5. Write A Plan And Execute It Having defined objectives, indicators, and topics, you can now draft a plan. Set a start date, define resources and materials, and assign responsibilities to execute it. Remember to include online training options for flexibility and ongoing training for continuous development. Don't forget to set follow-up dates to assess your training plan's effectiveness and adjust as necessary. This is a crucial part of the training method, which ensures employee retention and continuous improvement.

By implementing this simple framework, you can design customized individual training plans for your employees. Remember, these plans don't need to be complicated to be effective. Attitude and personality should be considered separately, whereas knowledge, skills, and abilities can be trained. Employee training programs are pivotal to fostering a well-trained, engaged, and retained workforce.

Utilizing Technology for Efficient Employee Training Programs

In our technologically advanced era, the integration of artificial intelligence in the training process is becoming increasingly prevalent. A Learning Management System (LMS) can be a game-changer in designing and implementing effective training programs. An LMS can help identify skill gaps, manage training goals, and track progress, providing a more interactive and engaging training experience for the employees.

Safety training, a crucial aspect of many industries, can also be effectively managed through an LMS. Virtual reality-based safety training can simulate real-life dangerous scenarios, providing a safe environment for the employees to learn and practice their responses.

Moreover, the use of artificial intelligence can help in personalizing the training content, making it more relevant and effective for each employee. This can lead to increased job satisfaction and decreased employee turnover, as employees feel valued and understood.

Aligning Employee Training Programs with Corporate Policies

It's also essential that the training programs align with the company policies. Clear communication of company policies during training helps to ensure that all employees understand what is expected of them and can perform their duties within the guidelines set by the company. This not only helps in maintaining a professional and respectful work environment but also aids in reducing any potential legal issues.

Continuous Learning: The Key to Employee Productivity and Retention

One of the main objectives of any training program should be to address the skill gaps among employees. By identifying these gaps and providing the necessary training, companies can ensure that their employees have the skills and knowledge needed to perform their roles effectively. This not only leads to increased employee productivity but also contributes to the overall success of the company.

Training is an ongoing process. Continuous training and development opportunities show employees that the company is invested in their career growth and development. This can lead to increased job satisfaction, lower employee turnover, and a more engaged and productive workforce.

Remember, the ultimate goal of a training program should be to enhance the skills and knowledge of your employees, ensuring they can perform their roles to the best of their abilities. With the right approach and the use of modern technology, you can create effective and engaging training programs that meet the unique needs of each employee.

It is also a good idea to get the assistance of an experienced partner to deal with training; Shark Helpers can help you to develop and deliver individual training plans for your employees. We can provide local support and help you design training paths to develop the potential of your employees.

Schedule a call to learn more https://calendly.com/sharkhelpers