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Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
20 Reasons Why New Hire Training Is So Challenging (And How To Fix It)
Effective training is essential for employee success, yet many organizations still struggle to provide new hires with the tools and support they need. From rushed onboarding to outdated mindsets, a variety of issues can hinder learning and long-term growth. The good news? These problems are fixable with the right leadership approach. Below, 20 members of Forbes Coaches Council share key reasons why training efforts so often fall short, offering practical strategies leaders can use to build stronger, more impactful programs. 1. A Lack Of Structured Resources The most important issue contributing to a lack of essential training for new employees is insufficient onboarding resources. Leaders should prioritize designing and implementing a structured, well-resourced onboarding and training program that clearly outlines essential skills and knowledge for new employees, assigns trainers or mentors and provides accessible learning materials. - Souzan Bachir, Mira Coaching & Consulting 2. Treating Training As A Task List Training should feel like a guided journey, not just a checklist of tasks. Leaders must map out the first year's experience, showing how their roles will evolve and connecting them to organizational goals. Managers or leaders should be coaches and mentors, offering guidance and encouragement. Check-ins and recognition help employees feel supported and welcome, giving them an empowering path of growth. - Steve Walsh, Exceptional Transformations LLC 3. Overlooking Non-Technical Training Needs One key issue is the lack of focus on non-technical training during the orientation period. While technical skills are essential for job performance, it's the non-technical aspects, such as fostering belonging and connection, that drive long-term engagement. Leaders can use one-on-one conversations as coaching moments to uncover training needs and provide tailored support from the start. - Elif Suner, MBA, MCC, Enrichia 4. Viewing Training As A Cost Versus An Investment When training is perceived solely as a cost without tangible benefits, it's all too easy to eliminate it. However, when organizations recognize training as a strategic investment that actively drives employee engagement and retention, it transforms into an essential priority. - Karen Tracy, Dr. Karen A Tracy, LLC Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify? 5. Hiring For Immediate Performance Hiring based on immediate performance often pressures new employees to produce quickly and learn on the job. Leaders can fix this by prioritizing structured onboarding programs with defined milestones, assigning training mentors and measuring success through retention and productivity, not just speed. - Keirsten Greggs, TRAP Recruiter, LLC 6. Limiting Training To A One-Time Event Training is often designed as a limited event, rather than an ongoing experience. Training managers need to understand that it takes months for trainees to become competent and confident in their roles. After the initial training period, managers must be trained to become competent mentors and coaches. Companywide mentorship programs, utilizing one-on-one meetings, ensure ongoing engagement. - Edward Doherty, One Degree Coaching, LLC 7. Separating Training From Daily Workflows The expectation that employee training takes too long, isn't needed or is separate from daily activities is outdated and unhelpful. The solution is to understand and include employee training as part of an employee's job, in day-to-day activities, with opportunities to practice as they learn and receive feedback so they continue to grow. - Laura Vanderberg, Newton Services 8. Using One-Size-Fits-All Programs One issue is a lack of personalization in training. When organizations rely on one-size-fits-all programs, they miss the opportunity to engage employees based on their unique strengths. Leaders can fix this by using tools like personality assessments and co-creating growth plans that align with each employee's natural talents, making training more relevant, motivating and effective. - Megan Malone, Truity 9. Seeing Learning As Perk, Not A Vital Core Value A major issue is that executive teams often fail to prioritize learning as a core cultural value. When development isn't seen as vital to success, it doesn't get the time, budget or focus it needs. Leaders must embed learning into the company's DNA—model it, reward it and ensure it's treated not as a perk, but as a business-critical investment for long-term growth. - Alex Draper, DX Learning Solutions 10. Not Blocking Out Days Dedicated To Development Employees and managers often lack time for training because they're busy with their daily tasks. Leaders can fix this by setting aside dedicated training days where learning is the only focus. When companies prioritize learning and make it enjoyable, employees are more engaged and motivated to grow—it's all in how managers structure the experience. - Diana Lowe, Blue Light Leadership 11. Letting Limiting Beliefs Undermine Conversation The issue here is not one of resources—not money, training skills or time. The fundamental issue here is mindset—limiting beliefs and biased thinking—and environments immersed in overwhelm. A simple fix that's undervalued is to improve the quality of conversations. Business processes and operations break down due to a lack of quality conversations. Doubt it? You should try it! - Jay Steven Levin, WinThinking 12. Sacrificing Onboarding Quality For Speed One key issue is prioritizing speed over onboarding quality. In the rush to fill roles, leaders often underinvest in training. The fix is to build structured, scalable onboarding that balances short-term productivity with long-term retention—assign mentors, set learning milestones and treat training as a culture-building investment. - Jaide Massin, Soar Executive Coaching LLC 13. Resisting Knowledge Sharing Among Experts The problem is the 'knowledge hoarding trap,' where experts resist documenting expertise, fearing it diminishes their value. I help leaders implement 'Teaching as Leadership' recognition, where knowledge sharing becomes a performance metric. One client tripled training effectiveness by rewarding top performers for creating micro-learning modules. Shared knowledge multiplies indispensability rather than reducing it. - Nirmal Chhabria 14. Neglecting To Measure Training Outcomes The biggest problem is a lack of clear ROI tracking. Without measurable outcomes, training is often viewed as a cost rather than an investment. You can address this by implementing a feedback loop: After training, employees should share key takeaways, demonstrate how they're applying new skills and, where possible, teach others. This reinforces learning and helps assess the impact and maximize the value of the training efforts. - Sandra Balogun, The CPA Leader 15. Focusing Only On Current Role Requirements Employee training that does not have a line of sight to improving business outcomes is a low priority for organizations. Skill-based training has taken on significance due to its applicability. However, leaders need to understand that employees are not being trained for just the current job. They need to be upskilled for their next role, so a mindset shift is required to be systemic about training. - Thomas Lim, Centre for Systems Leadership (SIM Academy) 16. Undervaluing Employees As Key To Growth Leaders still don't fully believe their people are their greatest value. They treat employees as resources, not as potential for growth. To fix this, leaders must shift their mindset. When they truly see people as the key to success, training becomes a priority, not an afterthought. - Veronica Angela, CONQUER EDGE, LLC 17. Overwhelming New Hires With Ineffective Content One reason training fails is that it overwhelms and misfires. We dump information instead of building understanding. People learn through stories, emotion and sensory cues—not just facts. The fix is to strip training to the essentials. It's less, but better. You should make it experiential, memorable and human (perhaps even fun). When learning aligns with how the brain encodes meaning, it sticks—and so do your people. - Julien Fortuit, Julien Fortuit Agency 18. Leaving It Up To Hires To 'Shadow' For Self-Training The real problem is that training is treated as ad-hoc 'shadow work'—new hires are expected to learn on the fly whenever their team has a spare moment. Because these moments never appear, critical skills slip through the net. The fix is to schedule training as nonnegotiable calendar blocks in the first weeks, tie each module to a real task and make managers accountable for completion, not just delivery. - Peter Boolkah, The Transition Guy 19. Focusing On Execution At Improvement's Expense The greatest challenge is the prioritization of execution; the work has to get done. Only athletics and the military prioritize training over execution. You should focus on continuous improvement, then build steps into your policies and procedures that allow for frequent reviews, openness to new ideas, shifts to new and improved practices and job expansion into adjacent and promotional roles. - Ed Brzychcy, Lead from the Front 20. Not Connecting Roles To The Mission One issue contributing to a lack of essential training is not understanding what truly matters to new employees. Too often, training focuses on forms and tasks instead of showing employees how their roles connect to the mission. You can overcome this by creating training that helps new employees see who they need to know, why their role matters and how it fits into the big picture. - Kathleen Shanley, Statice
Forbes
03-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Feed Forward: How Great Leaders Communicate For Growth
Souzan Bachir is Executive and Team Coach at Mira Coaching & Consulting. getty Communication is about building trust, clarity and connection. The way leaders communicate shapes how teams collaborate, navigate challenges and grow. When feedback becomes part of everyday conversation, instead of being reserved for when things go wrong, it transforms into a powerful tool for development. As a leader, your communication becomes the blueprint others follow. Whether you realize it or not, people mirror how you speak, respond under pressure and handle challenges. That's why leadership begins with self-awareness. Your words and tone set the emotional temperature of your organization. I often see leaders skip over problems or issue directives without context, assuming everyone is on the same page. But assumptions create confusion, not clarity. Effective communication means pausing to ensure alignment, explaining the 'why' behind decisions and creating space for others to contribute. The goal is genuine dialogue. Leaders sometimes fall into patterns of talking at people rather than with them, turning communication into a one-way street. Or they overload conversations with detail, losing the purpose in the process. True influence comes when communication is intentional, open and grounded in mutual understanding. When leaders engage in multi-way conversations, they cultivate trust, psychological safety and a culture where people feel heard. That's the kind of environment where teams thrive and leadership communication moves from reactive to truly impactful. When done well, feedback is about guiding someone toward what they can do next. I believe feedback should be treated as a growth conversation, not a performance judgment. It's not just about what happened in the past; it's about looking forward, empowering the person and exploring what's possible. I often call it 'feed forward' because that shift in mindset helps people see it as an opportunity, not a critique. Instead of telling someone what they did wrong, I invite them to reflect. I might ask, 'How do you think that went?' or 'What would make it better next time?' That opens the door to self-awareness and accountability, without triggering defensiveness. I encourage leaders to let go of tired formulas like the 'feedback sandwich.' Most people see right through it—it feels scripted and can shut people down before they truly engage. Instead, I use the GROW model by Sir John Whitmore: define the goal, assess the current reality, explore options, and decide on the way forward. The GROW framework works across performance conversations, coaching moments and peer-level check-ins, creating structure and fostering ownership. At its best, feedback highlights strengths, explores next steps and builds confidence. It's a conversation, not a correction. And when delivered with curiosity and care, feedback becomes one of the most powerful leadership tools we have. Feedback shouldn't be limited to when something goes wrong. It should be part of the everyday rhythm of how teams operate. One of the most powerful things leaders can do is normalize feedback by modeling it themselves. That means not just giving feedback, but also actively seeking it from peers and team members. When leaders show they're open to growth, it signals to everyone that feedback is not a threat—it's a shared tool for learning. We need to shift feedback away from being tied only to performance metrics or moments of failure. A holistic feedback culture includes celebrating soft skills, mindset and effort, not just results. Too often, I see teams race from one goal to the next without stopping to acknowledge what went well. Leaders must create space to celebrate wins just as much as they coach through challenges. Recognition should happen publicly, boosting morale and reinforcing positive behaviors. But when it comes to developmental feedback, it's best done in private, where it can be delivered with care and clarity. Both acknowledgment and feedback are essential; we need the yin and yang. People thrive when they feel seen not only for what needs to improve but also for what they're doing right. Ultimately, we all want to grow. When feedback becomes a natural, respected part of the culture, it fuels that growth for individuals and for the organization as a whole. To make feedback meaningful and safe, leaders must start with intention. Before offering any input, it's important to clarify the purpose: Why are we having this conversation? What area of growth are we aiming to support? Setting that intention helps create clarity and reduces defensiveness. Equally important is the need to ground feedback in observable behaviors, not assumptions or personal labels. Saying, 'In the last meeting, I noticed you stayed quiet,' opens up a constructive dialogue. Saying, 'You're too quiet,' shuts it down. Feedback should be specific, situational and framed in a way that invites reflection rather than resistance. The most impactful feedback conversations are collaborative. Instead of simply pointing out what needs to change, ask, 'How can I support you?' That simple question shifts the tone from correction to partnership. It reassures them they're not alone, support is available and encouraged.. Ultimately, feedback isn't about having the answers as a leader. It's about facilitating growth by helping others see where they are now, where they want to go and how you can help them get there. That's when feedback becomes a catalyst for progress instead of a source of fear. Great leadership is about listening, connecting and creating space for growth. When communication is rooted in trust and feedback is reframed as 'feed forward,' people feel empowered to improve and contribute. By modeling openness and normalizing feedback, leaders build a culture where learning is constant and acknowledgment is valued. That's how organizations and the people within them truly grow. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
