In the past, I have found some pieces of training/classes I have been through quite beneficial for my development in that class and job, as well as some that were not as helpful.
My first beneficial training was this last summer as an intern for a large construction company. I was asked a lot of and given very little directive on a lot of tasks which allowed me the freedom to be me, as well as always getting feedback from my supervisor regarding my end result. All the feedback was very constructive and allowed me to learn and make my own decisions. My supervisor did a great job creating a learning environment, that followed the majority of the principles in the learning materials. Personally, I think the most important principle that helped me learn was, “provide opportunities to practice”.
Another experience I had was working for another construction company during my freshman year of college. During this experience, I was not given many directives when given tasks and my supervisor expected me to have great results. He expected me to evaluate and implement when I had no training or any experience. I think he failed at knowing the level of employee he was hiring, for example, I felt in comparison to the simulation, I was a level 1 employee skills-wise and he expected a level 3 employee. At the end of the day, my experience in this job was not what it should have been due to the company not realizing the time it need to spend onboarding me and what role they expected.
I think it is interesting how experiences and what you can get out of a job by the people around you and the effort they put into training and onboarding you to your job/company properly. I think this is perfectly explained in the Havard Business Review article, “Your New Hires Won’t Succed Unless You On board Them Properly”. The part that stood out me from this article was the study on recent college graduates in there first two years on the job and the clarity and feedback the supervisor gave them and how it helped turn them into better employees in the long run.
Work Cited:
“Your New Hires Won’t Succeed Unless You Onboard Them Properly.” Harvard Business Review, 3 Nov. 2020, https://hbr.org/2017/06/your-new-hires-wont-succeed-unless-you-onboard-them-properly.
