Tip #3 – Accessibility
Not only is it important to think about the content of your videos, but you need to consider how your new starters are going to access them. Simply cramming people into a classroom and sitting them down in front of the TV won’t cut it anymore.
Instead, look at how we all access information in our day to day lives. We do this on-demand, in our own time and on our own devices. If your new starters can access and watch short onboarding videos during their morning commute, or squeeze one in at home when they have a spare 15 minutes, they’re much more likely to engage with the process and take away the learning objectives.
Think about using a learning management system (LMS) to organize all your onboarding materials, videos and everything else. The more information is laid out with ease and available in one location, the greater the impact it’s going to have.
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Tip #4 – Use your own staff
One of the best resources you’ve got, and one that you’re probably not utilizing, is the people already in the organization. They’re the subject matter experts and can be used to help you set the scene and paint the bigger picture in your onboarding training.
Asking key managers to work with you and create short introductory videos about their department is a perfect way to break down otherwise complex information. Focusing on key corporate areas such as finance, HR and communications is a great place to start. Like all your onboarding and training content, this should be subject to regular review and feedback to make sure the information is up to date and achieving your learning objectives.
Tip #5 – Make it individualized
Remember that all your staff is individuals and nearly everyone likes to be treated as such – this is especially true of millennials. Adding a personal touch to the onboarding process is a great way to increase engagement with your new starters, and some companies even go as far as giving their staff individual gift bags on their first day!
Whilst you don’t have to go to this extent, there’s definitely scope to use a personalized approach through your videos and offer small rewards and incentives (such as discount vouchers or corporate branded ‘merch’) for completing sections or modules. Furthermore, setting out clear goals and making this trackable and rewardable is a fun approach to get some gentle competition into the onboarding process.
Incorporating e-learning into your onboarding training can enable you to create personalized learning paths. Your new hire only needs to learn what is relevant to them and their role within your organization.
In Closing
Don’t just view your changing workforce as another challenge to overcome; instead, become involved with what the new generation has to offer through their new ways of doing things. Get them engaged and excited from the word ‘go’, using videos and e-learning in your onboarding process, and by making things short and creative you will keep them enthusiastic about their new place of work.
To kick-start your onboarding program, why not download Easygenerator’s Onboarding Starter Pack.