Why would write about employee onboarding? It’s not like we invented the idea, much less perfected it to its core. So why even talk about it?
For us, it’s simple – by working with numerous clients who use Ekko to enhance their onboarding processes, we’ve finally seen the light of making this often-botched process more manageable and effective. And we’d like to spread the knowledge to the masses.
After all, don’t we all deserve to have one less boring compliance slide and instead be presented with a more intriguing option?
What is good employee onboarding?
First things first. This section is necessary before we properly begin the discussion. Again not because we’ve discovered anything new on the subject, but because with such a massive amount of material out there on the matter.
If employee onboarding is new to you, then it can be hard to decipher and you probably have questions such as: What we should do? What we should aim for? And what’s the big deal with onboarding anyway?
To start with – let’s agree that bad onboarding leads to higher employee turnover, and that leads to more unwanted spending that we could’ve allocated elsewhere. 25% of employees leave their jobs within their first year, which is technically still within the “onboarding period”. You have to agree that that’s insane! It’s such an immense resource waste, and one that can easily be solved.
So what’s the solution?
Many people forget that the onboarding process is basically one long campaign directed at the employee. A marketing strategy meant to keep the employee coming back for more, finding out more about your company and what it stands for. And yes, we know you’re paying them, but if you read any article relating to the new millennial generation – such as this one – you’ll see that this simply isn’t enough anymore.
Succesful Employee Onboarding: A Short List
So what are employees looking for, and what should you plan for, when building a process? Here is the shortlist compiled in a recent eLearning Industry article:
A Cultural Immersion
Yes that’s right, culture shock is a real thing for any employee during their first few days. Just try to remember back to a time when you couldn’t find the restrooms in your new office! And so our onboarding process should truly try and acculturate our new recruits.
This includes everything from teaching them where the best lunch spots are, the slang you may use with each other sometimes, and what casual Fridays might look like. It might seem silly at first, but the impact these things have on employee performance, in the long run, are immense.
How is eLearning involved?
By using blended learning techniques built into your LMS – such as our own Ekko system – like a forum where employees can ask each other questions, a gaming module where the learner can go through the company’s history, or maybe even an interactive A-Z guide to your company. The choice is yours.
Key Job Knowledge
This one is usually an obvious aspect of any employee onboarding process: let them know what you’d like them to do, how and by when.
Be specific at first, and try not to let your employees “innovate” right from the start – you’ll risk them feeling a bit lost, and inevitably frustrated at their everyday tasks.
How can eLearning help?
Well by using modules easily built into the system, interactive videos, and an open environment where new employees can easily ask questions and get responses right away, we can ensure the critical information for our new employees is in an easily reached, organized environment they can come back to whenever they need.
Compliance
Also a must, and sometimes rightly referred to as the “Achilles Heel” of any well planned, interactive and intriguing onboarding process.
In later articles, we’ll go more into depth about how Ekko and other LMS systems can make this – necessary but sometimes tedious – part of your onboarding process, a bit more “user-friendly”.
For now, here’s just a quick note about compliance and eLearning: by using both face-to-face learning and eLearning in unison to pass our messages and then enforce them in small bites of information over time, compliance training doesn’t have to be as tedious as it seems.
For example, in Ekko, you can easily create a course containing various activities within it, both face-to-face and online, all in one place, tracked and accessible from any device.
Development Track
Though this may come at the end of the onboarding process, it’s especially important for the incoming employees who were born into “Generation Y”.
Today’s youngsters want to see themselves grow, become better people, change the world. It’s one of the biggest differences from previous generations, who didn’t expect much from their workplaces other than a secure job, and hopefully a long career. Show your brand-new employees how they can grow and develop within your company – and you might just gain a more dedicated, loyal and overall happy employee.
Within eLearning, development tracks are translated into Learning Journeys. Through programs and courses, certifications and automatic tracking of your employees’ skills and goals over time in an easy-to-use system, Ekko allows any manager to lay out the big picture for their employees while letting them shoot for the stars.
Fast Track your New Employee Onboarding
With the new tools found in eLearning and Ekko specifically, the world of onboarding is, for the first time in years, turning on its head – and for the better. Interested in finding out more what Ekko can do to improve your onboarding?