How to Train New Employees with Learning Management Systems

Learning Management Systems – An easy way to onboard new employees

Replacing an employee who has quit or been fired is a process that is both time consuming and expensive. Not only are human resources managers responsible for identifying and hiring suitable replacements, but they are also expected to manage the process of onboarding any new hires.

Typical employee onboarding processes can vary from company to company, however a few basic components include introducing new staffers to their colleagues, getting all necessary paperwork and contracts signed, and offering the appropriate training seminars. It’s this final step — administering formal training programs — that tends to trip many companies up.

The quality of a company’s training program has a significant impact on how well new employees are able to assimilate in their environment. Orientation meetings, mentorship programs, safety workshops, and other regulatory compliance sessions are an important part of the onboarding process. Unfortunately, these sessions also tend to eat up valuable resources and time for overworked human resources professionals. As a result, it’s not uncommon for new employee seminars to be rushed through or skipped altogether.

Discover Learning Management Systems

One way that some businesses are beginning to cut down on the costs associated with employee training sessions, without necessarily reducing the educational benefit, is by implementing learning management system systems (LMS) into their workplaces. Cloud-based learning management systems allow human resources professionals to offer virtual training presentation.

The benefits of virtual training seminars are abundant. Once a human resources manager has put together a virtual presentation — often reusing popular slideshows and videos — he is able to give the seminar an infinite number of times, to an infinite number of new employees, without ever stepping away from his desk. This saves the manager time, and it saves the company money.

Many of the most popular learning management systems also include testing and certification components, which managers can ask new employees to complete before moving on to subsequent presentations. These online tests serve as a source of accountability, ensuring that every employee was paying attention and understands the information provided in the orientation session.

Here are five steps that human resources managers should take when creating employee-training modules using learning management systems.

1. Create the course content.

Virtual employee training sessions can include all the same content as in-person sessions, including PowerPoint presentations, videos, and audio recordings. Import the content you’ve used previously into the learning management system of your choice to begin developing the curriculum for your course.

2. Put a unique spin on each department’s training course.

An employee in accounting doesn’t necessarily need to learn all the same policies as an employee who works in marketing. Most learning management systems allow you to make copies of your virtual seminars, and then edit those copies to create unique versions of your seminars for different departments or subsets of users.

3. Use exams to collect feedback.

Write quizzes based on the information presented in the course you designed, and require all employees to complete these quizzes with a satisfactory score before moving on to the next stage of your online training course. In addition to ensuring that employees were paying attention during the online seminar, these exams also serve as an excellent way to collect feedback.

4. Create libraries for employees to find additional information.

It’s not uncommon for employees to have follow-up questions after completing virtual training seminars. Encourage new hires to look up the answers to their questions in an online portal or a company wiki that you have created. These portals are an excellent place to add detailed information about health benefits or company vacation policies.

5. Use analytics to improve your courses.

Many learning management systems will provide you with data showing how long it took each person to complete your course and which exam questions were missed most frequently. By taking a close look at this data, you can edit your course and improve the overall usability.

You can compare on GetApp a wide selection of learning management systems for your business.