The U.S. labor force grew by half a million individuals in 2016.1 Additionally, each year in the United States, about 25 percent of the workforce switches careers.² This means onboarding programs are being offered every workday in most U.S. companies to accommodate the large number of incoming new hires.
When employees are onboarded correctly, companies can expect to see the following results:
- Excellent retention rates (organizations that offer engaging onboarding programs retain about 91 percent of their first-year workers).3
- Significantly increased revenue (companies having structured onboarding programs may experience a 60% year-over-year increase in revenue).4
- Higher customer satisfaction levels (formalized onboarding programs can result in 63% year-over-year increase in customer satisfaction).4
These statistics indicate that an onboarding program must be structured and engaging to be effective. A social learning management system (LMS) allows administrators to design onboarding programs that are both.
An LMS Streamlines and Standardizes the Onboarding Process
A social learning management system (LMS) is designed to track, report on, and deliver training. In a corporate setting, it delivers training to employees, members, and volunteers, and sends reports to training administrators. Aside from being a training tool, an LMS is also an effective onboarding tool.
An LMS is an excellent vehicle for delivering an onboarding program because it allows administrators to standardize learning. With a learning management system, new hires can receive identical training and get on the same page more quickly than they would with in-person training, which can be highly variable.
“eLearning (delivered through an LMS)…provides standardization and streamlines the onboarding process for new employees as all content is delivered consistently, in the same manner.” – TOPYX
Learn how to pick the LMS that will best meet your company’s needs in our blog article How to Choose the Best LMS for Your Organization.
3 Ways to Optimize Onboarding with an LMS
Companies that have invested in an LMS should use it to optimize onboarding in the following ways:
- Promote mentorship with LMS social learning tools – An LMS’s social learning tools (calendaring, real-time chat, video conferencing, social media, and more) make it easy to connect new hires with seasoned employees. Mentorships can work wonders for employee engagement, which is a critical aspect of an effective onboarding program.
- Leverage gamification – Gamification has been trending in the eLearning industry for year, and for good reason: it engages learners with training. In an onboarding program, gamification should be leveraged if possible. “(Gamification) elements can take the form of quizzes, competitions, or simply the anticipation of winning points or leveling up,” wrote Training Industry.5
- Teach new hires to use the LMS – Having new hires immediately dive into training after creating LMS login credentials is a mistake. Ideally, employees should learn to use the learning management system through careful instruction and repetitive tasks (logging in and out, navigating the interface, accessing training modules, etc.). This ensures new hires will be fully comfortable with the LMS and will continue to participate in training long after an onboarding program has been completed.
Do Onboarding Right with a Learning Management System
A proper onboarding program provides multiple organizational benefits. It can...
- Promote retention
- Increase year-over-year revenue
- Boost customer satisfaction
An LMS helps company leaders design and deliver onboarding programs that drive results like these. Request a free demo of TOPYX LMS to experience the difference a learning management system can make in your company’s onboarding processes.
References
- FiveThirtyEight. Americans are finally returning to the workforce. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/march-jobs-report/. March 4, 2016
- Moening, Kathy. 21 eye-popping onboarding stats. http://blog.clickboarding.com/21-eye-popping-onboarding-stats. August 4, 2017.
- Son, Sabrina. 5-point checklist for effective employee onboarding. https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/sk-every-employee-onboarding-tip-youll-need. June 19, 2017.
- Rootinc.com. The ROI of onboarding. https://www.rootinc.com/pdfs/whitepapers/Onboarding_Whitepaper_082012.pdf
- Training Industry. Using an LMS for gamified onboarding. https://www.trainingindustry.com/blog/learning-technologies/using-an-lms-for-gamified-onboarding/. August 15, 2017.
