The time between signing the employment contract and the first day of work is particularly crucial for companies to convince new employees of their worth and to keep them from quitting early.

The “Haufe Onboarding Survey” of 2020 showed that 30% of the companies surveyedare affected by this so-called early turnover. To counteract this, it is important to give new employees the feeling that they have made the right decision. But what can an effective preboarding process do to convey safety, and how should it be designed?

Preboarding – what is that actually?

A new job brings with it many challenges and, above all, uncertainty – it is usually still unclear what the first day at work will actually be like, what new tasks and colleagues await and, finally, whether the job was really the right choice.

This not only leads to doubts and possible early termination on the part of the new employee, but also results in additional training costs for the company and initially lower productivity until the employee has settled into his or her new environment.

A 2018 survey of more than 2700 respondents via Softgarden’s e-recruiting system showed that some factors are particularly crucial in the time between signing a contract and starting work. Central events for orientation as well as contact with the supervisor and also with colleagues, e.g. through team meetings, are important to clarify any questions and provide clarity.

In addition, the results also provided some important insights into the onboarding process of employees, i.e., the process that takes place after they start work: the work atmosphere and the behavior of supervisors and colleagues are the most significant factors for termination during the probationary period. It is therefore advantageous to integrate new employees into the team right from the start, to define specific contact persons and to ensure that colleagues get to know each other both before and after they start work.

Another important factor in early termination is false expectations that the new employee brings with him or her in terms of work tasks and content, as well as the overall work routine. This can happen if the job posting does not make it clear enough what activities are involved in the new position. Efficient preboarding also provides the new employee with all the necessary information before the first day of work so that he or she can get to know the team, the daily work routine and the managing directors better. This facilitates the acclimation process.

But what exactly makes a preboarding process efficient?

The aim is to convey a comprehensive picture of the company in the smallest possible, understandable learning units that are fun and thus increase the desire for the new job. This is why so-called “microlearing” is ideal for designing the preboarding process. A wide variety of elements are conceivable , such as a 3D office tour, a flipchart with a brief introduction of each team member, or even a short video interview with the CEO. This also has the advantage of a positive company representation, which benefits “employer branding”. Company-specific systems, such as OKRs, or important “core values” can thus be brought closer to employees right from the start. The interpersonal aspect also plays a major role – the uncertainty and excitement that probably surrounds everyone before starting a new job can be dampened by getting to know each other early on. As a result, employees feel that they are in good hands, well prepared and thus start their work tasks more quickly.

In addition, microlearning is particularly efficient because it starts at the “point of need” and thus imparts relevant knowledge in an uncomplicated manner. This method can be applied to topics of all kinds, whether everyday questions or a profound issue. The forms of presentation are equally diverse: whether video, podcast, text or comic, in principle everything is possible – the more creative, the better!

Micro Learning through User Generated Content

When creating these short learning units for preboarding, it makes sense to involve your existing employees and therefore the learners themselves.

This is then referred to as user-generated content – the relevant content is prepared in the way that the employees themselves have learned and understood best.

Digital learning units make preboarding particularly efficient – this saves time and money, because the sequences are created once and your existing employees do not have to repeat the training sessions all the time.

Of course, employees also need to be encouraged to package their knowledge into these short learning units. A good and intuitive authoring tool is the key – Articulate 360 or Vyond are recommended to ensure fun, motivation and a steep learning curve. Your employees can use these tools to create content quickly and easily, without any great training. This digital learning content has a particularly high added value, as it can be used again in every preboarding process with a one-time effort on the part of your employees. In addition, Rise 360 (part of the Articulate 360 suite) has the advantage of providing link access to content. This means you can share courses with your employees before they are even officially hired by you and created in the system. So there is no need for onboarding into internal systems, which at the same time preserves data privacy – you as a company share only the content you really want to make available via the Rise course. The program is therefore ideal for the onboarding process in particular.

In addition, Rise courses have the advantage that they can be accessed fully responsively via cell phone – the learning units can thus be optimally integrated into everyday life, e.g. on the bus, on a long train journey or in the waiting room at the doctor’s office.

If you have any questions on this topic or on the use of e-learning in pre-/onboarding in general, please feel free to contact us at any time.