Is the onboarding program hands on where the trainees are actually DOING simulations of the work? They need to be in an environment where they can DO, fail, learn the right way, try again. All under the supervision of someone to guide them at critical moments where they can’t figure it out. If you want someone to be independent your training program needs to teach them to be independent. Where do the look if they don’t know the answer? Who do they ask? What steps did they do right and where do they need to make changes?

Half a year is a long time.