Working With Inexperienced Employees
Everyone hires what they believe to be qualified employees. We spend hours creating elaborate job descriptions, listing all the qualifications needed to get the job done. We spend hours crafting the best interview questions for the interview process. Then we advertise for candidates from the best apprentice programs, technical schools, junior colleges, colleges, universities, and competitors. We may even pay to have each potential employee tested, so we know as much as we can about the individual, to make the best hiring decision possible.
The organization make a hire. But then what? We may have a new employee orientation program to get them up to speed about the organization. Orientation programs can only go so far. We then put the new person on the job and promptly ignore them and wonder why the person isn’t working out as we hoped.
Extra Supervision
The key to successful new employee integration is extra supervision. Yes, the person you hired is technically qualified, however that person does not understand your business and how you do business. The new employee does not know your employees, your customers, or suppliers. They do not understand your company’s culture. Even though they are highly qualified technically they probably don’t understand the nuances of how you create or sell your product.
Make sure new employees ask questions
How much additional supervision will the new employee require? As with any situation it depends. If the new job is one with minimal complexities checking in every once in awhile the first week may be all it takes. As the complexity of the job increases so will the amount of supervision required. The key will be the employee’s willingness to ask questions. If the employee thinks they know it all and does not ask questions, that is the most dangerous situation. This type of employee can get way off the track if you are not paying attention.
Frequent “meetings”
This does not mean smothering the new person, it just means seeing how everything is going and giving them every chance to ask those critical questions. These can be everything from formal meetings to simple drop ins. The frequency of these meetings will change depending on the overall experience of the employee, in general and in the industry. If this is a brand new person out of a training program or college you must make yourself available constantly.
The bottom line here is to remember not to leave new employees out there hanging. Make sure they have the appropriate supervision, for as long as it takes, to help make them effective contributors to the organization.