3 steps to making your digital onboarding successful

You never forget the first day of work! And the first months. In fact, most new hires tend to decide whether they want to stay long-term in a company within the first 6 months (case study). That is why great employee onboarding is vital. Not only will it retain great talents. A successful onboarding will also boost productivity and make the new hire feel welcome.

We have already given you the 5 reasons why your organization should offer digital onboarding (and Preboarding) in order to make the training as efficient as possible. So now that you are considering implementing it here are three important steps to follow when building your complete digital onboarding.

Purpose (Why)

Begin with defining why you want to implement digital onboarding. Could it be to:

• Get new employees faster in place? 
• Reduce workload for managers?
• Create a strong company culture? 
• Assure follow up and feedback from other colleagues?
• Cut costs for onboarding?
• Make onboarding more environmental friendly?

2. Goals (What)

Clarify what you want to achieve with onboarding online. Could it be to:

• Increase employee satisfaction?

  Speed up the period before the new starters are as proficient as their successful colleagues? 
• Make the new employees quickly feel part of the organization?
• Unburden managers and other staff usually responsible for onboarding processes? 

When the goals are clear and you know what to aim for, you just have to decide on:

3. Target Group (Who) 

Pin down the people who are participating in the onboarding and their roles. Who are they? Answer questions like:

• What information and training do they need?
• In what form and proportion shall they receive it?
• Do they have previous knowledge regarding training online? 
• Are they comfortable with digital tools?
• When will they perform the onboarding?

Specifying who they are will give you a better understanding of how to build the content and to create the learning process.