Of Carknockers, Gandydancers . . . and the Red Light District?
March 9, 2016

Believe it or not, all those are terms that came from the early 19th century days of railroading. And they serve to prove a point. Every industry, and even every specific company has its own language. What might sound peculiar to an outsider makes perfect sense to you.

But what about your new employees? There’s always a learning curve involved in a new place. The “lingo” may be as foreign as the new task at hand.

With a properly developed onboarding video, your new employees will immediately feel at home and not left scratching their heads about things like Carknockers (freight car repairmen) and Gandydancers (track maintenance workers). (Not to cast aspersions, but the term “Red Light District” may already be known. More on that later.)

 

An Onboarding video can do all that and more. Key messages are delivered the same way every time. Nothing is missed, nothing is skipped. What needs emphasizing gets emphasized. They can be entertaining as well as educational. And employees will remember what they see more than what they hear.

Reduce Turnover

We help break down the idiosyncrasies of your company into manageable information. So a new employee is more at ease and better engaged from day one. Studies show that roughly 33% of employees decide to stay or leave a company within their first 30 days of employment. It just makes economic sense to make sure they’re “on board” right away and productive quicker.

The fact is, a professionally developed onboarding presentation is key to engaging new hires. An effective onboarding enables them to grasp the firm's culture, history, customer base, performance expectations, job requirements, communication expectations, and much more, including picking up the lingo. The ultimate payoff? Reduced turnover and longer tenures.

Now about that Red Light District.

The phrase comes from the practice of railway brakemen leaving their lanterns on porches of brothels. Since they were required to be findable at all times, they'd hang their red lights in the windows where they were.

Contact us for more information on how we can help you automate your onboarding process and keep the hog (that is, your Locomotive) on the right track.



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