Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451379
3 8 G R A P H I C S P R O A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M B usy season has blanketed the printing industry. Hopefully, everyone is keeping up with your shop or studio, orders, and releases or whatever it is that you make and where you make it. Busy sea- son, as great as it can be, can also create challenges. I want to cover one of those challenges in particular today: hiring/training employees. Whether you just hired someone on, a team member got promoted, or a spouse is stepping in to help with an increased production schedule, it is so important to have the right tools to train someone in the printing industry. MAKING MISTAKES is is a hands-on industry. Get your new hires (Joe, we'll call him), or promoted employees (Kate, as we'll call her), hands on as early as you can and as often as you can! ere will be mis- takes made. Allow mistakes to happen and react to them calmly. How you react when someone is training will dictate how they react to every mistake they make after that. If you can approach mistakes as a chance to learn something and get better, it instills that same mindset in someone who is starting something new. We know, from our own experience, to expect a higher misprint percentage with a new printer compared to a long-term employee. Order a couple extra garments more than you normally would and tell them that they have four (or close to) shirts to test with before their production run starts. is will help get them started with less pressure, and if they nail the first four shirts, you can save the same amount out of the production run (unprinted) for the next order and now they have the same buffer without need- ing to order extras again. REPEAT & RETHINK You need to paint a very clear picture of Point A, Point B, and any steps in between, that you feel are an absolute "do-as-I-do." Ideally, we have our new team members, Joe and Kate, mimick- ing what we are doing, exactly, until they can repeat all the steps A P P A R E L D E C O R A T I N G FOSTER EMPLOYEE RETENTION AND ESTABLISH QUALITY IN YOUR PRODUCTION PROCESSES You need to paint a very clear picture of Point A, Point B, and any steps in between, that you feel are an absolute "do-as-I-do." (All images courtesy Josh Kice) B Y J O S H K I C E TIME FOR TRAINING: Tips for Training New Employees (AND YOURSELF)