New employees cost more than you think—Here’s how to speed up their success

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"The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay." – Henry Ford

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Many manufacturers assume that their most expensive employees are the highest-paid ones. But in reality, new team members are the biggest cost burden—not because of their salaries, but because of the time, effort, and resources needed to bring them up to speed.

Without an effective onboarding and training strategy, new hires struggle with long ramp-up times, costly mistakes, quality issues, and even safety risks. These challenges create a ripple effect that impacts overall efficiency and the bottom line:

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• Glassdoor reports that 82% of employees stay longer with companies that invest in great onboarding.
• Poor knowledge transfer has led to an 84% drop in productivity and quality due to the loss of experienced workers.
• Studies show that people remember 80% of what they watch but only 20% of what they read.
• And the pressing workers shortage issue that we’re all tired of hearing about - but must face: by 2030, 85 million jobs could go unfilled globally due to a lack of skilled workers.

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Without a structured approach to onboarding, companies face higher turnover rates, lower productivity, and increased operational costs. The key to reversing this trend? A smarter, more efficient approach to training.

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Why Traditional Onboarding Costs You More

Many manufacturers still rely on outdated, labor-intensive training methods that fail to efficiently equip new hires with the skills they need. These methods include:

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• Instructor-led training (still used by 93% of manufacturers) is expensive and time-consuming, often pulling experienced employees away from production.
• On-the-job training without structured guidance results in inconsistent knowledge transfer, making it harder for new employees to meet performance expectations.
• Reliance on paper-based or text-heavy SOPs is ineffective—people retain far less from reading alone compared to visual and hands-on learning methods.

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The costs of ineffective training quickly add up:

• Companies report a 30% increase in operational efficiency when digital tools are introduced into training programs.
• 69% of employees believe video should be used more in onboarding, yet many companies still rely on outdated text-based training.
• Online learning raises retention rates by 25-60%, meaning employees retain more knowledge and require less retraining.

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With manufacturing already facing a major skills gap and high turnover rates, companies must rethink how they train their workforce. Investing in the right training solutions can reduce errors, improve retention, and lower operational costs.

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The DeepHow Solution: Faster, Smarter Onboarding

DeepHow leverages AI-powered video training to help manufacturers onboard new employees faster, reduce mistakes, and improve knowledge retention. By digitizing expert knowledge and making training accessible anytime, anywhere, DeepHow transforms the onboarding process from a cost center into a competitive advantage.

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Accelerated Onboarding & Knowledge Retention

• DeepHow enables companies to create step-by-step, expert-led video training, allowing new hires to learn from the best while reducing dependency on senior employees.
• With DeepHow, leverage powerful generative-AI features like AI quizzing to quickly assess an employee’s readiness to move forward in their onboarding process without risking scrap, downtime, or personal injury.
• Manufacturers using digital tools in training report a 30% increase in operational efficiency.

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Centralized Knowledge Repository

• New hires can access a structured video library of best practices, troubleshooting steps, and safety guidelines—anytime, anywhere.
• Online learning reduces training time by 40-60% compared to traditional classroom methods.

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Proactive Quality Control

• Clear, repeatable training content ensures consistent quality standards from day one, reducing the risk of errors and costly rework.
• Predictive maintenance enabled by AI and IoT can reduce downtime by up to 50%.
• Companies using structured digital training see fewer customer complaints, better product consistency, and improved compliance with safety regulations.

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Collaborative Learning & Retention

• DeepHow preserves expert knowledge, making it easy for experienced workers to capture and share their skills with the next generation.
• Online learning raises retention rates by 25-60%, leading to a more knowledgeable and self-sufficient workforce.
• Companies with structured learning programs see higher engagement and longer employee tenure—a critical factor in reducing hiring and retraining costs.

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The Bottom Line

New hires are one of the biggest hidden costs in manufacturing—but they don’t have to be. With DeepHow, companies can accelerate training, reduce mistakes, and increase retention, all while ensuring expert knowledge stays within the workforce.

Just ask USG. As a leading manufacturing company with over 120 years of manufacturing expertise, USG understands that staying competitive means constantly improving. By leveraging DeepHow’s AI-powered video training, USG transformed its onboarding and training processes—turning decades of expert knowledge into structured, easy-to-follow digital SOPs. This shift has enhanced knowledge retention, improved training efficiency, and helped new hires get up to speed faster than ever before.

If an industry giant like USG can modernize training and accelerate workforce development, so can you.

🔗 See how DeepHow is transforming USG’s workforce training.

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