Training new hires is one of the most crucial yet often overlooked aspects of building a successful team. Let’s imagine you are hiring a third employee after two are already performing admirably. It stands to reason that one of the current staff members would be ideal for training the new hire. They already understand the nuances of the position, after all. This method, also referred to as buddy or peer-to-peer training, is as American as coffee breaks in the workplace.
The harsh truth is that peer-to-peer training is not only ineffective but also a potential productivity killer and a cunning budget squanderer. On the surface, it might seem sensible, but a deeper examination reveals a number of problems that could harm your team in unexpected ways.
Let’s first examine the five main causes of peer-to-peer training’s frequent failures and the costs to your company before moving on to potential solutions.
Absence of Organisation
“Hello Sally, this is Bob. I want you to help him get started because he’s new to the team.” Does that sound familiar? This situation is typical of peer-to-peer training. Despite its apparent simplicity, this method is frequently just as unstructured as it seems.
Peer-to-peer training lacks crucial components without a clear plan, such as established beginning and ending points, well-structured content, or even a checklist to make sure all important subjects are covered. The outcome? Bob, a recent hire, might pick up some skills but lose out on others. Even worse is the possibility that Joan, the next hire, will be even less prepared if she receives training from a different team member.
Because of this discrepancy, new hires don’t get the solid start they require for success. These minor training gaps have the potential to develop into more serious performance problems over time, which would reduce team and individual productivity.
Mistakes Spread Like a Virus
Let’s face it, not everyone is suited to work as a trainer. Sally isn’t necessarily a fantastic teacher just because she does a great job at her job. Teaching and doing are actually two completely different skill sets. Imagine that over the years, Sally has unintentionally developed a few bad habits that aren’t in line with best practices. She instills those negative habits in Bob when she trains him. After Bob integrates these into his workflow, the team as a whole may soon be using faulty procedures.
There is no quality control in peer-to-peer training. It makes the assumption that the trainer is an authority on both the job and knowledge transfer. Regretfully, this isn’t always true. Unchecked mistakes have the potential to silently undermine quality and sabotage efficiency over time, spreading throughout your company like a virus.
The Unspoken Price of Ineffective Training
Peer-to-peer training appears to be economical at first glance—it’s “free,” after all. However, as you delve further, the hidden expenses begin to mount. Sally isn’t doing her real job for every hour she spends training Bob. You are essentially paying two workers for the productivity of one person.
Not to mention the stress this puts on Sally. She is attempting to onboard a new team member while balancing her own workload. This frequently causes delays in Bob’s training, her job, or both. This inefficiency can accumulate over time, causing deadlines to be extended and team operations to become slowed down.
Even worse, Sally and Bob are not the only ones affected. It may be necessary for the team to pick up the slack, which can result in dissatisfaction, burnout, and low morale. The so-called “free” training approach is actually a costly waste of resources that is passed off as a cost-cutting strategy.
The Issue of Repeatability
The lack of repeatability in peer-to-peer training is one of its main drawbacks. Much of the information Bob gets from Sally is likely to deteriorate over time, or worse, disappear completely, unless he takes thorough notes during every conversation. Since people are fallible and informal training frequently relies on verbal explanations and memory, there is a great deal of opportunity for errors and misunderstandings.
Imagine that Joan is trained by another staff member when she joins the team the following week. It’s highly likely that her training will be different from Bob’s. In the absence of standardized resources or a consistent procedure, Joan might overlook important information that Bob just so happened to discover, or the other way around. The end effect is a team with disparate levels of competency and knowledge, which can cause errors and inefficiencies that affect your business operations.
New hires like Bob and Joan are forced to rely on their trainers for follow-up questions because there are no centralized materials to review. This leads to a vicious cycle of disruptions that further reduces output and keeps information dispersed rather than available.
Training Without Metrics
How can you tell when Bob is prepared to start working right away? The response is frequently a shrug in peer-to-peer training. Usually, this approach lacks a clear end goal, measurable standards, and evaluations to verify knowledge retention. Training simply stops when Bob begins to take on more responsibility.
It is impossible to assess whether Bob has acquired all the knowledge required for success in the absence of quantifiable results. Is he winging it, or did he fully understand the procedures? Does he have any important knowledge gaps that could cause him to make costly errors later on? Bob and the organization are at risk because of these unresolved issues.
Structured training programs, on the other hand, have built-in systems to assess progress and guarantee preparedness. Measurable training, whether in the form of tests, role-playing exercises, or certifications, gives employers peace of mind that new hires are prepared for their positions.
An Improved Path Ahead
Peer-to-peer training might appear like a sensible solution, but as we’ve discovered, it has many problems, including a lack of structure, the tendency for mistakes to be repeated, hidden expenses, an inability to successfully repeat the process, and a total lack of quantifiable results. These traps affect team performance and deplete resources in addition to impeding the success of recent hires like Bob and Joan.
What is the other option, then? E-learning platforms and other structured training solutions provide a much-needed improvement. Your company benefits from consistency when you use eLearning because all of your employees receive the same excellent training. Because the content is pre-reviewed and based on best practices, errors are reduced. It is quantifiable through evaluations and progress monitoring, and it is repeatable, enabling new hires to review content as needed.
The goal of investing in a strong training program is to position your team for long-term success, not just onboarding. The proper strategy guarantees that each worker has the resources and know-how to succeed from day one, keeping your company effective, productive, and equipped to handle any obstacles that may arise.
