pre-induction
entering the workplace for the first time to experienced managers. This will help you identify the common themes in the information people needed in their early days to help you plan and design content accordingly.
Before they start, we should be giving our new staff a basic foundation of the business history, values and structure to help keep them engaged while they work their notice period on their current job. We should also be preparing them for their first day by answering questions such as ‘what time do I arrive’ and ‘what should I bring’ to help them feel ready to start their new job without any first-day concerns. If the role requires people to start with a certain level of skill, it could be helpful to provide some extra skills training throughout the pre-induction period to ensure they are competent by their first day. Taking information from the recruitment process, such as their CV, interviews or any pre-assessment tasks, can help us identify potential gaps in their knowledge, allowing us to plug the gap with the relevant training before they start. This may be as simple as a game to improve dexterity for a factory worker, or video-based scenarios to improve soft skills for managers.
The pre-induction period is not the time to start introducing complex systems
training. By the time the new employee has reach their first week, it is likely they will have forgotten exactly how the timesheet system works, so save this until they have a context in which to apply it, or until they are surrounded by people to ask for help.
When should it be accessed? Some organisations believe it is unacceptable to expect people who are not yet on the payroll to access learning in their own time. However, new starters will generally be keen to make a good first impression in the weeks leading up to their start date, so many will be willing to access material prior to starting. It also ensures that your learners are able to hit the ground running on their first day, and won’t need to waste time covering the basics on the company’s time. Pre-induction learning can start from the moment the job is accepted. One way to do this is to send a link to the learning portal with your confirmation email, giving new starters the chance to log in at the most convenient time before they start. Creating mobile-friendly content also makes it easier for them to fit in learning around their current role, which can be especially useful if they are working a notice period and have limited opportunities to learn for long stretches of time. It should be designed to enable short bursts of learning, which can be dipped into whenever the learner has some free time without feeling compelled to sit through an entire course. As well as this, it may be worthwhile sending ‘nudge’ emails drawing their attention to useful content in the run-up to their first day.
Where will it take place? It goes without saying that pre-induction training should be available to new starters wherever they are. It is very likely that they will be working out their notice at their current job, so it would be inappropriate to expect them to come into their new workplace for training. Instead, make it as flexible and easily accessible as possible. The easiest way to do this is by creating multi-device-friendly content which can be accessed on the widest range of devices possible for maximum effectiveness. You should also ensure that their progress can be tracked for analysis. Using a modern tracking standard such as Experience API (xAPI) can work well here.
On a security note, if your pre-induction material contains any confidential
information, it could be worth reminding new starters not to access content over unsecured or public wi-fi networks. Also, any large videos could use up a lot of mobile data, so either keep media content to a minimum or warn people to use a secure wi-fi connection to access the training.
e.learning age june 2015
Designing a game which embodies the brand values of your organisation can be a fun way to introduce the company culture to new starters, and should be easy for them to dip in and out of when they have a short burst of free time.
How do I go about delivering a pre-induction programme?
The composition of your pre-induction material is key to the success of the initiative. While a new starter may not be able or willing to complete an hour- long e-learning course in their own time, they may be more likely to make use of smaller, more interactive modules or nuggets of learning, so getting the blend of modes and channels right is essential. Games can be an excellent way to engage new starters in the period leading up to their joining date. Designing a game which embodies the brand values of your organisation can be a fun way to introduce the company culture to new starters, and should be easy for them to dip in and out of when they have a short burst of free time. If you decide to offer any skills training, a game can be a highly effective way to help learners hone their abilities. Or, if a game isn’t appropriate, why not think about a simulation for systems training or business leadership, or scenario- based training to get new starters thinking about ‘what would happen if’ situations. Facilitating social interaction is another great way to help new starters integrate themselves within their new team before starting. Giving them access to forums, or virtually introducing them to some of their new colleagues (including a ‘buddy’ who can be their first port of call for any questions) can make the first few days more enjoyable if they already recognise some of the people with whom they will be working. It can also help iron out any pre-joining questions which have not been covered in the other pre-induction material (such as job-specific queries), ensuring the new starter has all the information they need to reach competency as quickly as possible in their first few weeks and months.
So what next?
One thing to think about is the IT considerations of making pre-induction material accessible to people outside your organisation. For example, will they be given company logins before they start? Are there any security risks associated with making this material available outside company premises? Which devices must the learning be accessible from? And how will you track the learner’s progress? These are all points to discuss with your IT and security team in order to ensure best practice is followed. Creating a successful blended pre-induction programme doesn’t need to be expensive or time intensive. It should be an iterative process which improves over time based on the feedback of new starters who have been through the process. One way to get started is to survey or interview some of your recent inductees. What could have been beneficial for them in the weeks before starting? How much time would they have spent accessing learning material? This is a great starting place to help you begin to build your pre-induction programme, giving your inductees the best possible introduction to your organisation.
Kayleigh Tanner is a marketing executive at Learning Technologies Group plc @leolearning
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