HR professionals are constantly faced with the question of how to integrate new employees into processes as efficiently as possible. With an online course, you can save on personnel costs during onboarding – and at the same time, thoroughly introduce employees to the company culture. This concept works in banking just as well as in fast food restaurants.

Update February 2019

Guide: Blended Onboarding for Companies

Integrate new employees with a mix of personal meetings + online courses! How exactly this works and how you can create a first "Blended Onboarding" in 3 weeks, you can learn in our new guide.

The Situation: Quick and Effective Onboarding of New Employees

When a new employee is hired, it is a sign of success and cause for celebration. However, every new hire comes with a lot of effort and bureaucracy. HR professionals face strategic decisions at this point. After all, the new member should get to know the company as quickly as possible and soon become a permanent part of the big picture.

Typical goals in onboarding are:

• to introduce the new employee to the company culture,

• to familiarize them with existing programs and tools,

• to guide them through their work processes,

• to introduce them to colleagues and supervisors.

For this, employee resources must be calculated and utilized as efficiently as possible. The big question is: Who is the mentor of the new employee, and how much time can they invest in training?

Let's imagine the following two example settings where new employees need to be integrated as quickly and effectively as possible:

First Setting: Banking

In a bank, people are typically hired who already have a solid education and often experience in banking. Nevertheless, thorough onboarding is necessary: on one hand, processes vary between different banks, and on the other hand, very confidential and important content is handled. For example, in risk management, critical decisions must be made about who is creditworthy and who is not.

During onboarding, it should therefore be ensured that all new employees are on the same level after the onboarding period – both in terms of soft skills and hard skills.

Second Setting: Fast Food Restaurant

Now let's consider the contrasting onboarding in a fast food restaurant. Here, often untrained staff begin, who may only work temporarily in the company. But even in a fast food restaurant, there are fixed processes that must be strictly followed. And the consequences of poor onboarding can be devastating, especially if insufficient information is provided about hygiene regulations.

During onboarding, recurring processes should therefore be documented precisely and then prepared in such a way that any untrained worker can replicate them.

The two settings show different types of requirements for onboarding new employees. However, in both settings, efficient onboarding is essential for the success of the hire, and HR professionals must calculate resources.

The Solution: Smart Onboarding with Blended Learning

Why should companies invest personnel costs for each new employee when every onboarding is based on the same foundation? Information about company culture and strictly defined processes can be conveyed much more effectively in the form of an online course. This only needs to be created carefully once and can then replace large parts of the personal onboarding.

Important: “Large parts” does not mean that the entire onboarding should consist solely of an online course. Every new employee should always know who their direct contact person is in case problems arise. Only the practical onboarding of processes and similarly general content should be outsourced to an online onboarding. This saves personnel costs, and the new employee still feels personally well integrated.

This is exactly what blended learning means: benefit from all the advantages of personal onboarding and digital support while saving unnecessary personnel effort. If you smartly connect both sides, you will achieve the perfect onboarding!

At a Glance: Benefits of Onboarding with Blended Learning

• fast integration

• thorough integration (everyone is on the same level)

• low personnel costs

• practical online exchange between new employees

• clear documentation of knowledge

Practical Examples: Onboarding in Online Courses

Successful companies offer new employees an onboarding program that mainly takes place in an online course, occasionally including personal conversations with team leaders. Below, I will show you how this can look concretely in the settings mentioned above:

Example Onboarding: Banking

We remember: In banking, it is well-trained new employees who need to be thoroughly integrated to be at a certain level in risk management.

Process with blended learning: An online course provides them with quick access to workflows and essential criteria. Through exercises and case studies, they can refresh their existing knowledge and fill gaps. Regular conversations with their direct supervisor and the (online) exchange with colleagues complete the blended learning.

| Advantages of Blended Learning | Example Banking || ----------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- || fast integration | The more prior knowledge someone brings, the faster they can complete the course. || thorough integration | Gaps are closed online through exercises and possibly exams. || low personnel costs | An established bank employee has more time for other things as an onboarding mentor and does not have to convey basic knowledge. || practical online exchange | If there are questions, course participants can first exchange ideas among themselves in the comment field and onboard each other. || clear documentation | Even after onboarding, employees can quickly access essential documents. |

Example Onboarding: Fast Food Restaurant

In the example of the fast food restaurant, the simple and comprehensible presentation of important processes is paramount: HR professionals do not hire chefs; instead, they convey detailed work steps that anyone can learn.

Process with blended learning: How is a roll topped? From the number of individual ingredients to the correct order of toppings and compliance with important hygiene regulations – even a seemingly simple task like topping rolls must follow a specific structure.

In an online course, explanatory videos can be used to clearly show how rolls must be prepared in this specific fast food restaurant. This ensures that the rolls always have the same quality and appearance.

| Advantages of Blended Learning | Example Fast Food Restaurant || ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- || fast integration | Even temporary workers and short-term employees can quickly learn the most important tasks online. || thorough integration | Using explanatory videos, individual work steps can be practiced in personal learning pace comprehensively. || low personnel costs | In employees who will only be in the company for a short time, you want to invest particularly little in personnel costs. || practical online exchange | A new roll is on offer? In an online course, multiple employees can quickly learn new work steps simultaneously and clarify questions directly among themselves. || clear documentation | After a longer absence (vacation, maternity leave, etc.), an online course is particularly practical to quickly refresh knowledge. |

Do you perhaps already have a specific example in mind of how smart onboarding can succeed in your company? Take five minutes now and consider how the aforementioned benefits of blended learning might affect your case.

Tip: Write down your thoughts and schedule a date in your calendar to plan the next steps!