If you have still not converted your offline employee induction to e-induction it’s time to do so…here are the numbers to show why you should have an employee e-induction.

Let us understand how employee induction helps in employee retention

Induction involves orientation and training of the employees in the organizational culture, and showing how he or she is interconnected to (and interdependent on) everyone else in the organization. (Source:Dictionary.com)

Induction of employees is the first step towards gaining an employee’s commitment to the organisation. In fact, it’s also the initial step in gaining the confidence of the employees, that the organisation is the right fit for the employee’s aspirations and goals. A structured and good induction process contributes to the initial impression of the employees about the organisation. An employee who undergoes a timely and structured onboarding process is more likely to fit into the organizational culture and role and stay longer with the organization.

While there are many organisations using the traditional techniques of employee induction like the classroom programs, these have drawbacks in terms of timeliness, consistency of training, as well as engagement and effectiveness and, are most likely to become outdated.

So the solution is to take your employee induction the e-way.

What are the benefits of e-induction?

1.Provides flexibility to the learners to set their own time as well as the pace for learning

2.Enables employee engagement and ensures retention

3.Cost-effective strategy

4.Helps in increasing productivity of the organization

5.Provides detailed tracking and reporting of information

So what are the various types of employee e-induction? Employee e- induction can be mapped to the traditional induction, which typically includes 3 stages:

 
Stage I Pre e- induction

Pre-induction is the stage that occurs before an employee starts work at your company which means that the employees are already part of the organisation but is yet to commence work or have not joined the organization. At this stage, the organisation should make the necessary arrangements to welcome the employees.

The Pre-induction stage in an organization usually consists of the following information:

•The basic details about the organization like what the company does, the history, products and services, organizational charts etc.
•Details of start date or joining date, place, time, building access of the new joiners
•The reporting authority/department
•A welcome kit before joining is shared with the new hires comprising of the welcome handbook and set of joining forms

 Let’s see how we can implement the pre induction online:

  • The organisation can roll out an amazing animated e-induction video to welcome the new hires. Include the details about the organisation, location and presence, company history, organisation structure, and the reporting authority etc.
  • Filling out the joining forms is a very crucial step for every organization and is usually done at the time of joining. With pre-e-induction it can be easily completed beforehand saving the time for the organization as well as the new hires. The organisation can create a quick video simulation or a screencast style of animation to fill out the forms to ensure that the learners are very clear on the process and the forms are duly filled up without any errors.
  • The recent trends in pre-e-induction show organizations encouraging the new hires to get more familiar with the organisation even before they officially commence the work. For example, the pre e- induction program of the Vodafone Group Plc welcomes the new hires through their online portal to interact with their department colleague/s thus encouraging them to easily break the ice and helping them to gain more insights about the organisation. Sending out official invites welcoming the fresh hires to the social groups in the different social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, also forms a part of pre e- induction.


Stage II  Induction/ On the ground induction

A successful pre-e-induction ensures the new joiners are familiar and comfortable with the organizational basics. When the employees join the organisation, they undergo a detailed induction process. The employees are usually welcomed by the HR department of the organisation.

The induction / On the ground induction in an organisation usually includes the following:

  • Company’s culture,vision, values and mission
  • Compliance related aspects
  • HR related aspects – Work hours, Dress code, work rules,
  • Roles and responsibilities
  • Performance standard and expectations
  • Assign a buddy or mentor they can reach out to
  • All appropriate training activities required to perform the job

The on the ground induction process is usually done on a F2F basis at many organisation as it requires the employees to understand and align with the new environment. However certain aspects like policies etc can be informed to the new joiners through E-induction.E-induction can play a major role to make the on the ground onboarding experience a seamless one and at the same time help in reducing the cost and time.

Some of the inclusions in e-induction can be:

  • The working of the HR portal or dashboard of the organization like the basic details, facilities, salary, leaves, seating etc can be easily demonstrated through simple e-learning simulation.
  • For making the new joiners aware of compliance related aspects, include an interactive scenario-based compliance e-learning or try using serious games to make it more engaging. You can refer to our e-learning game template of  Information security(a compliance module) to understand how e-learning games can be used to train the new hires.  
  • Take the employees through a virtual tour of the organisation with the help of an interactive video. I recommend watching this gamified interactive  video of Deloitte New Zealand. The video shows take the viewers inside the Deloitte culture while also educating viewers on Deloitte’s various service lines. By clicking on choice points within the video, viewers get to walk in the shoes of a Deloitte employee and decide his/her courses of action. Include proven strategies like game based assessments, quizzes etc to assess the knowledge of the learners and contribute to enhanced memory retention.

Stage III Post e-Induction

Once the employees have undergone the in-depth induction and have adapted to the working environment, it is very essential to continue and support them. The organization should collect regular feedback and ensure that the employees are receiving adequate support and resources to perform well in their roles. The post induction phase is very important as it measures the effectiveness of the previous stages of the induction process.

The post induction usually includes the measures to check the following

•Has the employee understood his job duties and responsibilities clearly?
•What are the identified the skill gaps if any?
•Ensure that there is a strict feedback mechanism that is properly implemented.
The organisation needs to measure these results with the set standards that are practiced or followed in the organization. For example, taking the feedback reports from the line manager or supervisors etc about the performance of the employee

Let’s evaluate how well e-learning as a strategy can be used in the stage of post-e-induction.

•Use e-learning assessments, like quizzes, puzzles, and small series games to test the knowledge of the learners
•Use the online survey tools to take feedback from the supervisors and the new hires. Taking the feedback allows to identify the learning gap if any and take proper actions. For example, if the organization identifies that there exists a learning gap in understanding the compliance policy(on Cybersecurity as the learner scored less on the e-learning assessment). The organization can easily recommend the learner to revisit the learning content on cybersecurity compliance policy.
While we have seen the different types of e-induction classified into Pre e-induction, E-induction and  Post e-induction,the list is incomplete without mentioning the technologically driven e-induction types or formats. Hence let’s explore the popular technologically supported or technologically driven e-induction types.

Gamified e-induction
Game based e-induction
Animations (Combination of a level 2/3 with engaging animations)

Gamified e-induction

By gamifying the employee induction process, it helps the organization to provide a stress-free, convenient and fun environment for learning.  The use of the game elements like the rewards, leaderboard etc can make the onboarding experience a fun, rewarding and engaging one. Let’s take a quick look at the benefits offered by gamified e-induction.

•Make the learning sticky as learners “want it” rather than “ compelled to finish it”.
•Leads to more successful learning outcomes as the learners are better able to retain and apply the concepts due to the gamified nature of employee induction
•New joiners may carry a positive image of the company owing to the gamified nature of learning. Millennial may find it rather “cool”……

Game based e-induction

Use of games and game-based learning for corporate training requirements is definitely increasing. Hence it is not surprising that game based e-induction is gaining the acceptance in the corporate world as a fresh strategy to onboard their new hires by playing a game.
The attributes of e-learning games, such as engaging and interactive gameplay, compelling storylines, attainable challenges, rewards, recognition, control, and a safe environment make them a powerful choice for e-induction programs.

Animations(combination of level 2 and level 3 of interactivity )

Animations offer powerful ways to craft an engaging and interactive path to onboard the employees to the organisation. E-learning animations with a high level of engagement i.e the combination of the level 2 and level 3 of interactivity can be ideally used for employee onboarding.
•By using animated training videos, it opens a fresh way to communicate with the new hires and make them feel curious and amazed. An animated video to explain the history of the organization, the organizational values, the people and professional culture can replace a lengthy classroom onboarding. An engaging learning experience is always enjoyed by the learners, especially among the new hires as it sets the right tone or attitude within them to future training requirements.