Training an employee in 15 minutes

On counting day a temporary or seasonal worker turns up in the morning. There is no time for a three-hour lecture, and none is needed. Counting calls for three skills: how to read a code, how to enter a quantity and how to fix a mistake. With a minute-by-minute plan this can be taught in fifteen minutes. Below are the plan itself, how to choose practice items and what to check in the first hour.

What is taught and what is not

Three skills and two rules are enough for the first day. The skills: reading a code, entering a quantity, fixing a mistake. The rules: do not look for the booked balance, meaning write only what you see; and when in doubt do not guess, but mark the position and call the person in charge.

What is not taught on day one: reports, settings, roles, editing the list. A counter does not need them, and trying to remember everything blurs the basic skills.

Why the first rule is needed: a person who sees the booked balance may bend their own figure towards it. Why the second: a number written "roughly" costs the most later, while a marked position is recounted in a minute.

The minute-by-minute plan

1. Minutes 0-2: why we are counting, where their zone is and who gets the result. A sentence or two is enough.
2. Minutes 2-5: show it. You count one item and explain aloud: "read the code, quantity 12, confirmed".
3. Minutes 5-10: the worker does it alone. Give them five practice items; you stand beside them in silence and step in only when they go wrong.
4. Minutes 10-13: fixing a mistake. Deliberately enter a wrong number and show how to correct it, then let the worker repeat it.
5. Minutes 13-15: the rules, whom to ask and what not to do. Answer questions.

In the closing minutes put three questions to the worker: what do you do if the label will not read, what do you do if the item is not on the list, what do you do if you slip while entering the number?

If you are training five or six people at once, show the first step to everyone together and run the practice in pairs: one does it, the other watches, then they swap.

Practice items: deliberately chosen "traps"

Do not take random goods for practice; choose five special ones. Let the difficulties of a real count turn up in training:

• a clearly readable code, which builds confidence;
• a tiny code on a curved container, which teaches how to turn the camera;
• an item with no code, to practise searching by name or the internal label;
• two similar-looking items, say 0.5 and 1 litre;
• an item with a torn label, where you explain what to do.

So that practice entries do not slip into the real count, use a separate trial session or delete them after the exercise. A worker who meets a difficulty for the first time in training will not be flustered on the working day.

Checking in the first hour

Training ends in fifteen minutes, but checking does not. Look through the first twenty entries yourself: what number, against which item, whether an extra zero has crept in. If the worker repeats the same mistake, say typing the code in place of the quantity every time, stop them at once and show that step again: a step practised a second time usually sticks. Pair the newcomer with an experienced colleague for the first hour. Give them a five-line crib card that fits in a pocket: how to read a code, how to enter a number, how to correct, what to do in doubt, whom to call. The card should be in a language the worker knows, Uzbek or Russian. After an hour run one more short check, then check less often.

Common mistakes

• Trying to show every function, so nothing is remembered.
• Only talking, never putting the device in the worker's hands.
• Scolding for a mistake: the worker starts hiding errors, which is the worst thing for a count.
• The trainer counts in place of the worker.
• No practice items, so the first difficulty is met during the real count.

Conclusion

Fifteen minutes of training does not give much, only what is needed: reading a code, entering a number, fixing a mistake and stopping in doubt. The first-hour check adds the rest. If you have no time to prepare your own staff, the StockCheck team arrives ready, while your people point out the places and confirm the differences.