5 Common Obstacles Of Employee Induction Training And Tips To Overcome Them

5 Common Obstacles Of Employee Induction Training And Tips To Overcome Them
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Summary: So many organizations are still failing to do induction properly. What's causing this, and what can be done to improve the onboarding experience? Take a look at these 5 common obstacles of employee induction training and our tips to overcome them.

Employee Induction Training: Common Obstacles And How To Overcome Them

Your organization’s employee induction training should serve as the center of your company’s hiring process. It gives your organization the chance to offer a positive first experience for new starters and give them the confidence and support they require to get productive and up-to-speed as quickly as possible.

eBook Release: Onboarding Optimisation: Your Guide To Employee Induction Using A NextGen LMS
eBook Release
Onboarding Optimisation: Your Guide To Employee Induction Using A NextGen LMS
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Unfortunately, many organizations are still getting induction wrong. From content-dumping on the first day to just leaving new starters to ‘get on with it’, many organizations have found that not doing induction properly to be both expensive and ineffective.

So, what’s causing so many organizations to get induction wrong? And what can be done to resolve these issues? Here are 5 common obstacles you may meet during the employee induction training, and solutions also follow:

1. Giving New Starters Too Much Information At Once

Solution: Offering Context-Rich Resources On Demand

It makes sense to want to get your new starters productive as quickly as possible, however many organizations think this is done by overwhelming workers on day one and trying to tell them everything in one go. Put yourself in the position of the new starters. On your first day, it’s natural to have woes and worries about the new role, along with many questions, so adding the overwhelming feeling of having to process everything in one day is certainly counter-productive and not a good first experience.

There are also organizations that do the complete opposite and adopt a ‘learn-as-you-go’ type of approach instead, where they let the new starters get on with it. This again fails to answer any of their concerns or questions they may have when joining the organization and can lead to them not meeting the expectations of the company, or not feeling confident enough to showcase their full potential.

Your employee induction training is not a one-day process. It should be a structured plan that begins when the new starter accepts their new role. By offering digital resources on your learning platform, your new starters can begin their οnboarding before they have even walked into your offices. You can tackle any worries they have and give them the confidence and support they need to turn this into excitement and motivation.

Your digital resources will free up the need for face-to-face time, and put your new starters in charge of their own learning. Focus on building context-rich resources that answer what your workers want and need, not just ‘generic’ ιnduction material, but specific information related to ‘how things are done here’, and where the new starters fit into the company.

2. An Impersonal Induction Experience

Solution: Focus On Relevance

Not fully understanding the roles of your new starters will result in a difficult ιnduction experience, with generic and uninspiring content. Your workers will have their own expectations of their role, so it’s important to acknowledge these right away and give your new starters enough information that is personal and relevant to them.

Building a one-size-fits-all program will not answer the questions your workers will have, it just piles them with content about the company, rather than their individual roles and where they fit into the business. The point of ιnduction is to get new starters productive and up-to-speed as quickly as possible, so content-dumping generic company information is only going to slow down this process significantly.

It’s important to ensure your digital resources are relevant to the workers' job and answer the questions they need to do their jobs better. Many businesses fail to address the real concerns of their workers by guessing or assuming that the L&D ‘knows best’. Use feedback from your existing workers, ask them what they would have found useful during their Induction. Use their feedback to continuously change and improve your resources to provide the best and most personal experience for your new starters.

3. Trying To Do Everything On Day One

Solution: Plan An Onboarding Journey

Many companies focus on just using the new starters’ first few days to really engage them, but then struggle to follow-up or continue the induction process in the right way. By jumping into the onboarding process without a clear sense of direction or devoting enough time to getting new starters up-to-speed, organizations find themselves struggling to keep their new starters interested, and there will then be a lack of excitement when engaging with future training materials.

Putting workers through a few hours worth of ‘training’ or leaving them with loads of content is certainly not going to get them productive quickly, let alone want to engage with your training material.

Up to 20% of turnover happens within the first 45 days of employment [1], so whilst your first impression is extremely important, you also need to focus on keeping your new starters engaged for the remainder of the induction process.

Work on a clear and concise plan on the stages of your employee induction training. Where should new starters be after their first week, the first month, and then after 6 months? Focus on the long-term goals, not just day one.

Conduct experiments, ask existing workers for feedback, you should be constantly looking to improve. Remember, induction is a long-term process, and you should constantly be looking to integrate learning into the workflow, not separating it.

4. Getting Lost In The Details

Solution: Prioritize The User Experience

Many organizations find themselves focusing on only the formalities, rather than the experience for new starters. It’s daunting starting a new role, and your employee induction training should be offering support and comfort to your workers, and not feel like a cold, strict experience.

You want to get your new starters excited about joining the company, so your induction process should offer a more personable and relatable approach, and most importantly make your new starters feel like they are welcome and can ask questions when they need to.

Rather than just focusing on all of the information you want your workers to know, also consider the delivery and experience of them. Are they going to fully engage with your training if they’re being bombarded with information on their first week? Focus on connecting them with others in the organization, meeting their concerns and most importantly, giving them the confidence they need to progress and succeed in the business. Your induction can still be professional without focusing on being overly formal!

5. Not Utilizing Digital For Support

Solution: Use Technology To Provide On-Demand Support

It’s understandable to want to free up valuable face-to-face time and that schedules and high workloads can get in the way of spending enough time in-person to support new starters. That’s why choosing the right learning platform for your employee induction training is vital as a permanent point of support for your workers.

Your LMS should freely be available and have the guidance and answers your new starters will need, whenever, wherever. Your digital resources should be addressing the problems your workers face on a day-to-day basis and provide quick, engaging solutions.

This gives your new starters the confidence to know they are being fully supported, even when the face-to-face time is not always available; they’re still given the tools they need to dco their jobs better without having to leave the workflow.

Keep these obstacles in mind when planning your employee induction training. Remember; induction requires a lot of planning and structure. You should be looking to constantly improve the process for your new starters, and recognize the onboarding experience goes much further than just the first day.

References:

  1. An onboarding checklist for success [infographic]