Solutions
Solutions for
K-12
K-12
Learn MoreEducator & Staff Training
Educator & Staff Training
Improve compliance and deliver critical professional development with online courses and management system
Learn moreStudent Safety & Wellness Program NEW
Student Safety & Wellness Program
Keep students safe and healthy with safety, well-being, and social and emotional learning courses and lessons
Learn moreProfessional Growth Management
Professional Growth Management
Integrated software to manage and track evaluations and professional development and deliver online training
Learn moreAnonymous Reporting & Safety Communications
Anonymous Reporting & Safety Communications
Empower your school community to ask for help to improve school safety and prevent crises before they occur
Learn moreIncident & EHS Management
Incident & EHS Management
Streamline safety incident reporting and management to improve safety, reduce risk, and increase compliance
Learn moreHigher Education
Higher Education
Learn MoreStudent Training
Student Training
Increase safety, well-being, and belonging with proven-effective training on critical prevention topics
Learn moreFaculty & Staff Training
Faculty & Staff Training
Create a safe, healthy, and welcoming campus environment and improve compliance with online training courses
Learn moreCampus Climate Surveys
Campus Climate Surveys
Simplify VAWA compliance with easy, scalable survey deployment, tracking, and reporting
Learn moreAnonymous Reporting & Safety Communications
Anonymous Reporting & Safety Communications
Empower your faculty, staff, and students to take an active role in protecting themselves and others
Learn moreIncident & EHS Management
Incident & EHS Management
Streamline safety incident reporting and management to improve safety, reduce risk, and increase compliance
Learn moreIndustrial
Industrial
Learn MoreIndustrial Skills Training
Industrial Skills Training
Close skills gap, maximize production, and drive consistency with online training
Learn morePaper Manufacturing Training
Enhance worker expertise and problem-solving skills while ensuring optimal production efficiency.
HR / Professional Development
HR / Professional Development
Provide role-specific knowledge, develop skills, and improve employee retention with career development training.
Learn moreAnti-Harassment and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Anti-Harassment and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Navigate an ever-evolving workforce with DE&I and Harassment Prevention Compliance training
Learn moreLearning Management System (LMS)
Learning Management System (LMS)
Assign, track, and report role-based skills and compliance training for the entire workforce
Learn moreEHS Management
EHS Management
Track, Analyze, Report Health and Safety Activities and Data for the Industrial Workforce
Learn moreSafety Communication
Safety Communication
Enhance the safety for the industrial workforce with two-way risk communications, tools, and resources
Learn moreFire Departments
Fire Departments
Learn MoreTraining Management
Training Management
A training management system tailored for the fire service--track all training, EMS recerts, skill evaluations, ISO, and more in one place
Learn moreCrew Shift Scheduling
Crew Shift Scheduling
Simplify 24/7 staffing and give firefighters the convenience of accepting callbacks and shifts from a mobile device
Learn moreChecks & Inventory Management
Checks & Inventory Management
Streamline truck checks, PPE inspections, controlled substance tracking, and equipment maintenance with a convenient mobile app
Learn moreExposure and Critical Incident Monitoring NEW
Exposure and Critical Incident Monitoring
Document exposures and critical incidents and protect your personnels’ mental and physical wellness
Learn moreEMS
EMS
Learn MoreTraining Management and Recertification
A training management system tailored for EMS services—EMS online courses for recerts, mobile-enabled skill evaluations, and more
Learn moreEMS Shift Scheduling
EMS Shift Scheduling
Simplify 24/7 staffing and give medics the convenience of managing their schedules from a mobile device
Learn moreInventory Management
Inventory Management
Streamline vehicle checks, controlled substance tracking, and equipment maintenance with a convenient mobile app
Learn moreWellness Monitoring & Exposure Tracking NEW
Wellness Monitoring & Exposure Tracking
Document exposures and critical incidents and protect your personnels’ mental and physical wellness
Learn moreLaw Enforcement
Law Enforcement
Learn MoreTraining and FTO Management
Increase performance, reduce risk, and ensure compliance with a training management system tailored for your FTO/PTO and in-service training
Learn moreEarly Intervention & Performance Management
Early Intervention & Performance Management
Equip leaders with a tool for performance management and early intervention that helps build positive agency culture
Learn moreOfficer Shift Scheduling
Officer Shift Scheduling
Simplify 24/7 staffing and give officers the convenience of managing their schedules from a mobile device
Learn moreAsset Mangagement & Inspections
Asset Mangagement & Inspections
Streamline equipment checks and vehicle maintenance to ensure everything is working correctly and serviced regularly
Learn morePost and Regulatory Management
Post and Regulatory Management
Purpose-built standards and training software to manage compliance
Learn More911 Emergency Communications
911 Emergency Communications
Learn MoreTraining Management System
Training Management System
Track and manage all your employee training, certifications, and policies in one system
Learn morePersonnel Scheduling
Personnel Scheduling
Simplify shift scheduling and equip your Telecommunicators with an app to help manage their complex 24/7 schedules
Learn morePerformance, Conduct & Early Intervention
Performance, Conduct & Early Intervention
Protect the mental wellbeing of your Telecommunicators and improve QA
Learn moreAsset Management & Inspections
Asset Management & Inspections
Simplify ECC inspections, maintenance, and inventory management
Learn moreGovernment
Learn MoreFederal & Military Training Management
Federal & Military Training Management
A mission-ready ecosystem for training and compliance
Learn moreLocal Government Training Management
Local Government Training Management
Technology to train, prepare, and retain your people
Learn moreState Regulatory and Standards Management
State Regulatory and Standards Management
Purpose-built standards and training software to manage compliance
Learn moreArchitecture, Engineering & Construction
Architecture, Engineering & Construction
Learn MoreLearning Management System (LMS)
Learning Management System (LMS)
Ensure licensed professionals receive compliance and CE training via online courses and learning management.
Learn moreOnline Continuing Education
Keep AEC staff licensed in all 50 states for 100+ certifications with online training
Training
Drive organizational success with training that grows skills and aligns with the latest codes and standards
EHS Management
EHS Management
Track, Analyze, Report Health and Safety Activities and Data for AEC Worksites
Learn moreSafety Communication
Safety Communication
Enhance AEC workforce safety with two-way risk communications, tools, and resources
Learn moreCasino
Casino
Learn MoreAnti-Money Laundering Training NEW
Anti-Money Laundering Training
Reduce risk in casino operations with Title 31 and Anti-Money Laundering training compliance
Learn MoreEmployee Training
Employee Training
Deliver our leading AML and casino-specific online courses to stay compliant with national and state standards
Learn moreLearning Management System (LMS)
Learning Management System (LMS)
Streamline training operations, increase employee effectiveness, and reduce liability with our LMS for casinos
Learn moreEHS Management
EHS Management
Simplify incident reporting to OSHA and reduce risk with detailed investigation management
Learn moreEmployee Scheduling
Employee Scheduling
Equip your employees with a mobile app to manage their schedules and simplify your 24/7 staff scheduling
Learn moreIndustries
Industry
Resources
Resource Center
Expert insights to boost training
Resource type
Course Catalogs
Company
Course Center
Providing effective, efficient onboarding training to newly hired employees (and current employees moving into new job positions) is one of the most impactful training investments an organization can make. A well-designed onboarding program can help support the newly hired worker’s development of the knowledge and skills they’ll need to work at the new organization and in the new job role.
Providing effective onboarding helps the employee develop necessary skills, and that of course also helps the organization reach its business goals. But additionally, when a new employee goes through a well-designed onboarding program, the employee will feel more supported at the new job, they are more likely to be satisfied with and engaged on the job, and they’re much less likely to leave the job quickly (which leads to a very painful and costly “churn” of hiring, training, and then hiring again).
If you’d like some insight into the heavy costs of having disengaged employees leaving a FM organization, and how one FM organization developed a robust training program that reduced that problem, please check our recorded Developing a FM Tech Training Program to Improve Retention webinar (this is a real case-study of a training program Vector Solutions helped a FMM customer implement).
In this article, we’re going to give you a few tips for creating a helpful onboarding program for your facilities maintenance technicians and building engineers. If you’d like to get even more details, please download our Effective Employee Onboarding guide and/or listen to our recorded Effective Onboarding Programs webinar.
Although we encourage you to download our onboarding guide for a more comprehensive view, following these five simple tips will help you greatly in developing and delivering your onboarding program so your FM organization will see better results.
Create partnerships with other departments and the people in them to help develop and deliver your onboarding program(s). At minimum, consider working with and getting the participation of HR, learning and development, corporate management, safety, security, environmental, and IT.
Onboarding new hires is an all-hands-on-deck proposition. Building a team with these departments and more will make it much easier to develop your onboarding program but will also ensure that your program is more effective and leads to desired learning and performance outcomes.
In the onboarding guide we’ve included in this article, we recommend considering a four-phased onboarding program. But to keep it simple in this article, make sure your onboarding program includes a section that deals with general information about your organization as well as specific information about the new employee’s actual job.
During the general component, introduce employees to your organization. Explain your industry, what makes your organization unique, and your brand. Discuss mission, values, principles, and organizational culture. Discuss general safety, security, and IT issues that are relevant for all employees. And don’t forget to set up a lunch so the new hires can relax and get to know one another better, too!
During the job-specific component, focus in on what the new employee needs to know and do for his/her actual new job. Set up expectations and plans for recurrent meetings with the employee and the manager; partner the new hire with a “work buddy” and a “mentor;” consider an OJT program for the worker, and develop additional learning activities you’ll provide to the worker over time.
Two common mistakes with onboarding programs are (1) compressing them into too little time and (2) “firehosing” the new employee with too much information too quickly.
Don’t think of onboarding as something that occurs in a few days, a week, or two weeks.
Instead, think of onboarding as a program that may take as much as a year and will then feed workers into continual upskilling or even continuing education learning activities.
Studies show that training programs using a “mix” or “blend” of learning delivery styles (such as face-to-face and online training) result in better learning and performance results than do learning programs that use only face-to-face or only online. See our Guide to Blended Learning Solutions for more on this.
Create a well-designed blend of learning activities that includes written materials or videos, hands-on OJT training, classroom-style instructor-led training, online training, and more.
For the online training, consider using the 3D-animated facilities maintenance training library offered by Vector Solutions. Watch the short overview video below, check out our website to learn more, and feel free to ask us for a demo.
For more thoughts on blended learning, check out our article on the 70/20/10 learning model as well.
A learning management system (LMS) is a cloud-based software application that automates many training management and administration tasks.
Your organization can use an LMS to help implement your onboarding program, including the parts that occur online as well as those that occur offline. This includes:
Using a learning management system will make it easier for you to manage your onboarding, deliver it, and even personalize it for each worker.
We hope you found this article helpful and wish you luck in designing a fantastic onboarding program for your maintenance techs. If you’d like to talk with us more to see how we can help you with your FMM training and continuing education programs, let us know.