Onboarding: Training from “Yes to Desk”

You’ve just hired a new employee. While excited at theopportunity, a new employee is naturally a little anxious about stepping into abrand new work environment.

“Oh no… what have I gotten myself into?”

Once they’ve signed that dotted line, what are you doing toprepare them for the job?

Maybe you won’t do anything, waiting to train them until theirfirst day on the job. It’s a stressful trial by fire and it’ll take significanttime (yours, theirs, and your team’s) to bring them up to speed.

You might put them through an hours-long orientation meeting,bombarding them with so much information they can’t possibly take it all in.

Perhaps you’ll have them sit through a training video—but basedon the energetic synthesizer music in the intro and the narrator’s mullet, it’ssafe to say this resource hasn’t been updated in a while, and unless the viewertakes notes, they’re bound to forget a thing or two.

Or maybe you’ll hand them a fat, dusty manual written years agothat outlines all of the key procedures and information they might need.

“Welcome to the company!”—THUD.

They’ll frantically flip through it, trying desperately to digestthe ocean of information in time to start. It feels like homework and adds morestress to the equation than it takes away.

None of that is very effective.

So when the new employee arrives for their first day on the job,they find that things aren’t quite what they expected: They don’t know the codefor the parking garage, can’t figure out where to find the files they need, andcan’t recall who they ought to ask about grabbing some office supplies. Theydon’t want to look stupid—so they try to avoid asking too many questions orbothering your other staff. Their development slows to a crawl, their stress ishigh, and their productivity takes weeks to ramp up.

That all might sound a bit blown out of proportion—but if you’rehonest, a lot of it is all too familiar.

“Yes to Desk”—abetter way to onboard

The time between the moment you get a “Yes” from a new hire andthe day they get to their desk is an enormous opportunity to offer trainingbefore they’ve even set foot on the jobsite.

It’s a simple idea—but most organizations are only just nowrealizing the benefits of doing so. Benefits like:

1. Reducingthe stress of change. New hires are scared to come across asincompetent, and accepting a new position is always a bit nerve-wracking.Inductive training will smooth the transition and help them feel like a part ofthe company before they’ve set foot in your doors. You’llalso be handing them a resource they can refer to for fast answers to commonquestions, building their confidence and helping them feel secure in theirdecision.
2. Immersingthem in the company culture. Cultural fit is a huge risk whenever you’re bringing in a new hire. Why not go beyondprocedural training and put your company culture on display? Imagine, forexample, sharing a list of tips from staff or uploading videos of past team-buildingevents. You can get really creative with how you let a new hire know what youand your staff are all about.
3. Managingtheir expectations. “How much work will I need to do? What will I beresponsible for? What are the processes I need to know about?” Your employees entertheir roles full of expectations, even if they’reunspoken. Set the boundaries and clue them in from the very beginning, givingthem a clear idea of what they can expect.
4. Humanizingyour organization. Instead of an outdated training video from the ’80s,imagine being able to show a new hire they’re appreciated with a “Welcomeaboard!” videofrom the CEO or notes from their new coworkers? The polished, dated trainingformats of the past are losing ground, being replaced by impromptu DIY trainingwhere everyone can contribute and people are addressed on a personal level.
5. Supportingtheir learning. Instead of a stale instruction manual, you canoffer your new team members interactive training, including video demos andscreen captures taken by others in the department, bite-sized advice onspecific topics, and insights from the most experienced in the role. This kindof relevant, pre-desk training will empower your employee to become productivemuch more quickly.

Training through the “Yes to Desk” period is the secret to havinga new hire who’s ready to hit the ground running—but doing it right meanscreating training resources that are:

• Current: You’ve got to have a platform that makes it easy tokeep things up to date and make changes as you go to avoid sharing outdatedinformation.
• Accessible: Trying to absorb thecontents of an enormous manual or sitting through hours of trainingpresentations aren’t effective ways to learn. The new hire needstraining they can easily take with them on the go and access from anywhere.
• Comprehensive:As a new hire, you want to learn everything—from parking codesand where to get coffee to company culture and the filing system. Better yet,this info should be organized in a way that makes it easy to reference and to findanswers to specific questions on the fly.
• Personalized: To make a new hirefeel welcome, your training can’t be generic and bland. It helps when they feellike you’re speaking directly to them.

“Yes to Desk” doesn’t need to be daunting

“That all sounds great in theory,” you might think. “But how dowe actually make it work?”

The idea might take a bit of getting used to, but the future ofemployee training is far removed from enormous manuals, outdated videos, andboring classroom sessions. Access-from-anywhere apps like Looop put the powerto create and receive training anywhere there’s a screen (your phone included)—throwingopen the doors for fast, easy, and effective training-content creation.

But no matter how you go about it, don’t miss out onthat critical “Yes to Desk” period! Your future hires will thank you.