Orientation and onboarding are crucial, introducing new employees to your company’s way of working while making them believe they are a valuable part of the team. According to www.forconstructionpros.com, there are five easy ways to help new team members adjust and start contributing immediately.
- Encourage questions and feedback. Let new employees know you expect questions, and no question is a stupid one. Check in with them regularly during the first few weeks to learn where they might need help. Their feedback can help improve the onboarding process for your next new hires.
- Stress the importance of safety. Talk about your commitment to a safe workplace and back up your words with actions. Require new hires to complete safety training before they work on a job site.
- Make information easy to access. The first few days on any job often are overwhelming, which can make it difficult to remember details from orientation. Consider giving a pocket training guide to each new employee or a list of FAQs with necessary information.
- Address language barriers. If language is an issue for your team, try to provide training materials in a new employee’s native language and ensure important safety signage is translated. Effective communication is key to productivity and safety. Teaching English-speaking employees a few basic phrases in another language also promotes better communication and teamwork.
- Get your entire team involved. Employee orientation covers the basics but does not address every possible question or concern. Consider pairing each new hire with a veteran on your staff—not a supervisor, but a peer who can help them acclimate.
