Onboarding an employee isn’t just about filling a job slot. You want to make sure that the new hire has a good understanding of what is expected of them and knows the right direction to head as quickly as possible in order to be as productive as possible and start adding value quickly.
That’s where training rotations come in.
A well structured employee training program that incorporates job rotations can help to significantly reduce the period of time it takes for employees to become effective. Not only will job rotations help new employees gain confidence and experience quickly, but they’ll also help them become closer to the business than they would have otherwise had they just been put through static onboarding sessions of slides. Rather than receiving information about how to do a job through static lecture-based training sessions, new employees are able to go through real hands-on training while simultaneously observing and getting involved in other areas of the business.
Let’s break down how to make that work.
Why Training Rotations Work
Onboarding programs often consist of dry slides, manuals, or a list of company policies. This kind of information is important, but it’s not enough to make it stick
Training rotations shift the focus to experience.
As new employees work in different roles and departments across the company, they’re able to make the connection between the different parts of the organization. Learning your job is not just memorizing all of the procedures, but gaining an understanding of how your role contributes to the overall organization – giving new employees a sense of confidence and ability sooner.
It also reduces early uncertainty. It brings real world exposure, feedback and repetition to the learning process.
Start With a Clear Structure
First make a plan.
A strong new hire onboarding strategy outlines:
What each rotation covers
How long each phase lasts
What success looks like in each step
It doesn’t have to be a hard and fast rule, but there does need to be structure and goals.
The process should move from observation, to guided participation, and then to independence as skill and confidence develop.
Mix Shadowing With Real Work
Shadowing is the first step and it really needs to be done well.
As new hires observe experienced team members manage real-world scenarios they develop necessary skills. New employees gain valuable insight into how conversations and decisions are made and how to solve problems in real time.
But shadowing alone isn’t enough.
At some point they’ll need to put it into practice.
Observation is important, but as they begin to understand their new role it’s vital that you also give them small, manageable chunks of work to do. Breaking some of these tasks down into very simple steps and then having them carry out the straightforward elements while an experienced team member is on hand to step in should anything go wrong or is incomplete.
This combination is powerful. Shadowing helps kids and adults alike gain a deeper understanding of the work. Hands-on experience helps make them more confident.
Use Cross-Training to Build Versatility
Cross-training is one of the most overlooked tools in employee development.
Having new hires rotate through different roles or departments within your company provides a valuable tool. Perspective. As an example, a sales rep that sees how training actually functions on a day-to-day basis, will be able to better tell potential members exactly what to expect, reducing lost sales and overall customer frustration.
By having employees undergo a cross-functional training experience, not only do they gain new skills, but they become more confident as employees.
Cross-training has another benefit: It builds corporate flexibility. It won’t work with every role, but if employees can handle a host of functions it could prove valuable when an employee calls in sick or leaves. Additionally, cross-training makes for easier teamwork. Employees can call on colleagues for help as needed, or be assigned to assist others with different tasks.
Keep the Feedback Loop Tight
Confidence grows when people know how they’re doing.
Feedback during training rotations should be frequent and detailed. It shouldn’t wait until the end of a long phase.
Keep it simple:
What went well
What could be improved
What to focus on next
This helps to get new hires up to speed more quickly, as well as acknowledge and reinforce positive progress.
Feedback like “You handled that conversation really well” has the power to keep momentum going.
Create Safe Space to Practice
Sometimes new hires fail to take on responsibilities because they are afraid of making a mistake. They need to learn that mistakes are inevitable and they’ll learn far more from them than from successes, although if the observation, shadowing and other aspects have been done well, mistakes should be minimal.
You can also incorporate these steps into your onboarding training.
Using role-play scenarios
Allowing redo opportunities
Pairing new hires with supportive mentors
When people feel safe to try, they engage more. And when they engage more, they learn faster.
Tie Each Rotation Back to the Role
Rotations are most effective when they feel relevant.
New hires need to see how the experiences they will have as employees relate to their day of training; if they don’t, it will seem irrelevant and pointless.
At each stage, explain the “why.”
Why are they shadowing this team?
Why does this process matter?
What steps will this take to help the employee perform their role more effectively?
These small explanations make the cycling through meaningful, enhancing the onboarding process into.
Balance Speed With Depth
Onboarding new employees can be a challenging and sometimes competitive process, with some managers tempted to hurry their employees through the onboarding process in order to get them up and running more quickly.
But rotations that are too fast can never hope to allow new team members to absorb and understand all of the information being conveyed to them. On the flip side, slow rotations that plod along tend to have a problem of a lack of momentum.
The goal is balance.
Take the time to properly explain, but also do not drag out topics that are starting to be understood. Keep the lesson or training informative and fun while correlating to a new hire’s level of understanding. Some may need an extra repetition of a particular task or process while others may progress at a faster rate.
Plan open-ended, flexible sessions. Fixed deadlines won’t help.
Measure What Matters
Your training rotations should be evaluated to see their impact.
Look at metrics like:
Time to productivity
New hire retention rates
Employee engagement scores
Early performance benchmarks
In addition to gathering indirect feedback, you can also gather direct feedback from new hires. Ask them what made them feel confident and what made them uncertain during the onboarding process.
Over time, these insights can be used to continue to shape the onboarding and training program to best support new employees. A successful new employee training program is one that continually improves and evolves based on real-world experiences and data, rather than empty promises.
Build Confidence That Lasts
The End Goal of Onboarding: Is it a one week program? A 30 Day Program? The goal of any onboarding program isn’t just to get someone through their first few weeks. It’s to set them up for long-term success.
Training rotations build the foundation for everything else to succeed on. Not only are new hires learning to do a task, but they’re also gaining understanding, building relationships and learning to trust themselves with new things.
This is how you build a stronger team.
