Organisations work hard to recruit and attract new employees in the hope that top performing talent will help them grow. Finding the top talent for a specific job role may seem like the difficult part, but keeping this talent can be just as challenging.
Poor employee retention is a big problem for organisations and has a number of causes. It could be due to a negative work environment, poor relationships with colleagues or a lack of guidance in general. Employees are a major asset to any company and are vital for their growth, so an effective onboarding programme for new hires is crucial.
Onboarding is described as “organisational socialisation and the process by which new hires are emotionally, physically and professionally integrated into the established culture and operations of their new employer.”
An effective onboarding programme should help new hires become familiar with the company’s operations and services, as well as the professional and social culture of the workplace. Starting a new job role is an intimidating prospect and new employees need to be effectively orientated so they can feel comfortable and perform to the best of their ability.
Hosting training days in a classroom-based environment is a common method for delivering onboarding, but this pulls people from their daily duties and can be costly. The amount of information given to a new employee in the space of a few days can also be overwhelming and, therefore, is often not retained. This is where e-learning can help – making onboarding a continual process rather than a one-off event.
First and foremost, using e-learning for onboarding provides accessibility to employees and reduces the pressure of retaining copious amounts of information given to them on their first day. Being able to access training materials at a time that suits them means they can learn at their own pace or perform self-directed learning through multiple devices. It also eliminates the time and money spent on organised training days, which can involve multiple instructors, a hired location and travel for employees.
E-learning can be tailored to suit the organisation’s specific learning objectives and goals. At Wranx, our dedicated Content Team can convert lengthy training materials into e-learning Drills customised for each of our clients, so training is relevant to new employees. Drills can be created to specifically onboard new employees and bring them up to speed on procedures and policies, as well as to support them with continual learning as they settle into their new role. The nature of personalised learning means valuable training is offered to the employee when they need it (just-in-time learning) and prevents the onboarding from being a generic ‘one size fits all’ programme.
Increasing engagement makes the onboarding process more effective. E-learning can help to achieve this through a blended learning approach.
Gamification is a favourite amongst employers, as game-like situations not only encourage participation from new employees, but help make learning essential information more memorable and fun. Indeed, 96% of cyber security experts who completed gamified training said this approach to learning was beneficial to their role. Another way to engage employees is to make large amounts of information digestible through microlearning. Breaking down topics aids the learning process because it suits the brain’s ability to learn short, easily consumable segments.
To tackle the rising problem of poor employee retention, the initial onboarding process must be made as effective as possible, as new talent who have experienced a positive introduction to the company and their role are likely to stay longer. Remember, first impressions are important; 90% of employees decide within the first six months of a new role whether they will leave or stay.
The effects of poor employee retention can have a great impact on a company, as time and money is spent training new hires. Also organisations can’t perform well if spoken negatively about by past employees. This could be detrimental to a company’s reputation and drive potential talent to competitors.
Delivering an effective onboarding programme through e-learning can help prevent poor employee retention and make an employee’s transition to a new role a lot smoother. Lowering recruitment costs also decreases staff turnover. E-learning means that relevant training materials become more accessible through multiple devices and are personalised to the Learner’s needs, whilst large amounts of training materials can be made gamified and micro, helping improve knowledge retention.
