Onboarding for summer trainees – introducing both the work and working life

Having a summer job is an exciting experience for both the young employee and the employer. For the young, a positive summer job experience opens new opportunities, skills and important know-how in work life. From the employer’s viewpoint, it is important that the common rules and instructions are adopted as soon as possible to ensure that both parties benefit even from the shortest period of employment. A good onboarding both motivates and helps to get started with new responsibilities.

Welcome on board!

Onboarding is a great chance to help the newcomers familiarize themselves with the products and services the company is providing, but also the culture and values of the company. Many employees are interested in hearing customer stories and seeing reference videos as they give a sense of importance to their work. Videos and pictures of colleagues will deliver a message about the company’s working culture. Therefore a good onboarding presents also the mission and values of the company.

  • What is the work we do and why is our work important?
  • Who are our customers? What are they like?
  • What are our values and culture?

Even if the management wouldn’t have time to meet each new employee face-to-face, a nice way of making the introduction is to add a video greeting from them to the onboarding material. This is easy to do and considerate especially for the youngest employees for whom the management tends to remain distant.

The common rules of the workplace – how to make things smooth

There are many practical questions relating to a new job, and it’s quite convenient to gather the concrete, plain answers to them in one place. Explaining the everyday facts to newcomers is something that is easily forgotten, especially if new hires are not done very often.

  • Where should the working time entries be made and to whom should the tax card be sent?
  • When is the payday and how are the salaries calculated?
  • Which premises are in use (for changing clothes and having lunch)?
  • What should one do in case of falling sick?
  • From where does one get the working equipment and who should be informed in case something doesn’t work?
  • The important contact persons and their contact details: manager, payroll and occupational health provider
  • What are the most important communication channels to be followed?

It is a good practice to ask the new employees to save the important phone numbers on their mobile phones during the onboarding. This way, when necessary (e.g. in case of sudden sick leave), it’s easy to find the right contact info remotely.

Instructions relating to one’s own tasks – getting to know the responsibilities and the equipment

Thorough instructions of one’s own responsibilities are important for productive work. A good way to provide everybody with the necessary information is to gather simple instructions on how to use the most common tools, software and other working equipment in one place.

  • What kind of tasks does one’s work cover?
  • The important equipment and software?
  • What communication channels should be followed?
  • The instructions relating to safety and ergonomics?
  • Who should one turn to when a problem occurs?

Make sure that the new employees are included in the most important communication channels. It would be very unfortunate to find out after several that they’ve been left out by mistake.

Building the working life skills – a smart way to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and conflicts

Many young people at the beginning of their working life have a lot to learn when it comes to working life skills. To avoid unnecessary inconveniences and misunderstandings it makes sense to guide the young on the expected behaviour in the workplace.

  • What do working hours precisely mean and can one leave the working premises during breaks?
  • What are the rules in relation to using one’s own smartphone and taking photos?
  • How should one talk about the things that happen in the workplace? What are the things that one can tell outsiders and what shouldn’t be told even to one’s friends?
  • How should one dress for work? Should long hair be tied up for safety or hygienic reasons?
  • How should one behave at work? What should one do in case a problem occurs?

Online onboarding for summer trainees

Creating an online onboarding for summer help is an easy method for smooth and equal onboarding. Online onboarding can be accomplished by using one’s own smartphone – a great way to make the manager’s work easier. Online onboarding is, especially for the young, a more interesting way to learn about the new work than a couple of pages pdf-document or printed paper as it can include videos, assignments and other interactivities. Online onboarding also provides the manager analytics on the accomplishment of the onboarding.

Don’t forget to ask for feedback on the onboarding from the trainees! This way you can continue developing the onboarding processes and become all the time better at onboarding.

Read also

Onboardingtemplate.com - see the example onboarding training and download a free onboarding template for your own company

Online onboarding - How to successfully deliver a modern onboarding for new employees

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