How Well Do You Train?

How well do you train your new employees? Do you have a formal training program? Do you have specific training for each position within the company? During a recent interview, the interviewee asked if we offer training. We explained that we did and discussed the formal training our candidates receive. He was quite impressed as the last company he had worked for gave him no training at all and told him to ‘pick up what he needed to know’ on his own by asking people. This is never a good situation, and a recipe for failure.

If you want employees who are eager to do their job and do it right, they need to know exactly what is expected of them and shown how to do it the right way. An employee cannot be corrected for doing something the wrong way, if they were never shown how to do it the right way. New employees appreciate the time, effort and energy invested in them to give them training. It tells them right up front that the company values them as an employee and is willing to invest in giving them the training tools they need to succeed.

If your company doesn’t have a formal training program, put one together. Even a short one-day training course is better than nothing. You will find that there is a direct correlation between the amount of training you give and the speed and success achieved by the newly trained employee.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.