New Employee Training: Focus On Learning, Instruction & Culture

These days, new employee training is about more than teaching someone how to perform a specific task. When hiring employees on your food truck, vendors must focus their first 30 days on finding out as much as they can on the organization, the people, and their role.

Starting a new position is stressful for anyone, but as a food truck owner, you can make the transition a whole lot smoother. Take the time to help your new employee feel welcome and comfortable and support them as they learn the ropes of their new gig.

New Employee Training On Your Food Truck

New Employee Training: Vendor Perspective

A food truck employees training can start before they even step foot on the truck. Once informed that they have gotten the job, suggest they browse through your website and to talk with people who know your business, such as former employees.

Soon after they begin the job, have them review your training manual and performance expectations. If they are going to be in a management position, have them look through recent reviews for all of their direct reports. They should meet with each of them one-on-one and ask about their view of the team and where it needs to go. While they’re taking in all of this information, be sure they develop hypotheses about what they need to get done and the best way to go about it. And of course, all of this learning will generate additional questions, so tell them to never stop asking them even when they’ve started to take action.

New Employee Training: Employee Perspective

So, you’ve just landed a new food truck job, welcome to the industry! Your first 30 days are your time to make a great impression, prove your competency, and make sure the person who hired you agrees they made a good decision to bring you on board.

The best way is to spend your first 30 days on the truck is by learning the business and observing your colleagues before you jump in.

It can be difficult to take this kind of time to learn, especially in the mobile food industry where people get hired and are expected to “hit the ground running” or need to make an impact right away. Take your time to learn the systems and recipes so the boss doesn’t need to make constant corrections.

Fix Your Existing New Employee Training Today

Looking to switch up your existing training program? Here are 4 simple things you can do to start improving it now.

Target your training. Don’t make your cooks sit through the same training as your service team. Target your training as finely as you can, so that you can relate it directly to how it helps individuals perform in their jobs.
Make it real. After the training, give employees a task that actually requires them to use the what they’ve just learned. It will help them cement the learning, and will show you exactly where they still need work.
Set the right mood. Training doesn’t have to be a drag. Take breaks, and build in time to socialize. Don’t let training become boring.
Break it up. Don’t train now for something an employee will need in 2 months. Segment employee training, and try to plan it so that they’ll be using it as much as possible after the training is over. They’ll retain more, and you’ll waste less time having to retrain overloaded employees.

The Bottom Line

When you have a new employee, the way you welcome them onto your team will make a crucial first impression. That means, even if you provide formal training, it’s just as important to incorporate some activities of your own as well. How approach new employee training will have long term impact on productivity, retention and company culture.

Do you have a first 30 day action plan in your food truck? We’d love to hear how you handle this important time in a food truck employees development from the experts. Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section or social media. Twitter | Facebook