Optimize Your Onboarding Process
Six tips for setting up new hires for success
By: Jennifer Chappell Smith
Onboarding matters. One study by UrbanBound, a company specializing in relocation-management software, found that organizations with a standard onboarding process enjoy 50% greater new hire retention. What’s more, they see 54% greater new hire productivity. That’s why Victoria Richardson, manager of sales and marketing at HVAC Learning Solutions, advocates for making sure new hires get comfortable fast. She offers these steps that can lead to success for your new hires—and for you.
- Set up lunch or breakfast with coworkers on day one to give a warm welcome.
- Ask team members to share one tip for success in the new role or at the company.
- Take advantage of the Technical Needs Assessment tool in The Learning Center on LennoxPros.com, which is free for all Lennox dealers. It lets you and your technicians know what specific training they need to enhance their skills.
- Where you see knowledge gaps, provide training to help ensure that you’re sending out knowledgeable techs who solve problems the first time. “Callbacks are expensive and can damage your company’s reputation,” Richardson says.
- Schedule regular check-ins during the first 90 to 120 days. “Employees want to feel like they are more than a number and that their employers care about them and their careers,” Richardson says.
- Offer formal and informal training, from providing trade magazines like ACHR’s The NEWS to making e-learning available to all your employees so they improve their skills between calls. All they need is a LennoxPros.com account and they can access many online training classes at no cost.
This step-by-step guide can help, but in the end, successful onboarding is about getting to know your new hires so you can understand what they need to find success.
One way to equip your new hires for success is to make sure they're signed up on LennoxPros. From the Document Library and Warranty Lookup to the AHRI Residential Matchup Tool and OEM Repair Parts, we've stocked the desktop site and the app with eTools to help HVAC Pros get the job done.
Need to train a new tech fast? Enroll them in our four-week BuildATech® program.
If your work tempo is too high for training right now, get your new techs started with our online training, "Technician Learning Path 1-6."
