Training can be a crucial step in determining the success or failure of new IT employees, and yet it is often done wrong, according to Tony Bower, editor at TechRepublic. Bower takes aim at four all-too-common training tactics, explaining why they are as likely as not to backfire.

Relying on veteran employees to train the newbies may sound like a good idea, but it works only if the veteran is given extra time to take on the assignment. If not, you can expect the long-time employee's work to suffer while the new employee receives less than adequate training.

A formal training program can be just as problematic if it isn't offered in the context of the job, Bower writes. If new hires are subjected to a hurricane of details in a vacuum, it will be very hard for them to absorb them. "I would recommend that a trainer start from the conceptual and move into the detail," she writes. "If the employee is like me, then start out by talking about the purpose of the company and how its departments interact. Give me a list of my responsibilities and then break them down into illustrative segments. Let me watch a colleague perform one of the tasks."

Leaving it up to new employees to figure out their jobs and ask when questions arise is also a recipe for failure. "How would an employee even know what to ask unless she's gotten some kind of setup training?" Bower asks.

Finally, if you skip formal training and hope that a new employee will learn through osmosis, you may get what you pay for.

For more:
- see Tony Bower's post at TechRepublic

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