How Can eLearning In Millennial Onboarding Benefit Your Employees-To-Be
When I look around, my workplace is teeming with Millennials. I wouldn’t be surprised if Millennials constitute a sizable chunk of your company too. This confident, motivated, creative group of employees, with out of the box ideas, is certainly an asset to any organization.
However, the millennial generation poses a challenge to hiring managers the world over as it is the most difficult to retain. According to a report titled Talent 2020: Surveying the Talent Paradox from the Employee Perspective by Deloitte [1], well-thought-out onboarding programs can help increase employee engagement and commitment. Therefore, in order to boost retention of the millennial workforce, you need to get the onboarding process right.
What can go wrong with an onboarding process? Let’s understand with the help of Millennial Millie's diary, who has just accepted a job offer. I will share excerpts of the diary to show the likely negative impact of an onboarding situation, and how eLearning can come to the rescue.
Excerpt 1: Am I Actually Onboard?
"I am starting my first job in 3 days. I have accepted the offer letter from this company. But I haven’t heard from them after that. Am I actually onboard?"
Any kind of change brings with it a feeling of uncertainty at first, and it’s no different with a new job. New employees need to be reassured about their decision and have a clear idea of what’s in store for them through a pre-boarding process. However, in an office environment that is constantly busy and buzzing with activity, HR departments often do not get the time to spare a thought to pre-boarding.
Pre-boarding is the time when you can actually give the employee a complete understanding of how the business got to where it is, its history, and how the new employee can contribute to business growth.
It is said that Millennials are the generation of strong emotions. If that were true, paying attention to what a new hire needs to know before arriving at your workplace helps. Short eLearning modules in the form of videos can give a flying start to your millennial onboarding program. Include information on the dress code, point of contact on the first day, and other information that the employee needs to know.
Excerpt 2: Am I welcome here?
"My first day at work. I arrive at the workplace and am told that my immediate supervisor is going to be away for a week. My colleagues are busy meeting tight deadlines. I realize there is no onboarding process in place. I guess I must be glad to have a computer and workspace assigned. Why was I even asked to join when my supervisor is not going to be around?"
There are times when supervisors and managers might need to go on unscheduled leaves or are too busy with the demands of the business. Many small organizations do not believe in the process of onboarding because they are dealing with a trickle of employees and do not face huge ramp-ups that are common in bigger organizations. eLearning can come to the rescue by giving the millennial onboarding program a fresh look.
Introduce the new hire to the eLearning portal in your organization. Have them go through the guidelines for new hires and assess them on their understanding. All this can be done online without the intervention of the employee’s supervisor or manager.
Furthermore, introduction videos from the Millennials’ colleagues are sure to make them feel welcome, even if it’s done virtually. This helps acclimatize Millennials with the company’s culture and, in turn, increases engagement.
Excerpt 3: Can’t There Be A Better Way To Present This Mandatory Training Content?
"An hour at my new workplace and I am handed a thick bound book on compliance policies. I skim through the pages. I’d rather leave than go through such boring, uninteresting stuff."
Compliance, health and safety, and information security are a few examples of mandatory information that new employees need to go through. Millennials have grown up with technology and would like to leverage it at their workplace too. So, eLearning would be the right choice to impart mandatory training programs in the millennial onboarding process.
Creative strategies in Instructional Design can be used to make the training interesting. For example, game-based learning can breathe life into a dull, boring topic and make learning fun.
Excerpt 4: Why Can’t They Give Me Just The Content I Need To Know?
"I thought I was joining the IT department but I am asked to go through some policies that apply to the procurement department personnel. Gosh! Where have I landed?"
There is no one-size-fits-all training, and this is applicable to onboarding as well. Training has to be personalized with information that learners need to know. With eLearning, you can personalize the millennial onboarding program to suit different roles or departments.
If your millennial workforce faces anything remotely similar to what Millie has, you might soon see them job-hopping. But the good news is, you can avert such a situation. With a blend of online and instructor-led programs, you can help the millennial workforce hit the learning sweet spot and boost engagement and retention.
Also, your onboarding process does not end in one day. It needs to go on for at least a few weeks until the employee integrates into your system. In fact, some companies have an onboarding process that lasts up to a few months. Going online surely makes it a feasible and sustainable process!
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