11 February 2020
Be the one who can deliver an engaging, consistent induction programme
Make sure you maintain consistency in your onboarding programme
When it comes to onboarding new employees, induction programmes are rarely given enough thought. A report from HCI found that only 4 in every 10 surveyed organisations thought their onboarding programme was effective at retaining new hires - the main challenge being inconsistency in the application of the programme itself. When these programmes are inconsistent, the new hires rarely receive the thorough introduction to the organisation managers want to provide.
When there’s consistency in the onboarding process, new-hire productivity can increase by up to 50%, and when it’s a great process, 69% of those employees are more likely to stay for three years.
So what can those in charge do to ensure there is a consistent and well thought-out onboarding experience for new starters? The key is to use online systems to support onboarding programmes and give new employees a flying headstart - not just from day one, but from before they’ve even joined you! In the digital age, managers can provide crucial information and more before new hires even step foot in the office.
Automation is key for consistency
A study run by Kronos found that over a third of HR professionals believe that they lack the technology to properly organise onboarding programmes. If the induction process is entirely manual, then you risk new employees missing out on crucial parts of the programme, and being left unsatisfied in their new job - which is never a good idea.
There are lots of ways to make use of technology in preparing employees for their job. For example, you could use chatbots to answer many common questions saving your HR team valuable time, or make a series of videos touring your offices or describing a day in the life of one of your employees. You could create packs of important information for new recruits, about things like the company culture, policies, and organisational structure, that can be sent out automatically to new hires. These are just a few examples of methods that can make good use of automation and technology to introduce someone to a company before they even start their induction day.
LMS: a central hub for onboarding
We’ve already mentioned a few ways you could use technology to deliver a wide variety of onboarding features to new employees, the issue that really remains to be tackled is how you’ll deliver these technology-focused methods. That’s where your LMS can come in.
With your LMS, everything you want to distribute with tech can be compiled into one system. Just by adding recruits onto your LMS, they can be placed on learning pathways that deliver all the necessary compliance courses prior to starting; they can receive welcome packs, and get answers to their logistical questions; they can even use it to get in touch with other employees to get a more personal account of the roles they’re stepping into!
Your LMS is great for onboarding new employees - but that’s just one way of using your LMS to help your learning & development efforts shine. You can find out how else your LMS can help you shine in our latest whitepaper, ‘6 ways an LMS can help L&D shine.’
We’re at Learning Technologies this week. Come and meet us at Stand C32 and discover Breeio, the LMS that makes L&D work best.
Oh, and while you’re still here: Another great reason to use an LMS for onboarding is the ease with which you can reskill and upskill recruits - check out our last blog to see just how you can do that.