Discover Ways To Improve Onboarding Online Training For Seasonal Employees
We all dread it, new employees, more than anything else. They probably woke up extra early and put immense effort into picking out the right outfit. It’s less about fashion and more about first impressions. You don’t want to be known as the person who dressed up wrong. Then, as if that tension isn’t high enough, they have to contend with first-day nerves and uncomfortable introductions. After half an hour, they’re exhausted, can’t place anyone’s face, and barely know the way to the bathroom. How can this process be more beneficial and less cringe-worthy? Let’s look at some tips to develop engaging onboarding online training for seasonal new hires. After all, you never know which holiday temps will turn out to be top talent.
5 Ways To Boost New Hire Engagement
1. Be Brand Specific
Not all seasonal new hires are fresh graduates with newly minted degrees. This may mean they have decades of industry experience. Or it could be a stay-at-home parent/empty-nester re-joining the workforce. It might even be someone who is self-taught with oodles of intrinsic talent that finally got noticed. What these new hires lack is specific interaction with your brand. They obviously know how to use a computer, but they have no idea about the kind of LMS you use. Or how your company logs labor. Or how to clock in and out using your corporate biometrics.
So, when you design their orientation course, focus more on these areas. Learn from your new employees. Walk them around the office and let them just observe their new co-workers. Keep it casual so that everyone can meet and greet. This will help put their frayed nerves at ease. Note the questions they ask or the areas that seem to arouse curiosity. Keep an eye on what piques their interest. It will tell you what onboarding online training they need.
2. Make It Mobile
Some workplaces are highly organized. A week before you start your new seasonal job, you have a designated workstation, security clearance, key cards, and log-ins. This is the exception though. In most workplaces, you won’t get your uniform/computer for a few days, or at least a few hours. You’ll be hovering and unsettled for a while. Everyone has their own mobile phone though, so instead of basing your online training on a desktop, develop an app.
Corporate learners can download it the second they walk in, or even before. You could actually give them access as soon as they’re verified and have passed their security check. Then as they wait for their allotted space, they can begin to self-train using the engaging onboarding online training kit on their smartphone. If you’re worried about corporate espionage, limit the content they have access to. Once they’re fully in, then you can drain the moat, lower the drawbridge, and expand their user rights. Now they can dig deeper into proprietary content.
3. Focus On Practicality
Corporate leaders rarely share their employees’ points of view. For the boss, lofty missions and visions are key. They might have a top-tier assessment of their company’s success. So, if you let the CEO orient new hires, they’ll hear a lot about how the company was founded. Or what its ‘squad goals’ are. That’s all great, but it’s all ideological theory. What they need to know are practical tips that will help them in their day-to-day work. They need to know how to fill out timesheets and how to record their weekly progress. They may need guidance on unfamiliar tasks, like writing industry reports or requisitioning equipment. Keep in mind that seasonal new hires are usually only there for a short period of time. Thus, you need to center on practical troubleshooting guides, task tutorials, and demos that help them reduce the learning curve.
4. Create A Personalized Training Path With Rewards
Of course, every job title calls for a different skill set. Don’t blanket your onboarding content. Allow new hires to ‘choose their own adventure’ that’s relevant to their specific position. Create a clear ‘training pack’ tailored for their job description. You might also consider gamification elements. Like badges for every activity they successfully complete or when they receive high marks on an onboarding compliance exam. They’re more likely to participate in engaging onboarding online training if there’s a reward at stake. Even if it’s something as simple as earning points they can put toward a ‘lunch with the boss’ or an invite to the VIP live training event.
5. Offer Moment Of Need Resources For Support
Launch a microlearning online training library for your seasonal new hires to give them the ongoing support they need. For example, bite-sized tutorials that show them how to use the sales terminals or safely handle the merchandise. These moment of need repositories aren’t just for their benefit though. You can also use them to identify top talent. For instance, LMS metrics reveal that one seasonal new hire, in particular, is accessing upskilling or cross-training resources. They’re thirsty for knowledge and ready to take initiative. Which may be a sign that they’re a good fit for your organization in the long run.
Conclusion
Starting a new job can be disorienting. You probably don’t know anyone at the office, and you have no idea what to expect. An engaging onboarding online training program helps to make sure your company does it right. Focus on tasks that are specific to your brand. Don’t be philosophical, abstract, or generic. Design detailed programs for each job position. Templates can prevent corporate learners from losing time on irrelevant orientation modules. Allow them to start training on their phones before their workstations are assigned. Compatible mobile onboarding apps are an easy way to facilitate this type of training.
How can you use onboarding software to figure out which fresh recruits are going to advance up the corporate ladder? Do you want to improve ROI and new hire engagement with the help of onboarding training software? Read our eBook From New Recruits To Rising Stars: Using Employee Onboarding Software To Help New Talent Reach Their Full Potential to find out how to choose the ideal new hire training software and identify your rising stars, plus insider secrets to onboard employees with special needs and those with limited tech know-how so that everyone gets the same benefit.
