In March 2022, hiring in the U.S. was 1.7% higher than in March 2021, and hiring was 3% higher in March 2022 than in February 2022, according to LinkedIn.1 “The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in March 2022 were Wholesale (4.4% higher); Professional Services (3.7% higher); and Financial Services (3.2% higher),” the source stated. This may not seem significant, but it is an indicator that hiring is on the upswing. Post-COVID, this is encouraging news.
What’s more, many people are making or are planning to make career changes. The Washington Post2 reported that about 1 in 3 employees in the U.S. under the age of 40 “have thought about changing their occupation or field of work since the pandemic began…. About 1 in 5 workers overall have considered a professional shift, a signal that the pandemic has been a turning point for many, even those who did not contract the coronavirus.”
This means that not only is hiring up, but there also may be a large influx of new workers in the future, after a period of reskilling or upskilling. Employers must be prepared to offer effective onboarding programs to new hires, now and in the future.
Can Onboarding Help Close the Current Skills Gap?
It is essential that employees are onboarded correctly. This is especially true in the wake of the pandemic. Due to the pandemic, there is a huge skills shortage in the workforce. Citing Josh Bersin, an article by Human Resources Online3 said “the world is entering a fast-growing economy and facing the biggest labour (and skills) shortage seen in decades. And despite the increase in inflation in 2021, wages are increasing. Companies are relaxing their criteria for hiring and ignoring requirements for college degrees or certain types of experience.”
Companies are understaffed and need employees now more than ever, despite a lack of skills. These companies can help close the skills gap by offering high-quality onboarding that equips workers with essential skills. Ongoing employee training is also vital to ensuring workers are well skilled and competent in the post-COVID business world.
A robust onboarding program can do “double duty” by helping workers acclimate to a new workplace while closing skills gaps, at least to an extent. This is just the start of the benefits an onboarding program offers organizations across all industries.
Organizational Benefits of Online Employee Onboarding Programs
Effective onboarding is key to a new hire’s success at work, as well as the success of the employer. In addition to helping organizations close the employee skills gap, onboarding programs:
1) Promote employee retention - Employee turnover is financially damaging. An article by People Keep4 revealed that when a business replaces a salaried employee, it ends up costing the company 6-to-9 months’ of that employee’s salary. “For a manager making $60,000 a year, that's $30,000 to $45,000 in recruiting and training expenses,” the article pointed out.
Companies are hurting financially after the pandemic and cannot afford to lose employees. With a good onboarding program, they don’t have to. This is because organizations that offer engaging onboarding programs retain about 91 percent of their first-year workers.5 They also improve retention by 82%.6 Organizations that are financially suffering post-pandemic can use onboarding as a tool to promote retention and a healthy bottom line.
2) Increase revenue - One of the things just about all companies need post-COVID is sufficient income. Thankfully, companies having structured onboarding programs may experience a 60% year-over-year increase in revenue.7
In addition to increasing revenue through reducing turnover, employee onboarding can increase revenue in other ways. For example, onboarding can improve worker productivity, which contributes greatly to higher revenue. It can also improve time to productivity, sometimes by up to 60%, per SkyPrep.8 “77% of employees who had a formal onboarding process hit their first performance goals,” a contributor wrote.
Wondering how much an onboarding program can potentially boost productivity? “Data suggests that new hires have a 25 percent productivity rate in their first month on the job after completing new employee training,” an article by Sapling9 explained. “That number then increases to 50 percent in their second month of work and 75 percent in their third month on the job. In fact, Gallup finds that new team members typically take around 12 months to reach peak performance potential.” These stats make a great case for a longer onboarding process.
3) Improve customer and employee satisfaction - Another benefit of onboarding is that it can boost both customer and employee satisfaction. This can contribute to retention of workers and customers, which helps to protect a company’s bottom line and improve morale.
When it comes to customer happiness, formalized onboarding programs can result in a 63% year-over-year increase in customer satisfaction.10 This can have profound effects on the overall health of a business. Without customers, a business cannot survive, so it is essential that organizations invest time, effort, and money in employee onboarding programs.
But what about employee satisfaction? The article by Sapling noted that workers who report having good onboarding experiences are “2.6 times more likely to be extremely satisfied with their workplace. In fact, 70 percent of those with exceptional onboarding experiences say they have ‘the best possible job.’” Organizations can ensure their employees are very satisfied with their jobs and their employer simply by offering an exceptional onboarding program.
Not all onboarding programs will deliver benefits like these. Only onboarding programs that are engaging and accessible will hit the mark. With an LMS system, companies can design such an onboarding program.
How an LMS System Streamlines Onboarding and Makes it Accessible to a Dispersed Workforce
An LMS system like TOPYX Quick Start 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. Onboarding is just one type of training an LMS system can deliver. Usually, onboarding programs are delivered via LMS learning paths.
TOPYX LMS system is an excellent vehicle for offering new hires an onboarding program because it allows administrators to get new hires on the same page more quickly than they would with in-person training, which can be highly variable. Online learning delivered through an LMS system streamlines the onboarding process for new employees as all content is delivered consistently, in the same manner.
An LMS system makes an onboarding program fully accessible to a dispersed workforce through mobile learning functionality. This is helpful since many new hires are now onboarding from home due to the pandemic.
TOPYX LMS system makes it easy for administrators to streamline onboarding programs and make them accessible to every employee.
Learn how a healthcare tech company accelerated employee onboarding with TOPYX LMS system
3 Ways to Optimize Onboarding with TOPYX Quick Start LMS
An LMS system like TOPYX can make all the difference when it comes to onboarding new hires properly. Companies can optimize their onboarding program using TOPYX LMS system in the following ways:
- Leverage gamification – Gamification has been trending in the eLearning industry for years, and for good reason: it engages learners. TOPYX customers can leverage gamification in their onboarding programs. “(Gamification) elements can take the form of quizzes, competitions, or simply the anticipation of winning points or leveling up,” stated Training Industry.11 By adding these elements to your onboarding program, you can immediately up the engagement factor.
- Promote mentorship with social learning tools – Mentorships can improve employee engagement, which can be a critical aspect of an effective onboarding program. Mentors can help new hires navigate their first days, weeks, and months at work. The social support offered by a mentor may help to improve retention and ensure workers get their questions answered and make the most of their onboarding program. TOPYX LMS system’s social learning tools help companies connect new hires with seasoned employees and promote mentorship during the onboarding phase. These tools allow new employees to be mentored fully online if needed.
- Teach new hires to use LMS software – Having new hires immediately dive into an onboarding program right 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. Administrators can coach new hires in using LMS software by creating short how-to videos that are accessible via mobile device.
A proper onboarding program provides multiple organizational benefits. It can promote retention, increase revenue, and boost customer and employee satisfaction. TOPYX LMS system helps administrators design and deliver onboarding programs that drive results like these.
Request a free LMS demo of TOPYX Quick Start to optimize your onboarding program today.
References
2) The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/08/16/us-workers-want-career-change/.
3) Human Resources Online. https://www.humanresourcesonline.net/the-workforce-in-2022-15-trends-that-will-shape-hiring-learning-working-and-more.
4) People Keep. https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/employee-retention-the-real-cost-of-losing-an-employee.
5) Tiny Pulse. https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/sk-every-employee-onboarding-tip-youll-need.
6, 9) Sapling. https://www.saplinghr.com/10-employee-onboarding-statistics-you-must-know-in-2022.
7, 10) Root Inc. https://www.rootinc.com/pdfs/whitepapers/Onboarding_Whitepaper_082012.pdf.
8) Sky Prep. https://skyprep.com/2020/06/24/how-onboarding-new-employees-can-improve-business-performance/.
11) Training Industry. https://www.trainingindustry.com/blog/learning-technologies/using-an-lms-for-gamified-onboarding/.
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