eLearning For Employee Onboarding Process
Effective employee onboarding is more crucial than ever. It sets the tone for a new hire’s experience and influences their long-term success at your company. But traditional methods of onboarding can be lengthy and may not effectively involve new employees right from the start. Enter eLearning—a dynamic solution changing the onboarding process by combining technology with learning. Let’s take a closer look at how eLearning can improve your employee onboarding processes.
eLearning For Employee Onboarding Process: Benefits
1. Guides New Hires On Company Policies
One of the primary objectives of onboarding is familiarizing new hires with company policies and procedures. Instead of burying them under a mountain of paperwork or a lengthy handbook, eLearning can help you provide a more interactive and engaging approach.
With company policy videos, you can offer concise policy explanations—and help new employees understand expectations from the get-go. For example, travel nurse agencies use eLearning platforms to help nursing staff stay up to date on regulatory compliance for licensing and other legal requirements. Information about protocols and procedures can be easily shared online, and short quizzes can be administered to assess whether the onboarding process was successful. By presenting information visually and dynamically, eLearning makes policy comprehension both efficient and effective.
- Pro tip
Use AI voice technology to provide personalized, interactive audio feedback and instructions. This makes it easier for new hires to absorb information and feel engaged from day one.
2. Reveals Workplace Culture
Company culture is the heartbeat of any organization. eLearning aids can help introduce new hires to company culture and organizational values through immersive experiences. From compelling company background videos showcasing your organization’s journey to "the way we work" videos illustrating cultural norms and values, eLearning helps new employees immerse themselves in your company’s ethos.
3. Streamlines Employee Training
eLearning streamlines employee training with self-paced modules accessible anytime, promoting a positive onboarding experience. New hires can progress through training materials at their own speed, promoting comprehension and retention. Include built-in assessments to reinforce learning objectives and see how new hires are progressing.
You can also use eLearning tools to create training materials for diverse learning styles and preferences. For instance, you might create a sales handbook as a PDF—and then repurpose it into a video and a slideshow. This gives trainees three different ways to ingest the information so they can choose the method that best aligns with their learning styles.
4. Helps New Hires Complete Onboarding Forms
Completing new-hire paperwork can feel daunting to new employees, especially with everything else they need to do to start their new job. eLearning simplifies this process by guiding new hires through essential documents step-by-step—like filling out a direct deposit form. You can use interactive modules to provide clear instructions on how to complete paperwork, complete necessary assessments, and other onboarding checklist items.
5. Showcases Benefits Packages And Other HR Details
Choosing the right HR benefits package isn’t always straightforward. But with interactive videos, slides, and infographics, you can break down benefit options, eligibility criteria, and enrollment procedures in a user-friendly format.
You can also integrate HRIS software into your eLearning platform. Integrating eLearning platforms with performance management systems can help you align onboarding objectives with long-term performance goals and services like employers of record. By tracking Key Performance Indicators, employee progress, and skill development over time, you can identify areas for improvement and tailor future onboarding workflows accordingly.
6. Cuts Costs and Provides Another Profit Stream
eLearning can significantly reduce the costs associated with employee onboarding. There are no expenses for venue hire, travel, or printed materials, making eLearning a cost-effective solution for organizations of all sizes.
You can also repurpose some of the eLearning assets your company has made as digital products and sell them to relevant organizations. For instance, you might create a course called "How to Start Your Journey as a Travel Nurse" or "How to Know if an Organization’s Company Culture is Right for You."
7. Reveals New Hires Who May Not Be Cut Out For Their New Roles
While hiring a new employee is a significant investment for many businesses, prioritizing employee retention when someone’s not right for the job can lead to more financial losses. By using eLearning tools paired with employee monitoring software, you can track how new hires are progressing through the employee onboarding process. This can help you uncover which team members are failing assessments and not completing the required paperwork on time. This also gives you the chance to offer more support and training sessions to get new hires back on track—or cut ties if needed.
8. Helps Facilitate Connections And Group Job Training
eLearning can help new hires make meaningful connections during group training and team lunch breaks. This promotes positive employee experiences and encourages higher retention rates.
You can also use group training sessions to uncover pain points your new hires collectively share. This reveals an important gap in your onboarding program that you can fill to promote a more engaging onboarding experience. By offering opportunities to take self-paced modules and train with peers, you can give trainees a holistic onboarding experience.
Wrap Up
eLearning helps organizations cut costs, train physical and remote employees, and streamline onboarding processes. By using an eLearning platform and integrating other relevant software, like HRIS and AI voice-overs, you can create a dynamic experience for your new employees. You can also create a one-stop shop that helps you track how employees progress through training modules and what skillsets they have. Not only does this streamline your approach, but it also helps you analyze where employees can advance into future roles.
The catch? You need to put some thought and time into creating an eLearning experience your new hires and organization can benefit from. Start by repurposing your manual training tools into your eLearning platform, and edit accordingly. Then, ask for routine feedback from HR and your new hires so can reiterate your approach.
