When we recruit new hires, we are expending a lot of time and it can be expensive. The HR department does its very best to get the best talent onboard and with skills that fit the vacant role. So why would we not provide the sort of welcome that prepares the new person in the best way to become part of the family.
This welcome relies very much on the first impression. Organisations that do not have a structured onboarding process often find the people they have worked hard to get walk away confused and wondering what they have joined.
According to a research survey by Wells, as early as 2005, 5% of new employees leave after they have an unsatisfactory first day while others decide within the first 30 days whether they feel welcome in the new role. Another report from Aberdeen (2015) shows that out of all companies who plan to increase their hiring in coming years only 32% have a formal onboarding process.
Considering these statistics, onboarding proves to be the most effective way to align new hires with the organisational culture and their expectations. If it is not well structured then you are playing Russian Roulette with your precious new talent.
While most organisations have an induction or training programme in place, they seem to be reconstituted presentations comprising lengthy documents full of facts and figures that new hires are expected to complete and absorb in limited time. Enter mobile learning on the Modlettes’ platform.
Mobile learning was listed as one of the six trends that will change the workplace, according to T & D magazine (Source: Ketter). With increasing numbers of professionals using mobile phones for learning and support the performance of this medium indicates the likelihood of mobile learning becoming the primary way employees access learning.
According to an ATD study report (2015), only 38% of the managers think that the learning programmes meet the needs of the learners. LinkedIn’s 2017 Workplace Learning Report even states that employees expect a lot of improvement in their existing programmes.
Studies have also shown that organisations that have leveraged mobile learning end up with greater employee retention than those who don’t. Self-directed, anytime and anywhere learning approach is what benefits the most keeping in mind the time, geographical location and accessibility of the employees.
How Can Mobile Learning Benefit an Onboarding Programme?
Mobile is learning designed for millennials and they will very soon be the bulk of new hires. When you plan to design an onboarding programme for the present workforce, it should be engaging as well as enticing enough to hold them throughout the onboarding process.
Bite-sized content helps in greater retention of knowledge. When employees gain knowledge from training programmes, it should be possible for them to use the knowledge to improve their productivity. Currently what most onboarding programmes tend to do is cram a lot of extraneous information because there is so much to cover from culture to workplace ethics to employee benefits they are afraid they might miss something. However, this leaves the new employee confused and only able to retain a mere 10% of what they have learned. Mobile learning is designed to achieve the desired effect within a short time frame. The learning Modlettes are bite sized making it easier for the new learner to retain information. A report by Werner and da Gama says, a global pharmaceutical company showed an overall 53% improvement in their knowledge retention when mobile learning was used to introduce a brand-new product. In addition, they can be easily accessed in times of need, allowing learning to take place as and where needed.
Personalised learning increases employee engagement.
The traditional onboarding programmes, full of facts and figures displayed on screen, seem too ‘formal’ in presentation, leaving new hires feeling uninspired.
Mobile learning, owing to the popularity of the technology, offers a personal connection enabling the learners to learn at their own pace.
When organisations have their onboard content on mobile, they can schedule their learning more efficiently. This adds to a whole new personalised experience, thus contributing to more engagement, greater productivity, 50% greater retention among new hires, twice the level of normal new hire engagement.
Pre-boarding: Why is it equally effective as Onboarding
Ideally, onboarding is the process through which new hires acquire skills, knowledge, behaviour and attitude, thus ensuring their success. But an effective programme starts before the new hire even joins. It becomes very important to have a pre-boarding process in place. This helps employees to sound more confident through the orientation process of training programmes, informal interactions and use of technology.
So how effective is your employee onboarding process? Have you considered Modlettes on their online mobile platform yet?
Order the new e-book, “Mobile Onboarding” by emailing [email protected] and typing Onboard in the Subject field.