Training new employees.

Training New Employees

Training a new employee is no different from any other facet of your job as a supervisor in that it takes organization, planning, and commitment. But training a new employee, perhaps more so than anything else, also takes patience. Before you start working with a new employee, you need to have the proper attitude toward training. Ask, "Am I committed to training this employee, to investing the time and resources needed to do the job right? Do I feel training and development is one of my foremost responsibilities as a supervisor, or do I see it as an added burden to my regular job-something I can do when I have a little free time? Do I subscribe to the sink-or-swim philosophy of training?"

The answers to these questions are obvious, or at least they should be. As a supervisor, you get the job done through other people; so you should welcome the opportunity to develop new talent. Of course, you don't just train to make your job easier. You train because it's part of your responsibility to both the organization and the employee. First, the organization expects you to train the employee to work effectively; second, the employee expects you to train him or her to take on greater responsibility in the future.

As with every part of your job, the key to training is organization. You must have a plan. Toward that, the following five-step program can be used as a guide for training your new employee:

1. Evaluate the employee's current …