Onboarding and Everboarding: The Key to Retaining Great Opticians

In today’s optical practices, one of the biggest challenges owners have is retaining qualified, motivated, and trusted opticians. High turnover rates have become the norm with many industries competing to recruit from the same talent pool. Many practices find themselves in a constant cycle of recruiting, hiring, and losing team members. Fortunately, there is a proven solution that helps with retention as well as overall practice success.

Investing in training and development is often looked at from two different perspectives. Some practice owners think it’s necessary, while others say, “What happens if I invest all this time and money to train my employees and they leave?” But have you ever wondered “What happens if I don’t invest time and money to train my employees … and they stay?”  To be an effective leader that runs a successful practice worth working at, the training should never stop.

Onboarding: Building a Strong Foundation

Onboarding is one of the most important steps in reducing turnover. When new hires are left to “figure it out,” they often feel overwhelmed and disengaged. Effective onboarding builds confidence, fosters loyalty, and helps employees quickly see their role in the success of your practice.

Most practices do not have a structured onboarding program. Setting up the systems to have an impactful and sustainable training program are time consuming and often take a back seat to more urgent matters.

The good news is you do not need to re-invent training. There are options available to you that take today’s learners and learning styles into consideration. The new HOYA Learning Center is a free platform for HOYA customers that you and your team can easily access. In this training platform, short 15–20-minute courses are organized from basic optics to advanced premium technologies, providing a clear, proven path for new employees to learn without information overload. By giving every new team member a strong start, you improve performance and set the tone for long-term success in your practice.

Visit the new HOYA Learning Center, via the HOYA Hub, to make training consistent, efficient, and easy to integrate into the workday.

Everboarding: Continuous Learning for Long-Term Growth

Effective onboarding is crucial, and continuing to train your staff after the first few months should be equally as important. Everboarding is ongoing education beyond onboarding, it keeps your team sharp, engaged, and prepared for the future. It ensures employees stay up to date with new products, technologies, and patient expectations.

Providing continuous learning helps staff stay confident and consistent in their roles. Everboarding signals to your team that you’re invested in their growth. When growth is valued, your team becomes more engaged in their role and invested in your practice. This builds loyalty, reduces turnover, and creates a culture of excellence in the workplace.

The HOYA Learning Center provides opportunities for your team to learn new skills at their pace, or at a pace you set in order to meet the demands of your practice and patients.

Training Matters for Every Role

It’s tempting to focus most of your training on the opticians; however, everyone in your office needs opportunities for development. Every team member plays a role in the patient journey. A well-trained staff works together, creating an environment where patients feel cared for and employees feel connected to the practice’s success. For patients, going to see their eye doctor should no longer be about the product you sell, or the services you deliver, everyone can provide both of those. Real magic happens when you can stage an experience for your patient that they will never forget; and the only way to do that is by making sure every member of the team understands how their role shapes the experience.

Training is more than technical skills, it is about building a culture that keeps people engaged. It proves to your team that you are invested in them, and in turn, they invest more in your patients and your practice.

Ways to Build Everboarding into the Work Schedule

Even in a fast-paced practice, training doesn’t have to be disruptive. Here are practical ways to make learning part of the daily workflow:

Micro-Training Moments

Use 10-15 minutes during slower periods or team huddles to review one focused topic—like handling tough patient questions or reviewing a new lens feature.

Monthly Learning Themes

Choose a topic each month (e.g., patient empathy, product knowledge, time management) and reinforce it with quick sessions, examples, or role-playing throughout the month. 

Quick Recaps After Key Appointments

Use debriefs to turn everyday experiences into learning. Ask: “What went well?” or “How could we improve that handoff?”

Lunch & Learns

Host short, optional sessions during lunch. Bring in speakers, share videos, or let staff lead a topic they’re passionate about. Don’t forget to order lunch for the team!

Celebrate Learning at Your Practice

A great way to keep your team engaged is to celebrate their successes. Every time a member of the team completes a course or learns a new skill, share it on your social media channels. There are two main benefits to celebrating your team’s growing skill sets.

1.   The team will be motivated to continue learning and will see their effort is appreciated when their leaders celebrate them.
   
   
2.   Your patients, and especially prospective patients, will see your practice is a place where skills and education are valued.
   
   

Having an educated staff that is celebrated shows how much is involved in eye exams, glasses, contacts and all the services you provide. You are being compared to online and big box retailers; your team and their value are a key differentiator.

The HOYA Learning Center: Interactive Learning for Busy Practices

To support your practice, we’ve designed the HOYA Learning Center to provide a dynamic, engaging, and easy-to-use platform for both onboarding and everboarding. The new platform offers structured training paths, interactive content, and easy access through the HOYA Hub. By creating individual users with training permissions, your team can grow at their own pace while staying aligned with your practice goals.

To shift the focus from recruitment to retention, the solution is to do more than finding the right people, it’s investing in them through training and development to help them prepare for their future. By embracing both onboarding and everboarding, you’ll build a stronger, higher-performing team that delivers a consistently exceptional experience to every patient. Take the time to invest in your people, and in return they’ll invest in your practice.