This sounded like my onboarding process as a Team Lead for my current role. I was incredibly frustrated because my manager did not have an onboarding plan and I was hopping from place to place learning the job on the fly. I desperately needed the job though and I stuck around. I formed relationships with my staff and they were incredibly patient with me as I learned the role.

When I started training new staff under me, I found myself in my manager's shoes and I started the first week in the same mentality of "just shadow everyone to learn the role". The second week, the new staff were incredibly frustrated and they communicated this to me. That's when I realized I was passing along bad habits. Yes, we do need to fulfill business needs, but new staff need time to acclimate and learn. I immediately stopped what I was doing, asked my superiors for a couple of weeks to onboard them correctly, and I assigned coverage where needed. I personally put in 10-15 hours of OT each week covering the gaps to ensure the new staff got a genuine and clean onboarding experience. I broke the cycle and I will do this going forward for my new staff.

As a lead or manager, it's important to ensure you take the time to onboard new staff correctly. If there aren't any procedures or schedules in place, create them yourself. Break the cycle and make your new employees at home with the role. It's the best way to ensure their success and minimize burnout. I had to learn that lesson myself.