With the labor market as tight as it is, many HR managers are giving up hope of finding qualified job candidates and have resorted to training unskilled new hires.

But there is an upside to this trend, according to human resource managers responding to the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) 2000 Training Management and Cost Reduction Questionnaire.

New-hire training programs can be an efficient way to control HR department and program costs. In fact, 43 percent of participants said they are realizing the advantages of the “find‘em and train‘em” approach.

• A Southern utility improved its in-house safety training for small groups of new and transferring employees in forklift operation, defensive driving techniques, and other physical tasks. The company tracked the results of the new hire safety training and confirmed that it reduced workers’ compensation and liability claims.
• An HR coordinator at a non-profit medical care center in Ohio began a critical review of the content of all orientation classes, cutting back to only what gave new hires what they needed to know immediately.
This cut the total number of training and instructor hours significantly, and reduced costs and improved training effectiveness.
• Adopting enhanced training programs for the newest recruits at an HMO produced better employees, improved retention, interdepartmental collaboration, and employees’ morale and career opportunities.