New Hire Video Conferencing

Your first day on the job at a new company can incite a lot of emotions. You may feel worried about your performance, anxious about meeting people, or possibly you just get overwhelmed. As an employer, when you really take the time to find and hire the perfect match to a position, your work is only half done. Now you must train the new employee and integrate them into their job and your company. If you fail to do this properly, their work and your business will suffer, no matter how perfect an employee was for the job.

So how can you improve your training program? First things first, make twenty copies – or more if you often hire a lot of people – of every single piece of paper that is used in the hiring and training of a new employee. This includes the policy handbook, w-2 forms, locker check-out, whatever. Then fill up each of the twenty folders so all that needs to be done is to hand one folder to one employee. Don’t forget to put a blank label on the folder. This “welcome package” should be standard practice in any company.

Now, take some time and examine what your ideal training program would look like. How much of it could you actually accomplish? What are the constraints against the rest that you can’t do? Is it time, money, or resources? Time is usually the biggest complaint. Businesses need new employees up and running as soon as possible.

When it comes to training, video conferences can save you time, improve organization, and begin the relationship on the right step. How can a video conference do this? Imagine the following scenario at your company.

The new employee – let’s call him Bob – arrives and is greeted by a particular person, Sally, who knows the hiring and training process through and through. Sally sits Bob down and hands him a folder with his name on it. She guides him as he fills out all the necessary paperwork, then walks him through the employee handbook.

After a tour of the office, Sally sits Bob down at his new desk. When he turns on the computer, Bob sees a document on the desktop called, “Welcome Bob.” In the document is a conference call phone number, dial-in codes, and directions for a video conference. Bob calls into the conference call where he is greeted by Sally – from her own desk – and the CEO from headquarters in another state. He can also see the two of them on the video conference on his computer.

The CEO welcomes Bob, makes sure he has everything he needs, and signs off. Sally opens a PowerPoint presentation into the conference and starts a previously recorded conference call. The recording guides Bob through the PowerPoint and includes pictures of products and places. It has videos that show Bob details of what he will be doing. At certain spots in the recorded conference call, his future bosses and coworkers speak up with details. When this happens, their picture flashes up on the slideshow.

Bob -- and all the new employees that come after him – get a warm reception and detailed orientation to their new job, while everyone doesn’t have to stop working to train him. Of course they won’t have met him, but you can organize a meet-and-greet in the lounge at the end of the day.