7 Ways to Help New Employees Hit The Ground Running

When you hire new employees, you want them to learn the job well and adapt to your culture.

But you probably need them to do that quickly.

It’s Not About Hand-Holding

If you could walk everyone through their jobs for the full 40 hours (or more) a week, then maybe they’d go from rookie to veteran in a month. But that kind of hand-holding does more harm than good. New employees would come to depend too much on you or others, and would end up learning the job even more slowly.

And if you take too much of a hands-off approach, where new employees train and learn at their own pace, you might wait too long to gain a return on your hiring investment.

Fortunately, there are some ways you can make their job transition smoother, both for them and for you.

Here are seven strategies to make it happen:

1. Get More Info to Them Early

HR likely already sends new hires all the necessary signing-on information — such as health plan options, payroll details and tax documents.

From there, you’ll want to make sure they have access to any finance-specific information new hires will need to get the job done. If they can’t have access to it before they walk in the door, make sure it’s in their hands on Day One, along with all the physical equipment they’ll need.

The intent is that you’ll spend less time reviewing the basics when the new employee actually starts.

2. Make Shadowing a Full-Time Job (at First)

Shadowing usually really spurs on-the-job learning. This isn’t mentoring. You want to pair new hires up with someone who’s great at doing their job and has a feel for teaching someone else to do it.

Keep your antenna up for those employees who have a way of explaining things and making the complicated simple. Then, assuming they’re willing, attach your new employee to them for a few weeks.

From there, you’ll want to have your veteran employee get the new hire doing parts of the job after a few observations. Watching someone do a task, then trying it soon after, takes the pressure off and can feed a new hire’s eagerness to show their worth.

3. Throw Them in the Pool (Figuratively)

Even if it’s their first week, new hires can accompany you or other employees to meetings, planning discussions and other activities that are indirectly or directly related to their job.

They don’t need to do anything but listen. It’ll give them a bird’s-eye perspective on how you and your company run things.

This gets their feet wet and speeds up the process of learning how their position and department fit into the company’s mission.

4. Show, Don’t Tell

Your new hires are out of school; they don’t need more lectures. Make sure whatever you or another employee teaches is explained in concrete examples of how to do the job.

Most people pick up things quicker when they’re shown, rather than told, what to do. People are more likely to remember actions over too many words.

5. Hover (Just a Little Bit)

Giving a new hire a bunch of directives, then retreating to your office, shows you have confidence in their ability to follow directions and get things done.

But that doesn’t take into account a new hire’s confidence, which probably isn’t too high after only a few days or weeks on the job.

Leaving them to fend entirely for themselves can be scary and can backfire when it comes to training them to do their jobs correctly and faster.

It’s OK to look over their shoulders for a bit. They can tackle an assignment knowing there is some room to screw up. As long as they know you’ll be there to show them how to fix it before it’s completely messed up, they’ll gain skills and confidence.

6. Drill Down

What you teach your new hires won’t have a lasting impact unless you explain or demonstrate the reasoning behind the job.

For example, telling a new employee to meticulously keep track of a specified inventory takes on more importance if you explain why it’s a necessary part of their job, such as to ensure that future budget projections aren’t overestimated.

If you don’t explain each aspect of a new hire’s job and the job’s value, your new employees may feel it’s just drudge work that has to get done.

New employees will be less likely to give you and the task their undivided attention if you don’t prove the importance of it being done right the first time.

7. Stick to 1 Thing at a Time

When we become busy in Finance, we sometimes can’t resist rushing things along, even when new employees are going at a slower but steady pace.

Piling on more work, adding deadlines and hurrying assignments will only frustrate new hires. It surely won’t make them move any faster. If anything, it could do the opposite: paralyze them.

Instead, distribute new tasks to your rookies in a manageable pace, only adding more to their plate after they have completed others — and after checking with them to see if they’re ready to handle more.

Doing this will build their confidence and help them adjust more easily.