[Make a difference in new employee training! What are the tips for creating a new employee and onboarding manual? What are the essential points?]

1. Should we prepare a manual for new employees?

April marks the start of the new fiscal year. As a company, our expectations for new employees are high. For those in charge of training, this may be the busiest time of the year as they prepare for the new recruits. There may be some who feel pressure to provide high-quality training in order to develop capable employees who can thrive in the field.
We also receive many inquiries from companies about creating new employee manuals and onboarding manuals, with comments such as "Even though we do this training every year, it still feels like a burden."
It's important to maintain and update these manuals every year to ensure they don't become a burden.

　　

By establishing a manual for new employees, the following benefits can be expected.
　　・Reduced training load and time
　　・Reduced workload for responding to inquiries from new employees
　　・Maintaining consistent service quality, which is prone to variation
　　・New employees can learn on their own

　　

In addition, having a manual provides benefits such as "acquiring necessary knowledge and skills for work" for new employees, "being able to solve unclear points on their own", and even "reducing anxiety when starting a new job".

　　

However, even if you maintain the manual, there are times when you may not feel the expected benefits.
In fact, we often hear from companies, "We worked hard to create a manual, but the burden on the staff has not been reduced." In such cases, there may be problems with the way the manual was created.

　　

So, what is the correct way to create a manual? For those who may not be aware of how to create a manual, we will mainly explain tips and points for creating manuals for new employees.

2. Create a manual that benefits both parties.

① Set Goals

Although it applies to everything, setting a goal is essential for creating manuals. You may hear someone say, "Of course we have set a goal," but have you also set a "To-Be goal"? Many people think about the schedule goal of "when to finish by," but often do not consider the To-Be goal of "achieving ○○ once the manual is created."

For To-Be goals, it is important to consider whether it is beneficial for both parties. The two parties refer to the reader of the manual (in this case, new employees) and the creator of the manual (in other words, the training staff, and in a broader sense, the company).

When considering whether to prepare a manual for new employees, the benefits outlined in "1. Should we prepare a manual for new employees?" can be organized as follows:
New employees: Can acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for their work, and can learn on their own
Company: Can maintain consistent service quality, and reduce the burden and time of training

Here, we have listed general benefits, but what will benefit both parties will vary depending on the company. Please be aware of setting To-Be goals that will benefit both parties for your company.

2. Determine the concept of the manual

Once you have determined the goals of the manual, the next step is to decide on the concept of the manual.
The concept of the manual refers to "who will read the manual, in what situations, for what purpose, and with what tools/formats." By clarifying the concept, you can have a concrete image of the new employees who will read the manual, making it easier to consider the content afterwards.

③ Determine the content

Once you have decided on the concept of the manual, the next step is to consider the contents of the manual. In this case, we will introduce recommended content for both new employees and the company, using the example of training that will be conducted immediately after joining the company as a consultant.

●Basic Business Manners
Basic business manners include greetings, emails, attire, and etiquette. Some companies may assume that their employees already possess these skills or that they will learn them naturally once they are assigned to a specific role. However, even small behaviors and manners can vary from person to person. By documenting basic business manners, unnecessary mistakes and conflicts can be avoided.

●Overview of Business and Corporate Philosophy
After training, you will be assigned to each department. While you will learn a lot about the specific tasks you will be responsible for, opportunities to learn about the overall business and corporate philosophy will be limited. By being aware of the company and department you belong to, as well as your role and responsibilities, you will have a stronger sense of belonging and will be able to learn your job faster.

●How to Set Business Goals
One common concern among new employees is not knowing how to set business goals. New employees are not yet familiar with their job or the company. If vague business goals are set, it becomes difficult for the company to accurately evaluate their performance. Therefore, it is recommended to provide new employees with specific numerical targets and examples of evaluation criteria. Additionally, having a checklist for supervisors to use when reviewing goals can prevent discrepancies in goal criteria among different supervisors.

●How to Use Tools Used in the Company
Using tools is one of the most frequently asked questions from employees. In addition to summarizing how to use tools for attendance and various applications, it may also be beneficial to summarize how to use programs such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This not only benefits new employees who are inexperienced with tools, but also has advantages for the company such as maintaining a certain level of quality and reducing review time for deliverables.

By setting goals that are conscious of "benefits for both parties", designing the concept of the manual, and considering the content, it is possible to create a manual that can be used more effectively. By utilizing the manual, new employees can become independent faster, and the company can also achieve standardization of service quality and reduction of training time. If the workload is reduced, there may be more time available for utilization, and efforts to improve service and training quality may also be possible.

3. Manual Creation, Pay Attention Here!

Are you someone who thinks that once you create a manual, all you have to do is deploy it to new employees and you're done? In reality, many companies struggle with issues after deploying their manuals. We often hear complaints such as "Even though we included all the necessary information, for some reason it's not being used." It would be a waste of effort and resources if the manual you worked so hard to create ends up not being used.
That's why we would like to share three tips for creating manuals that will be used for a long time.

●Include Overview and Details
When writing the details of each step as content for a manual, it can be difficult to understand the overall picture and concept of the task, which can take up a lot of time. By including an overview and the sequence of steps, it becomes clear where each task fits into the overall process and when it should be performed, making it easier for employees to learn the task smoothly.
In addition, for tasks that require judgement depending on the situation, be sure to clearly state the criteria for making decisions so that even new employees can make decisions by reading the manual.

●Get Reviewed by Other Employees
After creating the manual, have it reviewed by employees with less work experience. Ask for their opinions on whether there are any difficult-to-understand parts or if there is any additional information that should be added. This will help fill in any blind spots that veteran employees may not notice, allowing you to create a manual from the perspective of new employees.

●Clarify the location of the manual
It goes without saying, but if it is created and its location is unknown, it will no longer be used. Make sure to clearly communicate the storage location of the manual, such as during orientation. Additionally, organizing the system by scenes or categories, such as "things to know before being assigned to the field" or "how to use internal tools," will make it easier to find.
Also, it is helpful to include contact information for the responsible person or department for each task in case any questions cannot be resolved through the manual.

In addition, it is important to make the manual "easy to read". We introduce the points to make the manual easy to read on our blog. Please take a look.
https://www.science.co.jp/document_blog/29997/

4. Summary

So far, we have introduced the main points and tips for creating manuals for new employees. How was it? However, many people may not be able to start creating manuals easily because they cannot spare time while working on their main tasks.

Human Science has a proven track record of creating numerous manuals since 1985. We are a group of professionals specializing in creating business manuals. We can provide comprehensive support from organizing current issues, devising improvement strategies, to creating customized manuals. If you have any difficulties with creating business manuals, please feel free to consult with us.

https://www.science.co.jp/document/index.html

Features ①: Extensive track record of manual production for large and global companies
Human Science has a track record of 243 companies and 3148 manual productions, mainly in the manufacturing and IT industries. We have worked with renowned companies such as DOCOMO Technology, Inc., Yahoo Japan Corporation, and Yamaha Corporation.

Feature ②: Investigation and Analysis by Experienced Consultants ~ Output
The creation of business manuals will be handled by the experienced consultants at Human Science. Our skilled consultants will propose easy-to-understand business manuals based on their extensive experience and provided materials. We can also create manuals from scratch without any existing materials. Our assigned consultant will conduct interviews and create the manual.

Feature 3: Not only manual creation, but also support for implementation
Human Science Co., Ltd. is responsible for the important phase of "implementation" after manual creation. For example, even after manual creation, we will continue to update the manual and hold manual creation seminars. We approach the implementation of manuals in the field by implementing various measures.

Thank you for reading until the end.
I hope this blog can be a helpful guide for creating easy-to-read manuals.