Why Does it Take so Long to Train and Onboard Staff?

8th May 2024

by Craig Willis

You’ve hired your candidate and now it’s time to integrate them into your team. Onboarding is key to a successful hire and yet so many businesses express frustration with the process. If it’s taking too long to train and onboard your staff, then something needs to change.

Getting it right shouldn’t be complicated and there are a number of ways where you can make some quick improvements which we will get into below.

Develop a structured onboarding programme

Make sure to map out the onboarding process, this will help you find duplicated steps and bottlenecks. By making your process streamlined, you eliminate unnecessary activities and make improvements.

Most importantly, it means that everyone clearly understands what they need to do and when. Whether that is getting everything ready for the new hire or being available to support them in the early days, there are often a lot of different people from different teams interacting to make onboarding a success. Make sure you review and update the process on a regular basis to make sure it stays relevant.

Create job descriptions that tie in with roles and responsibilities

Create a checklist that is aligned to the roles and responsibilities of each new employee. What do they need to know about and how will they receive the information?

By having a list, you can quickly check what information and training you need to pull together. We suggest you create this digitally so that you only need to enter the data once and it’s easy to reuse. Consider using a digital platform to help you.

Make sure everyone knows where to find it

It’s really important that all your hard work doesn’t go to waste. You must actively encourage people to keep updating the information and using it. Plus, you wouldn’t want people missing out parts of the training and onboarding process because they can’t find the instructions they need. However, that means that you need to make it as easy as possible for them to find and understand.

Make sure that you use a platform that stores data centrally and everyone can find it quickly. Then make sure it’s written in a way that is simple to understand. Choose a visually pleasing and informative method that fosters collaboration. We recommend using UPN as a way to get started.

Remember, continuous improvement is key. Regularly collect feedback from new hires, managers, and mentors to identify areas for enhancement. By applying process improvement principles, you’ll create a more efficient and effective onboarding experience for everyone involved!