The most effective way to get a new hire up to speed is to have your existing team to coach that person along the way. The new hire has a built-in support network. Team members get to spend one-on-one time with the new hire. The result is a well-trained employee who is comfortable with most everyone on the team.

But, how can you get your current team to coach your new hire?

Getting Your Team to Coach and Mentor the New Person

Here are some ways you can get your current team to become effective mentors and coaches for your new hires.

• Make training and coaching a part of your company culture. Do you encourage your people to get extra training or to coach each other through difficult issues? It is important to build a culture where learning and training is a part of life with online seminars, live training sessions, and live stream presentations. And it is important to give your people time to be mentors and to coach others.

• Assign a mentor to each new hire. Who does the new person go to and ask the “stupid” questions? An assigned mentor is the perfect person for those kinds of questions. A mentor is also there to bring the new person up to speed on the organization, internal and external customers, and critical items that need attention.

• Create a training plan with input from team members. Before a new hire arrives, you need to create a plan on how you are going to get that person trained. Get your team members involved with the process. Who is best suited to train the new guy on Procedure X? Would a live stream session or video be a better choice? Remember, team member input means team member ownership.

• Be clear about the new person’s responsibilities. A common fear among current employees is that a new person is being hired to replace someone on the team. When you are bringing in a new person, you need to be very clear what that person’s responsibilities are. This helps calm the replacement fear and makes the team more receptive to coaching and mentoring the new guy.

You need to give your current team a stake in getting the new hire productive. By involving them in the mentoring and coaching process, you are building team morale and setting up the new guy for future success.