Welcoming new employees into the fold is always something of a challenge, isn’t it?
No matter how frequently you bring in new staff, or how much experience they may (or may not) have, onboarding warehouse employees is an adventure that takes many different forms.
Even above and beyond the typical paperwork, background checks, and the like, getting your workers up to speed with the quirks, foibles, and unique features of your warehouse can be a difficult task without a proper plan in place. If you find yourself occasionally wondering how to best handle your warehouse staff, here’s a few tips for getting everyone on the same page more quickly:
Warehouse Employee Onboarding Tips
Provide floor plans
The first thing any warehouse worker needs to do, no matter what their official job title, is to get a good idea of the floor plan. Knowing the layout of things like pallet racks and industrial shelving can go a long way towards helping new workers understand their duties, and feel a little at home in their new location - particularly if they’d already worked in another warehouse and need to readjust themselves.
Be clear about quotas and KPIs
One of the biggest causes of confusion and “new job jitters” is a lack of clarity about what’s expected of the new hires. For anyone involved in packing and shipping, make sure to keep them perfectly clear on their daily quotas and the KPIs they need to hit for shipping and packaging - this will help reduce confusion and get everyone on the same page.
Encourage break time
A lot of times, the really ambitious new hires (we all know the ones) will try to push themselves a bit too hard to make a good first impression. While the initiative is always welcome, you should let them know that they do have break times they could be taking, and that the breaks may make them more productive as they will have a chance to rest up and refresh themselves.
Get ready for questions
How many times have you been showing some new team member around the warehouse, only to get caught off guard when they had more questions than you expected? Get ready to field the harder questions, such as where certain items are located, procedure on handling certain goods, or even how to use the gravity flow racks.
Introduce them around
At any new job, few things are more awkward than not knowing anybody. Take a second to introduce your new teammates to their coworkers, supervisors, and other team members they may need to know or talk to in the near future - it’ll make things a lot easier for both of you!