First impressions always count and induction programs for new hires are very important for organizations. They will set the pace for the employee’s ongoing development and have direct impact on retention.  The “attraction and acquisition” of suitable candidates is only the beginning, “retention & engagement” are the key to building a successful and productive workforce over time so your company can  thrive.

This is where eLearning can play a key role in developing and implementing strategies that will make onboarding of new employees effective and engaging.

Here we give you the 5 key elements for successful employee induction to set your new hires and your company off to a great start.

#1 Make it personal 

We live in an age where technology rules our lives and there are many positive sides to it. People expect to have personalized experiences each time they interact with a company or organization and it has become the norm that each contact is at a level that takes into account the person’s own preferences, likes and interests. So why should it be any different when we talk about welcoming new employees on board? Well, the short answer is, it shouldn’t and eLearning offers the perfect opportunity to make the induction period as personal and engaging for each individual as you want it to be. Starting a new job can be stressful but it’s also an exciting time, when new opportunities open up for a fresh beginnings and you can take your career in the direction that will truly fulfill your potential. So using the full potential of online learning to invest into each employee’s induction process is solid investment in the future of the organization.

#2 Hearts & Minds

When a new employee joins your company you want them to develop a sense of belonging so one of your key objective is to win ‘hearts and minds’. What better way to do that than to involve the whole team at all levels by delivering key messages and also immerse the new hire into key moments from the organization’s history and culture. Elearning allows you to do that in a cost-effective and timely manner, and of course it’s much easier to achieve than for example if you try to organize face to face meetings, presentations or use most other traditional methods. This is particularly true for big organizations, with offices in different locations and numerous employees where logistics and time management can become barriers and prolong induction unnecessarily.

#3 Use all your tools

Make sure to use all the means that eLearning provides to create engaging, interesting and most of all enjoyable induction programs. Don’t be afraid to use gamification, interactivity, animations, graphics or in other words all that technology can offer to involve your employees and help them understand the processes, rules and all they need to know about your organization. If they are motivated and engaged the learning will be faster and retention will be higher than if they just go through pages and pages of information that’s generally difficult to digest. And if you also make it easy for them to come back to what they’ve learned and use it as a reference as they continue to work and develop within your organization, this will ensure that they feel truly part of it. 

#4 Be flexible

One of the beauties of online induction is that you can allow your new hires to be flexible with the time and place for their induction training. Depending on the size of your company and the employee turnover, you might have to deal with complex logistics. Online learning allows you to offer flexible schedules to your employees especially new ones who have to take so much information on board. 

#5 Manage change effectively

An online orientation program for new hires can be a great motivator to organize all the materials that you have about your organization into one place in a logical structure. This makes it much easier and cost-effective to keep the information up to date, not only saving money for training of future hires, but also as a way for existing employees to refresh their memory once in awhile. 

Having said all this about the most important ways to create effective onboarding programs, there are also other important benefits for online induction. It allows for feedback and assessment so you can monitor results and make adjustment to the program. Not only that, you can also spot potential problems with new employees and address them in a timely and efficient manner before they can become more serious.

See how you can use Melon LMS to add new employees to your induction program. It’s easy, isn’t it? Check out our Melon LMS demo by registering here for free.