On The Job: Training

Training is a vital part of any supervisor's job. When I started my work as a Stacks Assistant I happened to start the position between supervisors. Thus, I started my work with no training whatsoever. It was not good. Not good at all. I futzed my way through until I could make things work. Lucky for me, I didn't ruin the stacks... but I did go two years without knowing we had an outside bookdrop. Because of my experience, I refuse to let any of my staff start their positions or projects without training.

At it's most basic level, training is where you show the your employee's their duties and how to do them correctly. Without this, your employees would flounder about wondering if they are getting the job done the right way. Aside from that, training provides you the opportunity to do many other things including:

• Explaining the role your staff play in the greater scheme of things
• Showing them the ropes of the job/task/project
• Setting expectations (quantitative and qualitative)
• Learning your staff's skills, talents, attitude, and work style

No employee should ever go untrained. To do so risks creating parallel systems, divergent methods, and creating an environment where errors run rampant. It also tells your employees that you don't really care about their work. Throwing someone into the deep end without a pair of swim floaties is dangerous. Staff should connected to the office and their work.

Training gives you a chance to create a strong working relationship with your employees. They will learn the needs of the office and will also connect with you as their supervisor. If you encourage questions and comments, your employees will feel as if they are becoming a part of the office or project.

Additionally, no supervisor should avoid training. The bonus of conducting training sessions is that you can see problems before they become issues. If you notice an employee is struggling, you can devise work-arounds or other ways to put their strengths to use. Training also gives you a chance to see when old procedures need to be updated. If you've been training the same way for a number of years, it might be time to see if procedures can be change to increase efficiency or accuracy.

The point of training is not to turn employees into automatons. The point is to orient your employees to the needs and processes of the office. Training gives you the chance to establish a report with new employees and ellicit input on processes and projects from veteran staff.