We all know how time consuming and challenging the recruitment process is. Once the right candidate is selected, the mandate of getting him/her inducted and onboarded swiftly and efficiently is the next challenge. New employees can get disenchanted if they are put through a poorly designed Induction and Onboarding program.

A lot of times while the program may have been structured well, its implementation is patchy. This not only tarnishes the image of the organization but also leads new employees to re-think their decision of continuing with the organization.

In contrast, a well-structured employee Induction and Onboarding program helps the new inductees gain a faster understanding of the following key aspects:

• The organization.
• Its offerings.
• Its goals.
• Where they fit in and what is expected of them.
• How they align to the organizational goals and effectively contribute to its success.

From the organizational perspective, well-designed employee Induction and Onboarding programs ensure that new employees face a shorter learning curve to gain the required perspective, knowledge, and skills that will help them contribute in a lesser time. It also ensures better productivity and helps the new employees settle down faster.

What Is the Most Commonly Used Approach to Deliver an Employee Induction and Onboarding Program?

 We all recognize the value of human touch, and it is indeed a very effective approach to help new employees settle down. As a result, the traditional model of imparting an employee Induction and Onboarding program continues to be the facilitated/ILT approach. Besides facilitated, structured sessions, additional support is extended at multiple levels (through the supervisor, seniors, buddy and so on).

Challenges associated with the facilitated or ILT mode for delivering employee Induction and Onboarding programs

While it is a highly effective and widely used approach, the overall impact goes down on account of the following factors:

1. Inadequate time spent by managers/supervisors: All of us multi-task and always have other goals and targets to work upon. As a result, the quality time spent by managers/supervisors tends to be lower than what is required.
2. Varied impact: This challenge is applicable to all facilitated/ILT sessions where the quality and the impact of the session is heavily dependent on the trainer.
3. Inconsistent messaging: Often, the same session is handled by different trainers and can lead to inconsistent messaging leading to lower impact.
4. Delays in timely completion: Due to the pressure of other day-to-day tasks, the employee Induction and Onboarding program related tasks tend to get lower priority. If the intake of new employees is small, there can be delays in fully completing the program.
5. Cognitive overload: The new employees are bombarded with so much data in the first few weeks that is difficult for them to assimilate the information. On the other hand, this information is not in a ready to use format when they want to review it or when they need it.
6. Difficult to maintain consistent versions across the organization.
7. Difficult to update and roll out.
   

So, Where Does the Answer Lie?

Opting for an online employee Induction and Onboarding program that leverages Mobile Learning is a superb way to offset most of the challenges associated with the traditional facilitated/ILT programs.

• Depending on your organizational dynamics, you can decide on the right blend wherein you can retain some parts in the facilitated/ILT mode but move the larger component online.
• Remember, a blended approach will ensure that you will have a right mix of the human touch as well as self-paced learning (Mobile Learning).

How Can You Enhance the Employee Induction and Onboarding Training with Mobile Learning?

Organizations continuously seek approaches that help them effectively connect to today’s multi-generational workforce and deliver employee Induction and Onboarding training that will resonate well with all of them. The learning journey should begin with the employee Induction and Onboarding program and should offer an ongoing connect for the learners to come back for more. Modern learners prefer a training delivery that syncs up with their lifestyle, their preference on how they want to learn, and where they want to learn.

Mobile Learning is a great way to train new employees in a shorter time, with a consistent message that can create the desired impact.

You can select from a range of immersive learning strategies that create a high engagement quotient and will help learners learn and apply the acquired learning on the job.

From an organizational perspective, online employee Induction and Onboarding programs featuring Mobile Learning helps organizations in the following ways:

1. It helps organizations provide a consistent message.
2. The program can be easily rolled out to a geographically spread-out workforce.
3. It can be easily localized.
4. It can be easily personalized based on the role/business unit.
5. It can be easily adapted to address the needs of today’s multi-generational workforce.
6. As data or business dynamics change, it can be quickly updated and redeployed.
7. It can be scheduled in advance and can be tracked if the implementation is happening, as planned.
8. It can easily track and assess learner performance, and this data can be used to provide additional support.
9. It is a cheaper option when compared to the facilitated/ILT mode.
10. Given the fact that the seat time of the online version is lesser than the facilitated/ILT session, it can be completed in lesser time.

From the learners’ perspective, the Mobile Learning based employee Induction and Onboarding approach:

• Provides them the flexibility to learn on the go and on the device of their choice. They can move across devices (from laptops/desktops at office to learn and on tablets/smartphones to refresh).
• Empowers them by providing control to them to pace their learning.
• Limits the information overload as they can assimilate shorter bites of learning.
• Provides them with an easy access to information and learning aids when needed.
• Creates a more engaging and immersive learning journey.
• Elements like scores and leaderboards enable them to stay cued to their rate of progress and also check on their progress against peers.

What Learning Strategies Can Be Used to Create Effective Online Employee Induction and Onboarding Programs?

To create high-impact employee Induction and Onboarding programs, the approach:

1. Should be simple and easy to assimilate.
2. Should outline a clear learning path and time frame.
3. Should offer a personalized learning journey.

How Can Mobile Learning Be Leveraged to Enhance the Impact of Your Employee Induction and Onboarding Programs?

Here are 8 tips that will help you leverage Mobile Learning for employee Induction and Onboarding training:

1. Deliver the Induction and Onboarding program in a Mobile Learning format, giving the employees the flexibility to learn on the device of their choice.
2. Offer Microlearning or bite-sized learning, making it easier for them to assimilate it at their own pace.
3. Multiply the impact and create an immersive learning journey through Gamification, leaderboards and so on.
4. Look at adding some learning nuggets that feature Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to further enhance the immersive learning experience.
5. Use high-impact formats like Videos, Interactive Videos, Gamified quizzes and so on that keep them engaged.
6. Offer personalization (based on the role, region, or business unit).
7. Extend self-paced learning through Social or Collaborative Learning.
8. Deliver the learning journey through a custom portal for the highest impact.

Increasingly, organizations are opting for a Mobile Learning based approach to deliver their employee Induction and Onboarding programs. This approach delivers high-impact programs that can be taken on the go. It also enables them to offer a personalized learning path to induct new team members quickly and efficiently.

I hope this article gives you the required perspective on how you can leverage on Mobile Learning to offer employee Induction and Onboarding programs.

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