1 A single source of truth

Perhaps one of the most difficult things to learn when starting a new job is where to go when you need help. If your new organisation’s resources are scattered between Teams, Slack, and Drive, finding that information can be overwhelming and frustrating. Worse, if different documents say different things and you can’t be sure what’s correct.

That said, it’s important to put everything in its place and have a single source of truth for training resources. No duplicates, and everything on a searchable platform. 

Gaining a single source of truth is possible with the power of an LCMS — a Learning Content Management System. An LCMS gives your Learning and Development team the power to share up-to-date content across courses, develop a workflow to audit documents for accuracy, and provides learners and trainers with the ability to search for the content they need.

Find out more about the power of an LCMS here.

2 Share informal knowledge

We’re probably familiar by now with the 70-20-10 model, which describes learning as occurring informally 20% of the time and on-the-job 70% of the time. This means that while an LMS is a powerful tool for delivering that 10%, it can’t be your only tool for a constructive onboarding experience.

New hires should be on the job as soon as possible, so they require information at the point of need. They need answers to their questions, and they need to know exactly where to find them. But in this age of remote work, it’s not always feasible to send an email or a Slack message when a problem arises. Furthermore, the information might be an edge case, which isn’t covered in formal training. 

So, where do your new hires go for help when they need it most? You need a platform that encourages questions and answers, a workspace for groups working towards a common goal, and a place to collate resources around particular topics of interest. This way your new hire can search for existing content that other members of their team have produced about particular issues. 

With a Learning Experience Platform (LXP), you can create workspaces for teams to share their knowledge. A workspace for new hires can allow them to share tips for those that come after them. 

3 Train effectively

There’s a reason learner engagement is such a buzzword right now. Workplace training is possibly the most difficult kind of training to deliver. It has to be done, but when it’s not done right, it can be far from pleasant for learners to undertake. 

Totara recommends adhering to the Learner Social Contract. This means that as L&D professionals, we deliver training that is:

• Relevant
• Doesn’t waste time, and is
• Applicable to the job

Your new hire should be able to complete the training they need in a timely manner. Their training should be relevant and have direct applications to what they’ll eventually be doing on the job. 

4 Give quality feedback

To be good at anything, you need to practice. But to be great at something, you need good feedback. Correcting mistakes early is paramount to creating good habits, which then create effective, efficient, and valuable employees.

 A lot of managers don’t like giving negative feedback, while many don’t even feel comfortable giving positive feedback. 96% of employees want to hear feedback regularly, and  62% wish they received more of it. 

Not sure how to give good feedback? Check out our guide.

To do that, you can’t just rely on the yearly appraisal, or a meeting at the end of the probation period. What you need are regularly spaced check-ins that ensure everyone is on the same page. Check-ins are brief catch-ups where employees and managers get the opportunity to ask each other questions, gain feedback, and set small achievable goals for the next check in. This way, everyone gets moving and stays moving.