We are a multi-site organisation and currently have a corporate induction day which runs at our HQ every 6 weeks or so. We would like to supplement this with an on-line induction which would be hosted on our intranet and accessed as soon as a new starter commences employment. We hope it will also be used by existing staff as it will link to our employee handbook and other useful info.
Does anyone have experience of implementing this sort of thing which they would be willing to share as I’m finding it difficult to get started on the project plan, identify stakeholders, milestones, etc. We have got as far as identifying a supplier for the e-learning technology but are keen to keep as much of the work as we can in-house.
Thanks!
Louise Cole
6 Responses
Do you need this much?
Sorry about the summary, it sounds a bit brutal but do you really need to have a complex project with a third party supplier if the on-line bit is purely a “supplement”?
Would you be able to produce a Powerpoint or Word baseline with Hypertext links to the relevant places? The advantage of this is that you could produce it entirely in house and probably maintain it in house for free too.
Think about the experience…
Much as I can see where Russell’s comments are coming from I think you should consider the quality of the induction experience you’re trying to deliver.
Induction training is your best opportunity to influence your new employees attitude and behaviour – make them realise why they made the best decision to join your organisation.
I have to say if all I saw was a Powerpoint presentation I’d wonder how important I actually was to the organisation.
Good luck Louise – we can put you in touch with plenty of companies who’ve used e-learning successfully as part of their induction programme – I would imagine your supplier should be able to as well.
A Blended Approach
I too share Russell’s concerns about the use of the online learning as “supplementary material”. Over the last 11 years, I’ve seen how supplementary material – that that isn’t a core part of the process – just doesn’t get looked at!
The key is to integrate use of the online learning into the whole induction process, so that your new starters are directed towards it at key points during the first few weeks and to provide reinforcement (but not duplication) with face-to-face interventions.
Similar it would seem to your plans, at my last company I project managed the development of an online induction portal (for want of a better term) that helped new staff to explore the wealth of pertinent information that was on the corporate intranet. Through a series of “narratives”, staff were led through the key sources of information that would smooth their first few weeks at the company.
The stakeholders were the owners of each piece of information and they were consulted as to what key information they wanted new staff to obtain. The first key milestone was shaping the look, feel and structure of the online piece, followed by the collation of the links to the various parts of the intranet and the development of the narratives to accompany these.
The CEO and Head of HR were the other two key stakeholders, and they helped to shape the ordering and overall look and feel of the portal.
Lastly, another key stakeholder was the new starter’s line manager, as they were expected to answer any questions once the staff member had undertaken the online work.
Online Must Have a Purpose
Hi Louise,
I agree with Tim and the others – online materials must have a purpose, not merely be an additional resource that can be used ‘if a person feels like it’.
One of the simple ways of integration e-Learning would be as an assessment of knowledge (or induction process) after a week, month and three months of employment. You may also like to run a ‘fact hunt’ based on corporate policies & procedures, health & safety etc. This is a good way to ensure these dry topics are covered in enough detail.
Also, be realistic in your abilities & workloads when considering an inhouse maintenance option. Many clients I have worked wiht in the past want this as an option but the reality is they are too busy to maintain and keep the product up-to-date.
As an aside, and a blatant plug, we have an LMS which I can supply free-of-charge for 6 months to test the water if this in any way helps.
Updating – The Nightmare
Paul’s comments have reminded me of the headache of keeping the online learning induction site up-to-date. In fact, during the course of its original development, we had to contend with many updates, which meant re-work even before it was launched.
Another key stakeholder then, with hindsight, was the manager of the corporate intranet. We had to adhere to various standards of communication and presentation for starters and had to regularly check the links to ensure they remained active.
More questions than answers!
Just a couple of other thoughts to add to the useful comments from Tim and Paul. 1) to what extent do you want your induction process to be a monitored compliance process as opposed to an arbitary learning process?
2) how do you intend to measure the success of online inductions?
3) how will your induction process link and mesh with other t & d initiatives or job based training activities?
4) what communication plan is there for guiding learners through the process?
5) how do you profile the induction process and content for appropriate audiences?
6) how can you make it easy for a range of Stakeholders to keep the process and content relevant?
7) how do you make sure line management take responsibility and have access to monitoring the progress of new team members.
8) how do you ensure current employees are updated or assessed when key organisational policies change?
9) is using the intranet because it’s there the best option?
10) what criteria did you use for choosing a supplier for e-learning technology?