Structuring a Training Program for New Joiners
Get your new joiners up to speed quickly with this practical guide for (new) leaders. The better you do this, the sooner you can expect your new joiner to integrate in the team and produce results.
This is Lukas, and you’re reading a new edition of my newsletter, focused on providing practical tips for (new) managers on how to manage, grow, and nurture their teams.
My goal is to share the insights I wish someone had given me when I first had to manage a team.
Today, we’ll focus on building a structured onboarding program for your new joiners. I’ve learned that how quickly your new joiners add value to the business is fully within your control. A good onboarding program can 10x the speed and engagement of your new team members.
Here’s what works for me, including a few very tactical tips.
It might seem like an unnecessary complication to structure a training program, especially if you're hiring for a role that seems simple. However, it's crucial to remember that what seems simple to you might not be the same for the person you're hiring. Transitioning into a new job can be challenging, and a well-structured training program can make this process smoother and more efficient.
Why Structuring Training is Important
When you structure a training program, you carefully consider the right sequence of things your new hire needs to learn. This approach allows you to tackle each aspect one by one, ensuring a smoother learning curve. Let me illustrate this with a personal anecdote.
A few years ago, I reluctantly tried golf, persuaded by friends to enjoy some outdoor time in Dubai. My first lesson with a coach was a disaster. He bombarded me with numerous instructions all at once: how to grip the club, position my feet, bend my knees, relax my arms, and many more. Overwhelmed, I couldn’t grasp any of it. It was frustrating and demotivating.
I nearly gave up on golf until I tried another coach. Her approach was different. She let me attempt a few swings and then focused on one aspect at a time. For that session, the sole goal was to consistently hit the ball, regardless of how far it went. This focus helped me improve significantly, and I ended up committing to a three-month training program with her.
This experience taught me a valuable lesson: trying to teach multiple things at once can overwhelm the learner. Instead, breaking down the learning process into manageable chunks can lead to more effective and engaging training.
Building a Structured Training Program
When structuring a training program, I prefer to work backwards. I start by defining what I want the new joiner to know or be able to do in 30, 60, and 90 days. Then, I break this down into weekly or bi-weekly sprints with clear outcomes and actions. The intensity might be higher initially and gradually decrease, but the weekly cadence ensures clarity on progress and alignment with goals.
Starting with a 30/60/90 Framework
This framework helps set expectations and provides a high-level structure for the new team member’s first three months. Here are the elements I often include:
Objective: What should the person be able to do after X days?
Key Milestones
Tools to Learn
Processes to Understand
Can do autonomously: What they should be able to do on their own.
Ownership: Areas they will be accountable for.
Key Meets: Who they need to meet, especially for cross-team roles.
Success Metrics: Clear measures to evaluate progress.
I like to share the 30/60/90 plan with the new joiner before their first day, if possible. This gives them time to familiarize themselves with it. Once they join, we discuss it together to ensure alignment. Regular check-ins during each period (first, second, and third month) are crucial to ensure we’re on track.
Would it be helpful to get a sample of this 30/60/90 plan? Leave a comment below.
Weekly Sprints and Achievements
Weekly sprints help break down the learning process further. It usually doesn’t matter if you do weekly or bi-weekly sprints but I wouldn’t go further than that. I typically prefer to start with a weekly cadence and then maybe during the second month slow down to bi-weekly. I learned that spending more time in the beginning and having faster feedback loops and check-ins helps in the long run and can be a key factor in the speed and quality of your onboarding.
Here’s a sample structure:
Week 1:
Monday:
First meeting for alignment, sync and first training
Setting up the context and going through the 30/60/90 and onboarding plan
We start from high-level: what’s our mission, why are we here
Culture and values - what does it mean with practical examples
Quick homework or exercise (e.g. review products on our website and suggest what we should change/add)
Tuesday:
Morning alignment, review the homework
First technical training
Async block - time for reading at their own pace
Evening - reflection on their learning of the day and their reading
Quick homework or exercise (e.g. try to make an order on our website, write down all the steps and evaluate how easy they are for customers)
Wednesday
Morning alignment, review the homework
Technical training - observing others (e.g. making phone calls) and reflecting
Async block - time for reading/learning at their own pace
Evening - reflection on their learning of the day and their reading
Quick homework or exercise (e.g. prepare emails you’d send to a customer for a scenario X)
Thursday
Morning alignment, review the homework
Technical training - work together - e.g. process customer’s booking - new joiner will process the booking while I’m looking over their shoulder
Async block - time for reading/learning at their own pace
Evening - reflection on their learning of the day and celebration of the first booking they handled on their own
Friday
Morning alignment
Technical training - discussing other booking scenarios from the week, reviewing how they could be solved
Async block - time for reading/learning at their own pace
Evening - reflection on their week - did we achieve the objectives we wanted? Little pub quiz validating their learning
Try to design every week in a way that the new hires can achieve small, consistent wins. Starting a new job is hard and the last thing you want is your new joiner coming home every evening feeling like they’re failing at everything. You want them to get small wins from the start. You want them to come home exhausted but pumped by what they achieved that day. Get them used to the dopamine shot from accomplishing something and they will want it more.
Here's how you can implement it:
Set Daily Learning Goals: Discuss what you want them to learn each day and review it in the evening. Celebrate their achievements to keep them motivated.
Example: "Amazing, Jane! You quickly grasped the differences between e-vouchers and physical vouchers today. That’s a big win because now you can explain it to our customers. Congratulations!"
Weekly Milestones: Set specific goals for each week and celebrate when they are achieved.
Example: If the new joiner processes a client’s booking by the end of the week, celebrate this accomplishment with a high-five or a small team gathering.
Validating Learning
Validation is essential to ensure the new hire truly understands what they’ve learned. I learned the hard way that you should never skip it. Here are some methods to validate learning:
Quizzes
Quizzes are a straightforward and effective method. Tools like Kahoot or Mentimeter can make quizzes fun and engaging, even when onboarding just one person.
Feedback Exercises
Asking new hires to suggest improvements on processes can be very revealing. It encourages them to think critically about what they’ve learned and provides insights into their understanding and thought processes.
Examples:
Go to process X and suggest improvements
Go through a checkout on our website and think what could prevent customers from completing it
Review our customer support inbox and find 5 conversations that could have been handled better
Listen to 5 sales team calls from this week and note down where they didn’t follow the SOP / didn’t listen well to customer / etc.
Explain Back Technique
This involves having the new hire explain what they’ve learned back to you, as if they were the trainer. This technique not only reinforces their learning but also helps you assess their understanding.
Example: "Imagine I’m the new joiner. Train me on our sales SOP in five minutes."
You will hear the language they use, the sequence of steps they describe, what they consider important and what is lesser priority for them. If you can bring another person to join this exercise as a “student”, it will make the experience much better and more engaging.
Don’t overthink it - but do it well
Structuring a training program for new managers is essential to ensure they understand their roles and responsibilities thoroughly and gradually. By using frameworks like the 30/60/90 plan, setting clear goals, celebrating small wins, and validating their learning, you can create a motivating and effective training environment. This approach not only helps the new hire feel more comfortable and confident but also ensures that they become productive members of the team quickly and efficiently.