Improving your onboarding process can make new hires feel welcome and also help them get settled in quickly. In addition to providing an orientation session, you can guide employees through a typical workday so they get a sense of the workflow and overall pace of the new work environment. This is also an opportunity to meet co-workers and managers. The result may be a more motivated team and high levels of productivity shortly after the worker begins.

Here are five tips for onboarding your production workers.

1. Introduce employees to team members.

Since many manufacturing departments work in small teams, it will help for new hires to be formally introduced to the people they will be working with directly before their first workday on the floor. Give all team members a chance to meet new hires and introduce themselves briefly.

2. Host onboarding sessions on a Friday.

Unless you are in the middle of a busy season and don't have any flexibility to schedule meetings outside of a Monday, consider inviting new hires to onboarding sessions on a Friday. Everyone will be more relaxed, and the new hires will have a chance to absorb what they learned before officially starting on Monday.

3. Share company vision and goals.

Even though many production workers won't be involved with management decisions, make sure employees are aware of the overall mission and company goals, values and vision to get them acquainted.

4. Encourage questions.

Some new employees may be shy about asking questions, as they are just starting out. You should encourage them to do so. Maintain an open-door policy and give everyone a point of contact should they have any questions in the near future.

5. Give a complete site tour.

Even though your production workers may be working in a designated area, they will appreciate seeing the entire factory and related offices. Provide a site tour during the onboarding process, and introduce them to other departments.
Taking the time to conduct onboarding sessions can make your employees more productive and even help them stay for the long term. If you need help attracting quality new hires, talk to the professionals at Bear Staffing.

Key Takeaways:

• Take the time to conduct a site tour and introduce employees to their team members
• Share company vision and goals to get an employee acquainted with the company
• Host onboarding sessions on a Friday, instead of the beginning of the week