When a new employee starts working, assigning training and managing the workflow can be a difficult thing to do. The Onboarding module in Schoox allows you to design the training schedule for all new employees and for employees that changed jobs within the company.
You can learn more about how to set up your Onboarding plan here: Setting up an Onboarding Plan
In this article, let's look at the application of the various types of onboarding processes, or flows.
Time-Based Flow
More commonly, this option is known as drip training. It allows for the delivery of training over a period of time. This way, the learner can develop in their career, and trainers and managers can make sure not to overload the learner. Let's look at an example of how this might be leveraged.
Scenario: We are starting a 90 day new hire program at the beginning of July to drive all team members through a series of training essential to our success. This training covers:
- Fifteen compliance training courses
- One mandatory Customer Service Excellence Learning Path (a series covering the basics all the way to advanced techniques that have been proven successful)
- One leadership course
- Our 30/60/90 day refresher courses.
All in all, there are about 35 courses, which is a lot of work to put in front of a new hire on day one. While showing a syllabus gives them an idea of what's coming, we really want them to focus on what they need to complete right now.
We've chosen to set up the onboarding profile for new hires from July 1st onward. Additionally, we've chosen set the timeframe in days instead of weeks to provide the necessary flexibility, allowing learners an extra day or two to complete a course if needed.
On day one, we set the three courses to assign.
- Two with a one day due date (Promoting a Drug-Free Workplace and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace)
- One with a seven day due date (Communicating with Colleagues) as they will have activities, On the Job Trainings and other interactions to occur before they can complete it.
On day two, we have the learner jump into Ethics in the Workplace, having two days to complete it. The overlap let's the learner continue through other training while waiting to complete their Communication course.
We would continue this process so that training is slowly given to the learner, keep their focus on the present and not looking at what is to come.
As we continue down the flow, we have a 30 day check-in, making sure there is no lapse in knowledge. The same thing occurs at 60 and 90 days, with their new hire graduation happening at day 90. By then, they will have completed all 35 courses at a manageable pace, avoiding overwhelm.
Activity-Based Flow
This is a great option if we want the learner to take their development into their own hands.
Scenario: We've designed a training program that helps transition our Supervisors into Managers. The goal of this program is that it can be followed at the employee's own pace, giving them the chance to unlock more of the path as they grow, or whenever they have the time to continue. There are forks in the development that allows for a deep-dive in a specific subject, or working on more, broader training, at the same time.
The Onboarding profile has been setup to focus on Job Change. This way, everyone who moves into the Supervisor Role will be added to this flow.
Our initial course, Leadership, is Assigned (not open for Enrollment) to the learner. From here we open enrollment to two different forks: one around Management and the other around Values.
From here, we are adding further education into these areas.
Some folks may go further than others, but this training is set as an open enrollment. The individual can choose their path and take the training when they are ready, which also prevents unnecessary incomplete courses sitting on their transcript.
We may want to put a second path in, that assigns the first course,
And from the assignment of two courses, so begins their learning journey. We want to empower our leaders and future leaders to become who they want to, and the Activity based flow is built to support this.
Time-Based/Activity-Based Combination Flow
Adding a combination of the two flows can be very powerful for team member development. The Time-Based flow works independent of the Activity-Based flow. Let's take our first New Hire Flow. If we were to inject a single course completion that opens up a path to develop the individual as we provide a manager more insight into a team member's interest in leadership capabilities, the result can truly be impactful.
Here is our Time-Based flow, with the addition of Leadership on day seven. In combination, this will also be setting an invite to enroll for Leadership on the Activity-Based flow. A course cannot be assigned in both places, so with this combination, an invitation for Leadership is sent out on the first day of the Activity-Based flow. If the user enrolls themselves and completes the course, or completes it via the Time-Based assignment, the Activity-Based flow will be kicked off.
As the learner completes this course, the path we created in the Activity-Based flow opens up.
There are many possibilities for the use of the Onboarding module.