If you’ve ever hired a new employee, we’re sure you’ve experienced that rollercoaster surge of excitement as you find the perfect person to fill the position, followed by the realities of training that person for the job.
You know – all those steps between their first day and them being fully trained to succeed and crush it in their new role.
Onboarding and training a new remote employee is hard because it takes patience and the ability to trust the process recognizing that good things take time. Often, we’re tempted to rush the onboarding process to cut to the chase and let us tell you: Resist this urge.
It is a huge mistake.
So today, we sat down with none other than our CEO extraordinaire, Tricia Sciortino, to talk about a few simple steps that you can implement today to take your training process to the next level so you can build a team that is ready to own their roles – and thrive!
What’s the first thing leaders need to understand about onboarding?
“Training and onboarding new remote members – whether they're a W2 or 1099 – is so critical to their success.
“Whether they're an A-player or not, they need direction, time, attention, and lots and lots of feedback to be successful.”
So how does BELAY do it?
“We create a very thorough remote onboarding training plan that starts long before the employees.
“First day, we spend time thinking through the things they need to learn and who specifically is going to train or teach them that specific skill or task. And, again, we schedule all of that before they even arrive.
“That's right. It's scheduled. So we create a training template document that maps out each topic, the trainer and the means by which it's trained.”
How would that differ from a brick-and-mortar onboarding and training process?
“For us, it's a lot of virtual training. It's a lot of scheduled video conference training – whether it's an hour-long training session, 30 minutes or a half a day in person together – and is all methodically thought through and planned.
“Then, to marry the training plan and its execution, we then walk alongside our team members and give feedback in real-time.
“So when they're doing their first few tasks, ask yourself: How did they do? Did they do an amazing job? Did they miss something? Are you encouraging them to continue to press on? Are you giving them feedback in real-time?
“Think about this way: If you knew that you had missed something, you would want somebody to tell you, so the next time you do it, you got it perfectly, right? Extend them the same courtesy and opportunity to improve and grow.”
What’s one non-negotiable thing you would encourage incorporating into a remote onboarding and training process?
“We encourage lots of open conversations to readjust and recalibrate any time somebody is given a new task.
“So while our training programs start anywhere from two weeks to 30 days, it really takes 90 days to onboard a new remote team member.
“I encourage developing a training template, investing the time upfront, giving lots of open, honest feedback. Calibrate often with your team member and you will be highly successful. And at the end of the day, you will have taken those things that you wanted this team member to own off of somebody else's plate – some which might be yours.
“And that’s one less thing you need to own and do because you have set that person and that task up for amazing success.”
Ready to set your new remote hire up for success? Ready to commit to a robust training and onboarding process? We got you. Just check out this free resource with six tips on how you can successfully onboard a remote employee!