How To Use eLearning For Entry Level Employees' Benefit
While many agree that entry-level jobs are very important for an organization’s business performance, employers find it hard to source the right candidates. Once they do find the right candidates and employ them, they face the challenge of retaining them for long. So, what can organizations avoid that risk? Here are some ideas:
1. Educational Content As A Part Of Pre-Hiring Process
A job is like any product that needs advertising and promotion. Else, your reach will be limited, and the talent pool that you can choose from will also be limited. Fortunately, you don’t really need a huge marketing budget for such promotions. Simple YouTube videos talking about the organization, its culture and the experiences of employees working in the organization is all that it takes for promotion. Using other social media also helps.
Based on the videos or content that is already out there on the internet about your organization, you can develop mini-quizzes or assessments that you can ask job applicants to complete. This might intrigue them about the organization, generate interest; it will enable you to check who has done due diligence about the company before applying to the job, and who is serious about joining the organization. Your eLearning provider who creates online courses for you will be able to develop it for you easily using rapid authoring tools.
2. Effective Onboarding Through eLearning Courses
Do you recall your first day at work on your very first job? When I look back at the first day of my first job, I remember being lost. It took me a while to get my bearings right, and when I did realize what the job entailed, I was no longer motivated to continue, and I quit before I got my third paycheck. So, the research stating new employees decide to stay or quit within 6 months of joining an organization was true in my case. Employers can avoid such high turnover of employees at entry-level jobs if they have a good onboarding process in place. The best way to welcome employees is to give them a clear understanding of:
- The organization (its mission, vision, and key people)
- Their role in the organization, and how they make a difference
- Expectations the organization has from them
- The go-to person in case of need
- Simple dos and don’ts
It may not always be possible for the HR team to engage with new employees completely—particularly if the hiring is staggered, and you have just 1 or 2 new hires every month. In such situations, having small and yet important eLearning modules (code of conduct, cybersecurity, HR policies and procedures, employee benefits and responsibilities) ready will be helpful for employees to go through when they feel lost or are simply waiting for a manager to tell them what to do or explain a key task.
The modules can be assigned to employees and be completed over a period of a few weeks. Also, a bunch of resources can be helpful that employees can refer to in case of doubts regarding their job, organization, or simply getting to know the products/services of the organization better.
3. Think Long-Term And Engage With New Employees Regarding Their Long-Term Career Plans
Ideally, the onboarding process should start right from the time an employee accepts the job offer to at least 6 months and even to a year from the date of employment. Thanks to online courses, it is no longer people-intensive or time-intensive process. All you need to do is have an onboarding plan in place for the courses employees can take online and those that need classroom training. You can develop a long-term eLearning curriculum that will chalk out a clear career path and progression for the employee within the organization.
If employees are clear about the growth potential within the organization, they are more likely to stay. Creating eLearning courses for different knowledge levels and rewarding employees for their completion through badges, certificates, are other ways entry-level employees can be motivated and nurtured to take on higher responsibilities.
Lack of reward or recognition is often cited as the primary reason for high employee turnover among entry-level jobs. Entry level jobs are critical for an organization, and it is in the interest of organizations to ensure that costs incurred due to high turnover are minimized; employers will need to invest in engaging and inspiring their front-line staff.
Digital learning supports this initiative as it reduces dependency on people and provides an opportunity for constant engagement and involvement with new-hires. The only key requirement is proper planning and vision about the contribution of entry-level staff and the roles they can move on to in later stages.