WE CONNECTIONS: TRAINING AND ONBOARDING A NEW EMPLOYEE WEC Final Few Issues of the Day was a lot to learn about working in the technology industry. It was 7:00 p.m., and most of the staff had left for the day, She was grateful to have Charlotte's help as she attempted leaving many work spaces dark and quiet. In the HR depart to develop and implement a comprehensive HR strategy for ment, Rebecca and Charlotte, an HR specialist, sat together WEC-one that would add value to the company as it grew. in Rebecca's office, talking quietly as they reviewed a few If she was being honest, Charlotte would have admitted final issues. that when Rebecca was hired, she had been more than a Rebecca had been hired as the company's first HR man little annoyed that she had not been promoted to the HR ager three months before and quickly realized that there manager position herself. However, after working with Chapter 7 Onboarding Training and Development, and Career Planning 245 Rebecca for a few months, she realized that it was for the develop a standard training process so that everybody gets best. Rebecca was better able to manage all of the compet the same training, no matter who happens to be free to train ing demands that came into the department, and she had a that day. And we will have to take the time to make sure it lot of good HR knowledge that she was open to sharing is actually working." Even with the long hours, Charlotte's job had become more Charlotte nodded, and began to make some notes enjoyable, and she felt she was developing professionally at a faster pace than when she had been on her own, trying to Helping Employees Hit the Ground Running figure things out as she went along Rubbing her forchead to relieve the tension she felt there, How Are We Going to Train Her? Rebecca added, "While we're at it, let's talk about the onboarding process. I know what it was like for me when I This night, they had finally decided on their preferred can started at WEC. I signed my offer from Alex, then I didn't didate for the open receptionist position, a woman named hear anything from the company until my start day. When Polly Modi. Charlotte made a note to call her the next day I arrived, I waited in the lobby for maybe half an hour to make the offer. Thinking they were done, she began to before Alex had time to come and get me. He showed me gather up her papers, but Rebecca said, "Wait a minute, around and introduced me to everyone who was at their How are we going to train the new receptionist? How did desk, although I remember losing track of names after you do it the last time? the fifth or sixth person. Then he dropped me off with Charlotte shrugged, and said, "We usually just have you, and you had me sign a bunch of benefit and payroll somebody sit with the hire for part of the first day to show forms. Eventually, I was kind of left alone in this office. I her how the phones work and how to do the administrative remember feeling a little lost. I remember asking you a lot tasks. Anna and Mario DeJulio are the back-up reception- of questions in the weeks that followed. But still, it prob- ists. We would usually just see which of them is available ably took me a month before I began to feel comfortable." that day, and send that person wwer to do it." Alter taking a sip of her lukewarm coffee, she contin- Rebecca frowned as she sat back in her chair, and said, wed, "We need a plan to train new people and get them "I wonder if that's sufficient. I really like all of the peo- onboarded effectively. We need people to connect to us ple who work reception, but I've noticed that there is real right away and we want them to start contributing as soon variability in the service, depending on who is working. as possible. This company is trying to grow, and we have For instance, some people answer the phone after one or to do more to hap new employees hit the ground running. two tings, and others wait for up to four or five. The script Let's figure out that we're going to do." changes depending on who answers the phone some start with their name, others with the company name, or some DISCUSSION QUESTIONS thing else. Sometimes visitors get greeted with enthusiasm, sometimes not. Even the prioritization of the admin tasks 1. Outline an onboarding plan for the new receptionist. seems to differ across employees. I know the last reception- What information would the new hire need to know? ist was not considered that strong before she quit. Maybe Who should be involved? What should the timeline purt of that was because she didn't get a lot of good train be? How would you store and refine the onboarding ing. It might be a good idea to get a little more structured information so it is used in the future? when it comes to training new receptionists." 2. Develop a training plan for the receptionist position "Hmmmm. It would be great to know that everyone is What training techniques would you incorporate, con starting with the same information. The receptionist posi sidering aspects such as cost-effectiveness, content Lion seems to have a fair bit of turnover. It seems the good and learning principles? ones get promoted, and the bad ones find another job some 3. Develop a plan so that Rebecca and Charlotte can where else," Charlotte responded. She added, "What did evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Consider you have in mind how you would measure knowledge, reaction, learn- Rebecca tapped her pen on the table she thought ing, and results about it. After a few moments, she said. "I think that this is an important, front-line position, and we should figure out In the next installment of the WE Connections story (at a way to make sure every person working that front desk the end of Chapter 8), a project manager conducts a perfor has a shared vision of how it should be run. We should mance appraisal