| To view this newsletter online, please click here. |  | | You've received this newsletter because you subscribed to it using our double opt-in sign-up process. To unsubscribe, just click the link at the bottom of this email. Alternatively, if you're not already a subscriber, you can sign up here. | | | Mind Tools Newsletter 185 - April 5, 2011
Off to the Right Start!
Communication, time management, and people skills are just some of the things that we need to have to be effective at work. So, how well do you help your new starters learn these things?
With a bit of careful thought, you can help new hires get off to a great start, and that's what we're focusing on in this week's newsletter article.
Continuing the theme, we look at how you can be a great workplace mentor, and we explore using Heron's Six Categories of Intervention to help people learn new skills effectively.
Meanwhile, within the Career Excellence Club, we explore how you can be a great role model to people around you in your organization.
Enjoy the newsletter!
James Manktelow and Rachel Thompson
MindTools.com - Essential skills for an excellent career!
Featured Resources at Mind Tools
| | |  | | Find out how to teach career starters the skills they need for success in the workplace. All Readers' Skill-Builder | |  | | Learn how you can be a great mentor to new people. All Readers' Skill-Builder | | |  | | When it comes to coaching members of your team, "being supportive" isn't always the best approach. Find out five other ways of helping people grow. All Readers' Skill-Builder | | | | ... And from the Career Excellence Club
|  | In this interview, Oded Shenkar tells us how imitation in the business world can give organizations a strategic edge.
Premium Members' Expert Interview | |  | | Are you a good role model? Find out why you should concentrate on setting a good example at work, and learn how to be a great role model to those around you. All Members' New Tool | |  | | Find out how to use the principles of integrative negotiation to reach a win-win solution. All Members' Bite-Sized Training™ | | Editors' Choice Article
Off to the Right Start
Teaching Basic Skills to New Hires
Nathan has recently hired a grad. Although his new hire is bright and competent in the technical aspects of the job, Nathan quickly discovers that he's sorely lacking in other, more basic areas.
For instance, his emails are poorly worded, and he doesn't use a To-Do List or other planning tool to help him remember tasks and deadlines. What's more, within a few days, his desk is so disorganized that he has trouble finding key files. | | 
Set your new hires up for success!
© iStockphoto/skynesher |
In short, he's missing many of the fundamental skills that any employee needs to be successful in the workplace.
In recent surveys in the US and UK*, the majority of employers polled reported problems with the numeracy and literacy standards of recent graduates. Other skills, such as communication and people skills, can also be seriously underdeveloped in people new to the workplace.
In this article, we're looking at the fundamental skills that inexperienced people need to get off to a good start in their careers. We'll identify how to assess their training needs, and we'll explore where they're likely to need additional training to bring them up to speed.
Identifying Current Skill Level and Needs
Before you can work on building basic skills, you need to identify your new hires' strengths and weaknesses. Conduct a training needs assessment to help you see where they're lacking, so that you can develop an effective training plan.
Although "hard skills" (such as literacy and technical skills required for a job) are relatively easy to assess, "soft skills" (such as interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence) are just as valuable.
Important soft skills include the following:
Organization and Time Management Skills
Basic organization skills such as managing email, filing, using To-Do Lists and prioritization are important for staying on top of a large workload. Make sure that your new hires understand these things - if they aren't effective in these areas, they may quickly fall behind.
You may also need to teach them other time management skills as well. For example, everyone has a "peak" time of day. This highly productive time should be used for high-value tasks and projects. But, often, people waste this valuable time doing mundane tasks such as checking email or returning calls. You can learn more about this in our Is This a Morning Task? article (members only).
Communication Skills
Working with people who lack communication skills can be a frustrating experience. No matter what your new hires are doing, they need to be able to read, write, and speak effectively.
First, make sure that they know the basics. For instance, they should be able to read and understand documents commonly referred to in your organization. You may have to address your new hires' writing skills too - they should know how to compose emails effectively and write reports (member-only article).
Understanding the Communication Process, as highlighted in our Introduction to Communication Skills article, will also be useful here, particularly in highlighting the importance of Active Listening.
Problem Solving
Problem solving is a crucial skill set in many roles, and even entry-level people may need to have some of these skills.
Begin by identifying their basic problem solving skills. This includes how to identify a problem, brainstorming potential solutions, evaluating alternatives, and then implementing the best idea.
Then, focus on teaching a variety of problem solving techniques such as Appreciative Inquiry, Drill Down (member-only article), and the 5 Whys. The more tools that they are comfortable with, the likelier they are to solve problems effectively.
Interpersonal Skills
New hires will probably be part of a team. This means that they need to know how to work with others.
This is why they need to develop qualities such as empathy, emotional intelligence, positivity and supportiveness. These traits may not fall under their job description, but they can make or break a team.
Make sure that your new hires know how important these skills are. Then, try to discover where they have soft skills gaps. For instance, they might be great at keeping a positive attitude, but as soon as tension flares up in the team, they may retreat inward without knowing how to resolve the issue. (This behavior would indicate that they need to work on their assertiveness and conflict resolution skills.)
Tip:
Keep in mind that approaching new hires about their lack of basic skills requires sensitivity and empathy. Use principles from our article on Heron's Six Categories of Intervention to think about how to help your people effectively. |
Creating a Training Program
Once you've conducted a Training Needs Assessment (members only), you'll need to set training goals, and create a training program that addresses the basic skills that your new people are missing.
Your training program can involve a number of different approaches. For instance, you might find that mentoring works well - this is where you pair new employees with experienced team members to accelerate learning and improve staff retention. If you decide to set up mentoring relationships, make sure that your experienced employees have the right mentoring skills - this will help you ensure that relationships are productive and effective.
Another approach is to administer the training yourself, or to use different team members based on their strengths and their experience. For example, if one of your team members is extremely organized, use her to deliver training on using To-Do Lists or managing email.
If you go this route, consider using Active Training Strategies (members only) to keep your new hires engaged in what you're teaching. For instance, keep your lectures short (10-15 minutes), invite participation, and use a variety of different activities and techniques that will accommodate different learning styles.
For some areas, it might be more appropriate to provide your new hire with useful online resources, or printed material to read. On-the-Job Training (member-only article) may also prove useful.
Note:
As with all types of training and development, it's important to review your new hires' progress regularly. You can do this by ensuring that their training and development is tracked through the regular performance review process. |
Identifying Potential
It's also useful to identify whether or not your new hires have leadership potential. This can help you customize your training and mentoring programs to help them take on additional responsibilities in the future.
Our article on Building Tomorrow's Leaders (member-only) will help you identify and develop leadership potential in your new hires.
Key Points
Organizations often discover that new hires, especially those new to a work environment, lack basic communication, time management, and organization skills. So, you may find that it's up to you to teach these fundamental skills to new recruits.
Start by conducting a Training Needs Assessment. Then, once you've identified the skills that you need to address, put together a training plan or program to help them learn these skills, and monitor their progress at regular intervals.
It's also useful to identify leadership potential in new hires, so that you can tailor their training and development appropriately.
* The surveys were carried out by the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the Society for Human Resource Management and, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
| Share this article: |  |  | | A Final Note from James
It's important to help new hires, even if you're not their manager. Not only will you develop good relationships, but they'll become useful and productive in a much shorter time.
Next week we're looking at how you can build self-confidence - in yourself, and in other people. This is another great way of helping people (including you) become happier and more effective in the workplace.
See you then!
 | James Manktelow
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Essential Skills for an Excellent Career! |
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