1. The signs
- Onboarding ends when the orientation checklist is done, not when the person can do the job.
- Experienced hires and graduates get the same programme.
- The first independent deliverable comes back with rework.
- Nobody can say how long it takes a new hire to work on their own.
2. Why it happens
Learning happens next to colleagues, unplanned. In studies of newly hired engineers, most learning came from coworkers, and only about 15% from managers. That's fine, if the coworkers are prepared for it. Usually they aren't. LSC-MNT-03
One programme for everyone. Heavy guidance helps novices and gets in the way of experienced people. LSC-CLT-02
Old habits come along. Experienced hires bring methods from their last employer or their last tool, and those get in the way when they don't fit. LSC-CLT-03
Experience assumed to teach. Time on the job builds capability only when it's designed: goals, coaching and reviews. IDE-DES-06
3. What good looks like
- A finish line you can measure, such as the time to a first independent deliverable, tracked from records you already keep. LSC-ORG-03
- Worked examples first, then less help: demonstrate the full task, then partly completed tasks, then independent ones. LSC-CLT-01
- Two tracks, based on what each person already knows. LSC-CLT-02
- Responsibility that grows in steps, with a mentor whose time is in their workload. LSC-MNT-04 · LSC-MNT-02
- Competence shown, not signed, for each critical task. SOP-TRN-06
- Practice spaced over weeks, with short refreshers around weeks 1, 3 and 8. LSC-PRC-02
Note that "up to speed" has two separate clocks: how fast a new hire works on their own, and how fast a team adopts a new tool or process. This brief is about the first; Getting a New System Used is about the second. Pick the one that matters most and measure it.
Laptop, safety video, binder, tour, then "shadow Dave for a few weeks". Done when the HR checklist is.
A worked example in week 1, a partly completed task in week 2, a supervised real task in week 4, and a first independent deliverable that's timed and checked.
4. Your first three moves
- Define and start timing the first independent deliverable for one role. LSC-ORG-03
- Ask each new hire what they already know in week 1, and split the programme into two tracks. LSC-CLT-02
- Give the buddy or supervisor a short guide and protected time to reinforce what's learned. LSC-TRF-04 · LSC-MNT-02
5. Stress-test it
The moment that matters for a new hire is the first real call made without someone at their shoulder. A TPC Stress Test can put a cohort of new hires, or the people who onboard them, through that moment as a scenario. It shows where the gaps are before they turn up as rework, and the course stays with you as a SCORM package for the next intake.
The short version. Give onboarding a finish line and time it. Start with worked examples, run two tracks, grow responsibility in steps, prove competence by watching it, and prepare the colleagues who do most of the teaching.