In the first article in this 8-part series, I shared seven aspects of bringing a new team member up to speed. To recap, high-tech turnover rates remain stubbornly high. Organizations look for creative ways to reduce turnover, but a widespread solution is still needed.
In the second article, we talked about technical skills. Let’s talk about new tools! When a new team member joins, they can be overwhelmed by the number of different systems to learn. Maybe you use Jira or Teams. Your wiki could be Confluence or SharePoint. There may be a time-keeping system in the mix.
New employees may be familiar with some of the systems you use. I recommend that you create a checklist of the tools they will need to operate and survey their existing knowledge when they start.
Even if they have used a particular tool before joining, there may still be some unique aspects to how you use it in your organization. Consider what level of training may be needed based on the survey results.
The organization may have formal training for some systems. That’s great, but make sure someone is coordinating training to ensure the new employee isn’t overwhelmed. Some tools may be more critical to the fresh team member’s role. If the instruction doesn’t come soon, they must fumble with the software before getting educated.
Training could be packaged, interactive, or on the job. Choose whatever works best. As always, get feedback from newly minted employees to validate your process. Inspect and adapt!
I started with technical skills because they are critical to becoming productive. Tools can run a close second. We will explore the remaining five components of onboarding in priority order. Next up, communication strategies and tactics.
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