In most companies, the HR department is responsible for the recruitment and training processes. But with an ever-increasing number of online courses available, more and more businesses are turning to e-learning as a means of training new recruits.
So, what does this shift from manual to virtual training mean for the onsite HR department in your company?
We’ve highlighted how your company can use e-learning effectively even as training shifts from a manual process run by HR to a self-service model in which human resources professionals will play more of a facilitator role.
How your company can use e-learning effectively to train new hires
If your company is interested in using e-learning as part of your onboarding process, it’s critical that you get it right. While e-learning has the potential to be an efficient, effective training method, when the course is poorly designed, it can become boring and counterproductive for new employees.
Keep it concise and relevant
There is nothing worse than spending hours clicking through a pedantic, over-written course. Don’t patronise your new hires. Try to keep your online courses relevant, interesting, and engaging.
Pay attention to the aesthetics
Make the course content look exciting and cutting edge. A clean, modern design will immediately engage your new recruits. Design is key to making them feel excited about their new jobs and eager to complete the training. When 94% of our impressions are based on design and appearances, it follows that engagement with the material is reliant on good aesthetics.
Include short quizzes and games
Most e-learning courses will include some form of gamification in the form of quizzes to ensure the new hires are absorbing and retaining information. Studies show that gamification in training can improve productivity by 50%.These quizzes are a crucial part of any good e-learning program. While they help the HR department track the employees’ success in training, they will also keep the employee engaged and attentive throughout the training process.
What role will the HR team play in e-learning?
While on the face of it, the rise of e-learning might seem to spell the end of HR’s involvement in training, the department will have a few crucial roles to play despite the integration of online work into the process.
The HR department’s first and foremost responsibility should be the wellbeing of the company’s employees. Ensuring that the company is an inclusive and accessible place to work will always be a job for humans, not for machines. Additionally, the HR team should ensure things such as paystubs paid on time, annual leave, etc. Here are a few ways the HR department can facilitate online training courses without providing the bulk of the training themselves.
Complement e-learning with face-to-face training sessions
We spend less and less time communicating in person. However, recent studies show that face-to-face communication is 34 times more likely to be successful and positive in comparison to online communication. Don’t leave your trainees stranded with nothing but a screen as their guide. Inevitably, they will have questions about the work as they go through. Make sure someone from the HR department is close at hand to help.
It’s also a good idea to schedule one or two review sessions with a member of the HR department responsible for employee learning. This will provide time to recap what has been learned and to make sure the training has done its job.
Introduce e-learning courses for struggling teams
E-learning isn’t just a tool for new hires. It should also be implemented from time to time with other employees. Introducing your company’s employees to new methods of working can have a huge impact on productivity and success rates.
If your company has a team that is struggling to meet targets, meet with individuals on the team to determine where skills shortcomings may lie. Once discovering the root of the problem, you will be able to design an e-learning course tailored to tackling these specific issues.
Use e-learning to encourage the adoption of new tools
With the business world embracing technology, and the technology itself innovating at an incredible pace, your employees are likely going to need to stay up to date on using various business tools. As new products become available, the best way to ensure they’re effectively used for a more efficient business is to make sure they’re widely used.
Even the most complex tools can be made far less daunting if explained through modern and engaging e-learning courses. Any tools and products essential for your employees to use should have training to cover them, although the best tools will be so simple, there’ll be no training required. We’ve specifically designed Findmyshift’s staff rota software to be so simple, you can onboard employees in seconds!
Analyse the impact of the new e-learning training
Once e-learning training is up and running, it will be HR’s responsibility to track its successes and failures. Carry out performance evaluation of new recruits who have been through the online training. Notice if there are any patterns in their subsequent performance. If you find any recurring gaps, this is a sign that the training can be improved.
HR will be responsible for monitoring and improving the e-learning courses to suit the employee’s needs. It’s inevitable that the courses will need improvement, but it will require the keen, discerning eye of an HR specialist to determine how and where these improvements can be made.
High quality training is essential for business growth
It’s paramount that your company provides top-notch training for its new employees. A poor training process will result in a low standard of work and a disgruntled employee. It doesn’t feel great to begin a new role in a state of confusion! By providing training that works, you are much more likely to increase your company’s rate of retention. This means a higher rate of productivity and efficiency within each and every team.
Making the transition from manual, HR-led training to e-learning courses can feel daunting. But, with a comprehensive plan for the HR team’s crucial role in this new training strategy, e-learning is sure to streamline and improve your onboarding process in no time.
