Month: May 2026

Over the years, I have experienced varying levels of training and subsequent varying results based on the depth and type of training used. When I think back on a memorable training experience, I have to say that The Best Training goes to… The Melt! A relatively quaint fast-casual grilled cheese, mac and cheese, and burger restaurant located in Denver, Colorado.

As a new hire from outside the company stepping into my first management position as a shift lead, I was impressed with the Manager and Employee Training manual that was given to me on the first day. It outlined a weekly planner that guided me through the training workbook, complete with check-ins and direct one-on-ones with the General Manager. It felt like I was completing a school workbook with exercises, questions to ponder, and tasks to complete, making it a fun and educational experience. The use of the manual/workbook coupled with hands-on training gave me the tools and the knowledge I needed to feel confident running my own shifts, even though I still made plenty of mistakes.

The reason I feel like this experience was especially effective is because it helped me not only understand what the standards and expectations were of the job via the handbook, but I also developed a mentor-like relationship with the GM (Lecture Notes – Development). Her hands-on and one-on-one time approach made me feel safe and comfortable to ask for help when I needed it. Overall, I had greater satisfaction, motivation and commitment towards that job because the company saw how important it was to give employees the information and the tools they need to succeed.

On the other hand, I have certainly been let down by companies, big and small, regarding training or lack thereof. When I was contemplating which, if any, was the worst training I’ve ever had and I really couldn’t pin down one experience in particular that was memorable. In general however, I would say that The Worst Training goes to…. the jobs that didn’t provide any training at all!

When being onboarded into an organization, there is some level of expectation that you will be taught or at least told what a role entails and the job tasks required. However, some organizations (maybe un-organizations) offer very little to no training or onboarding, which can be a frustrating experience as a young adult with a tendency toward people-pleasing. All I wanted was for someone to tell me what they needed from me. In my experience, these types of “training” situations made me feel as if I were thrown to the wolves, left to figure it out on my own.

What makes this type of training style ineffective is that it does the exact opposite of what The Melt experience did. I had very little job satisfaction since I didn’t know what job I was supposed to be doing, motivation went out the window with job satisfaction, and job commitment did not last long, sometimes only a day. Beyond that, I was not invested in the company because I was not socialized into the working environment.

Hiring the right person with the right talents is important but training and onboarding is the only way to set your new hires up for success.

SOURCES

Lecture Notes – Development

Below are the results of the average Age Discrimination test. What can be seen is that more people have a general preference towards young people compared to old people. My results showed that I land within the 15% of people that show little to no automatic preference between young and old people.

While this is good results for a one-time test, the reality is that we contain biases towards younger and older people when we are out in public. Even if these biases are seemingly “good”, like giving preferences to younger or elderly individuals, they can still translate to implicit biases that can affect another person’s opportunities.

According to the results above, the majority of individuals express an implicit bias either towards younger or older people. What this can mean in a recruitment and selection process is that these biases can carry through into the interview and beyond without hiring managers knowing if they are not aware of their personal biases. This changes the reliability and validity of the selection process if these biases are not accounted for and mitigated.

One way to mitigate bias is to create a standardized set of questions pertaining to the job itself. This avoids the possibility of a hiring manager asking unintentionally easier or harder questions to those they may have underlying biases towards. Another way to mitigate bias during the hiring and selection process is to have multiple interviews with potential candidates using a scoring method. This allows multiple people to score a candidate, eliminating single biases from individual managers if they are present.

Breaking implicit biases is like breaking a bad habit, according to Be Better Blog (2024). The first step in addressing personal biases is to bring awareness of the biases to the surface. It’s noted that it takes time to change biases, however the keys to change are commitment, motivation, and persistence.

SOURCES

Chang, Clara. “Understanding Implicit Bias-and How to Work through It.” Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Be Better Blog, December 30, 2024. https://bhgrecareer.com/bebetterblog/implicit-bias/.