The new recruits that you hired are sitting in a room, facing a screen. The instructor is literally reading out from a Powerpoint presentation projected on that screen.

The facial expressions of the new recruits have changed from that filled with a nervous energy and excitement to that of a dull mundane look; ideally reserved for an employee in the same dead-end job for 5 years.

This scenario has been over-dramatized. But, if your Employee On-boarding Trainings are even slightly like this, it’s time to take massive action.

The good news is that with a combination of fresh ideas and employee training software you can breathe life back into these trainings.

Let’s dive in.

Importance of Successful On-boarding Training

Almost all mega businesses like Google, Facebook, L’Oreal, and P&G have a dedicated induction program for their new employees. It is a big deal for these organizations and they are willing to go the extra mile to make their on-boarding training programs a resounding success.

Here are the top reasons that make successful on-boarding training such an important affair.

Successful Induction Training Improves Talent Retention

It’s common business knowledge that employees are the biggest asset for any organization. No wonder HR professionals like you keenly scout for the best talent out there and try to rope them in.

You already know how difficult it is to hire the cream of the talent pool, given the stiff competition for the same. It’s hard to hire the top talented professionals, but it is even harder to retain them.

That’s where on-boarding makes the biggest impact, because it is your first and last chance to create the perfect first impression on your newly recruited workforce. If the recruits don’t see a bright future and fast growth at your organization, their chances of sticking around for long are bleak.

Aligns Them With Your Company’s Goals

Most interview processes are a week’s affair at the max. It is impossible to give a fair exposure of the mission, vision, ethics and the overall work culture at your organization to the new employees in that small period.

A successful employee on-boarding program is your best chance to introduce these critical areas of your business to your recruits, and make sure that they are perfectly aligned with the same.  

Introduces them to the team

Again, the interview process allows the recruits to meet only a handful of team members on the hiring committee. A major part of every successful on-boarding training program is to introduce them to their team, and make sure the ice between them is broken as fast as possible.

Imparts the Skills for Achieving their KRAs

It doesn’t matter how aligned the recruits are with the company’s vision or how well they bond with the team, if they are not adept in the work they are responsible for.

A major part of any on-boarding training is imparting the theoretical and on-the-job knowledge of various software programs, tasks, and systems that they’ll undertake as part of their functional area KRAs.

Eases them out and make them feel at home

Ultimately, the aim of a successful induction program is to let the employee blend in with the team as fast as possible and justify their hiring.

Ideas For Highly Effective On-boarding Trainings

Here are few critical suggestions that you can adopt to turn your boring induction programs into enjoyable and highly productive activities.

1. Prepare a Welcome kit and Program Roadmap

Nothing makes new recruits feel more at home than a personalized welcome kit with items like notepad and pen with their name on it. This seemingly small gesture effectively conveys that they matter to the organization.

Moreover, a roadmap of the entire on-boarding program sets the expectations straight for the new employees as well as acts as a guideline for you.

2. Convert The Boring part into an Online Course

Every on-boarding program can be divided into two parts – theoretical and practical. The theory part covers the company policies and functional area training.

You might already know what happens when you try to stuff all this information in your recruits’ brains through powerpoint presentations. It only succeeds in making them drowsy and you waste your precious time and resources.

• Instead, try to convert it into an online course with the help of employee training software. This simple step will enhance the effectiveness of the training dramatically. Here’s how:
• Employees can access the course material anytime, anywhere through any device. They just have to log in to the interface with their credentials.
• Employees can learn at their own pace, as many times as they need to be thorough and track their own progress.
• They can participate in online discussions with their peers or instructors through the interface to clarify their doubts.
• They get to test their knowledge through quizzes at the end of each module and immediately know where they have missed some information so as to re-learn the same.
• You can also track each individual’s progress using the dashboard of the staff training software.
• You also get deep insights through the analysis of the collected quantitative data as well as qualitative surveys. This data is valuable to measure the success of the program and further improve it.

3. Maintain a healthy mix of theory and practical

Once you take care of the theory part with an online course, you can focus on complementing it with highly interactive practical sessions. A perfect mix of theory and practical would ensure that your recruits are getting the best of both worlds and are truly ready to be a part of your organization.

4. Undertake Ice Breaker and Team Building Games

Scavenger hunt, quizzes, outdoor activities and even an office lunch are great activities for recruits to come out of their shell and blend with their colleagues and seniors. Ensure that you include atleast some of these activities in your training.

5. Assign a Mentor

There is nothing better than having a person at the office with whom the recruits can discuss everything related to work as well as personal life. Mentors play a significant role in shaping the future of the new employees.

6. Consider Gamification for creating a Healthy competition

To boost the success of your induction training, convert the whole process into a healthy competition and see the results for yourselves. Gamification is the perfect way to draw the best out of your recruits and acts as a great motivation to bring their A-game to the learning process.

Conclusion

New employees play a critical part in defining the growth of any business. They can very well act as the differentiating factor that gives you the edge over your competitors in winning your target market.

No wonder it is absolutely vital that you undertake whatever it takes to not only hire the highly talented individuals, but also retain them for as long as possible.

And it all starts with a successful on-boarding training. Make sure you incorporate the ideas shared in this article and couple them with employee training software to create a great first impression on your recruits.

Have an idea to refresh on-boarding trainings that worked wonders for you at your organization? Do share in the comments below!

Author Bio:- Robin is a Technical Support Executive. He is an expert in various LMS and employee training software. Currently, he is a resident learning management expert at ProProfs. In his free time, Robin enjoys cycling and sky diving.