Employee Development is your responsibility
As office managers or supervisors, is your role in a new employee’s development finished once they have completed all the necessary paperwork, viewed the organization’s policies and “who we are” materials? Hopefully, not.
It has been shown, when office managers and supervisors continue to engage and show interest in new employee training and progress, the new employee is more likely to have a successful training experience, better retention of information and feel more motivated to learn.
Office managers and supervisors should meet with lead workers or office trainers to help establish and review training goals for new employees. There should be generalized training goals for all new employees as well as specific training goals according to an employee’s assigned job duties.
The Center for Professional Development has created templates for Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs) that can be tailored for an office, a team or an individual. These ILPs can be found in the CSQuest article Individual Learning Plans for Functional Areas.
Trust your lead workers and trainers
Trust that lead workers and office trainers know best what a new employee needs to learn about their job. However, office management should be familiar with the current training materials and request periodic feedback regarding the quality or effectiveness of the training and training materials. Be aware of areas of concern within the training process and provide guidance to help overcome obstacles.
Check in and provide and seek feedback
Schedule periodic one-on-one meetings throughout new employees’ first year to check in on their progress. Encourage them to share their accomplishments and failures. Ask them about their concerns. Provide feedback that promotes self-awareness of their strengths and weakness and how to look for ways to be a problem solver. This lets the employee know they are valued and that you are interested in their development. This also encourages employee integration as a member of not only the team but the office as a whole. For guidance on the important questions to ask, check out the CSQuest article Onboarding: The 5 Questions Supervisors Must Ask or 9 Things Employees Want From Managers/Supervisors. For additional information on listening skills, check out How to Be a Good Listener.
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The accuracy of this CSQuest Article is up to date as of 6/5/24