Attract & Retain Top Talent: How to Optimize Your Employee Onboarding & Training Plan

In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of optimizing your training plan to attract and retain top talent.
The image shows Asia businesspeople using desktop talk as part of a training plan. Attract & Retain Top Talent
Trent Draper
Trent Draper
+15 years in Sales within the education industry, Head International Sales at Get More Brain.

When it comes to hir­ing and retain­ing the best tal­ent, it’s essen­tial to have an effec­tive onboard­ing and train­ing plan in place. An opti­mized onboard­ing plan is the key to attract­ing and retain­ing top tal­ent in the long run. It sets the foun­da­tion for a suc­cess­ful and pro­duc­tive work­ing rela­tion­ship, and it helps ensure that your new hires have the skills, knowl­edge, and sup­port they need to be suc­cess­ful in their roles.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the ben­e­fits of opti­miz­ing your onboard­ing and train­ing plan, the steps to improv­ing it, and the best prac­tices for onboard­ing and train­ing employ­ees. We’ll also dis­cuss how to imple­ment a Learn­ing Expe­ri­ence Plat­form (LXP) and how to moti­vate your employ­ees to use it. Final­ly, we’ll look at some tips for cre­at­ing a suc­cess­ful employ­er brand, suc­cess­ful employ­er prac­tices for retain­ing staff, and employ­ee engage­ment strate­gies.

Introduction to Onboarding & Retaining Top Talent

Onboard­ing is the process of inte­grat­ing new employ­ees into the work­place. It starts with the recruit­ment process and con­tin­ues through the onboard­ing peri­od, which usu­al­ly lasts sev­er­al weeks or months. Dur­ing this time, new employ­ees are trained and ori­ent­ed to their roles and respon­si­bil­i­ties, as well as to the com­pa­ny cul­ture and val­ues. Onboard­ing helps ensure that new employ­ees feel wel­come, sup­port­ed, and equipped to do their high­est qual­i­ty work.

The goal of onboard­ing is to get new hires up to speed as quick­ly and effi­cient­ly as pos­si­ble, so they can be pro­duc­tive and con­tribute to the com­pa­ny’s suc­cess. Onboard­ing also helps to build trust, loy­al­ty, and engage­ment in the long run. It’s there­fore essen­tial to have an effec­tive onboard­ing plan in place in order to attract and retain top tal­ent.

Benefits of Optimizing Your Onboarding & Training Plan

Opti­miz­ing your onboard­ing and train­ing plan has a num­ber of ben­e­fits for both employ­ers and employ­ees. For employ­ers, an opti­mized onboard­ing plan helps to reduce turnover. This is because employ­ees are more like­ly to stay with the com­pa­ny if they are giv­en the right sup­port and train­ing dur­ing the onboard­ing peri­od. An opti­mized onboard­ing plan also helps to increase pro­duc­tiv­i­ty, as new hires are able to hit the ground run­ning and start con­tribut­ing to the com­pa­ny’s suc­cess right away.

For employ­ees, an opti­mized onboard­ing plan helps to reduce stress and anx­i­ety, as they are able to quick­ly under­stand their roles and respon­si­bil­i­ties and gain a bet­ter under­stand­ing of the com­pa­ny cul­ture and val­ues. It also con­tributes to increas­ing engage­ment, as employ­ees feel sup­port­ed and wel­come. Final­ly, an opti­mized onboard­ing plan helps to fos­ter a sense of belong­ing, which is essen­tial for build­ing trust and loy­al­ty.

Businessman wearing casual wear sitting typing on smartphone at office. On the phone he finds all training content and learning materials. Attract & Retain Top Talent
Opti­miz­ing your onboard­ing and train­ing plan

Steps to Improving Your Onboarding & Training Plan

There are sev­er­al steps you can take to improve your onboard­ing and train­ing plan. The first step is to cre­ate a com­pre­hen­sive onboard­ing pro­gram that out­lines the goals, objec­tives, and expec­ta­tions for each new hire. This pro­gram should include a plan for train­ing and ori­ent­ing new hires, as well as a time­line for com­plet­ing var­i­ous tasks and activ­i­ties.

The sec­ond step is to cre­ate a com­pre­hen­sive train­ing pro­gram that out­lines the skills and knowl­edge that new hires need to be suc­cess­ful in their roles. This pro­gram should focus on the most crit­i­cal skills and knowl­edge, and it should be tai­lored to the spe­cif­ic needs of each new hire.

The third step is to cre­ate a com­mu­ni­ca­tion plan that out­lines how new hires can get sup­port and feed­back through­out the onboard­ing process. This plan should include a vari­ety of com­mu­ni­ca­tion chan­nels, such as email, phone, video con­fer­enc­ing, a learn­ing expe­ri­ence plat­form and in-per­son meet­ings.

Final­ly, the fourth step is to review and update your onboard­ing and train­ing plan reg­u­lar­ly. This ensures that your plan is up to date and rel­e­vant to the needs of your cur­rent and future employ­ees.

Best Practices for Onboarding & Training Employees

There are sev­er­al best prac­tices for onboard­ing and train­ing employ­ees. The first step is to cre­ate an onboard­ing check­list that out­lines the most per­ti­nent tasks and activ­i­ties that need to be com­plet­ed dur­ing the onboard­ing peri­od. This check­list should include activ­i­ties such as fill­ing out paper­work, com­plet­ing train­ing ses­sions, and ori­ent­ing new hires to the com­pa­ny cul­ture and val­ues.

The sec­ond best prac­tice is to equip new hires with the resources they need to be suc­cess­ful in their roles. This includes pro­vid­ing access to rel­e­vant train­ing mate­ri­als, such as videos, arti­cles, and e‑books, as well as pro­vid­ing access to a learn­ing expe­ri­ence plat­form with access to men­tors and oth­er expe­ri­enced employ­ees who can offer guid­ance and advice.

The third best prac­tice is to give new hires the oppor­tu­ni­ty to ask ques­tions and pro­vide feed­back through­out the onboard­ing process. This helps ensure that new hires are com­fort­able and con­fi­dent in their roles.

Final­ly, the fourth best prac­tice is to pro­vide new hires with reg­u­lar feed­back and recog­ni­tion through­out the onboard­ing peri­od. This helps to boost morale and fos­ter a sense of belong­ing, which is essen­tial for build­ing trust and loy­al­ty.

Implement a Learning Experience Platform

One of the most effec­tive ways to opti­mize your onboard­ing and train­ing plan is to imple­ment a Learn­ing Expe­ri­ence Plat­form (LXP) like Get More Brain. An LXP is a cloud-based plat­form that com­bines learn­ing con­tent, feed­back tools, and note­books to cre­ate a per­son­al­ized learn­ing expe­ri­ence. It helps to auto­mate and stream­line the onboard­ing and train­ing process, as it pro­vides new hires with the tools and resources they need to be suc­cess­ful in their roles.

An LXP also helps to track and mea­sure progress, as it pro­vides insights into how new hires are per­form­ing and how they can improve. Final­ly, an LXP helps to increase engage­ment, as it pro­vides new hires with the oppor­tu­ni­ty to explore and learn in an inter­ac­tive and engag­ing way.

Motivating Your Employees to Use a LXP

Once you’ve imple­ment­ed an LXP, it’s crit­i­cal to moti­vate your employ­ees to use it. The most effec­tive way to do this is to cre­ate a cul­ture of learn­ing, where employ­ees are encour­aged to explore and learn new skills and knowl­edge. This can be done by pro­vid­ing incen­tives, such as rewards, and recog­ni­tion, for com­plet­ing learn­ing activ­i­ties.

You can pro­vide men­tor­ship and sup­port with­in the learn­ing expe­ri­ence plat­form to help employ­ees stay moti­vat­ed and engaged in their learn­ing.

The image shows a Guy in black shirt looking at his phone where he finds all training content and learning materials. Attract & Retain Top Talent
A good learn­ing expe­ri­ence can be used on your smart­phone.

Tips for Creating a Great Employer Brand

Cre­at­ing a great employ­er brand is essen­tial for attract­ing and retain­ing top tal­ent. A suc­cess­ful employ­er brand helps to dif­fer­en­ti­ate your com­pa­ny from your com­peti­tors and shows poten­tial employ­ees that your com­pa­ny is an attrac­tive place to work.

One of the best ways to cre­ate a great employ­er brand is to focus on the employ­ee expe­ri­ence. This includes pro­vid­ing an engag­ing onboard­ing expe­ri­ence, offer­ing com­pet­i­tive salaries and ben­e­fits, up-to-date tech­nol­o­gy like a learn­ing expe­ri­ence plat­form and cre­at­ing a pos­i­tive and sup­port­ive work envi­ron­ment.

Anoth­er way to cre­ate a great employ­er brand is to focus on employ­er brand­ing. This includes cre­at­ing con­tent that show­cas­es your com­pa­ny’s val­ues and cul­ture, such as blog posts, videos, and case stud­ies. You can also use social media to tell your com­pa­ny’s sto­ry and high­light the pos­i­tive expe­ri­ences of your employ­ees.

Final­ly, you can cre­ate a stel­lar employ­er brand by focus­ing on employ­ee engage­ment. This includes offer­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for employ­ees to grow and devel­op, pro­vid­ing recog­ni­tion and rewards for a job well done, and cre­at­ing an envi­ron­ment online and in per­son where employ­ees feel val­ued and appre­ci­at­ed.

Best Employer Practices for Retaining Staff

Retain­ing staff is essen­tial for long-term suc­cess. The best way to ensure that your employ­ees stay with the com­pa­ny is to pro­vide them with a great work­ing envi­ron­ment and to invest in their pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment.

A best prac­tice is to pro­vide employ­ees with oppor­tu­ni­ties for growth and devel­op­ment. This includes offer­ing train­ing and men­tor­ship pro­grams online and offline, as well as pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties.

Final­ly, the best way to retain staff is to cre­ate an envi­ron­ment where employ­ees feel val­ued and appre­ci­at­ed. This includes pro­vid­ing recog­ni­tion and rewards for a job well done and cre­at­ing a cul­ture of feed­back and open com­mu­ni­ca­tion.

Employee Engagement Strategies

Employ­ee engage­ment is essen­tial for cre­at­ing a pro­duc­tive and suc­cess­ful work­ing envi­ron­ment. The best way to ensure that employ­ees are engaged in their work is to focus on cre­at­ing a cul­ture of feed­back and open com­mu­ni­ca­tion. This includes pro­vid­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for employ­ees to give and receive feed­back, as well as pro­vid­ing a plat­form for employ­ees to share their ideas and sug­ges­tions.

Conclusion

In con­clu­sion, cre­at­ing an effec­tive onboard­ing and train­ing plan is essen­tial for attract­ing and retain­ing top tal­ent. Opti­miz­ing your onboard­ing and train­ing plan has sev­er­al ben­e­fits for both employ­ers and employ­ees, and there are sev­er­al steps you can take to improve it. These steps include cre­at­ing a com­pre­hen­sive onboard­ing pro­gram, a com­pre­hen­sive train­ing pro­gram, a com­mu­ni­ca­tion plan, and reg­u­lar­ly review­ing and updat­ing your plan.

In addi­tion, there are sev­er­al best prac­tices for onboard­ing and train­ing employ­ees, such as cre­at­ing an onboard­ing check­list and pro­vid­ing new hires with the resources they need to be suc­cess­ful in their roles. Imple­ment­ing a Learn­ing Expe­ri­ence Plat­form (LXP) is also a help­ful way to opti­mize your onboard­ing and train­ing plan and show poten­tial and cur­rent employ­ees you are invest­ing in mod­ern tech­nol­o­gy.

Final­ly, cre­at­ing a robust employ­er brand and employ­ee engage­ment strat­e­gy is essen­tial for attract­ing and retain­ing top tal­ent. By fol­low­ing the tips out­lined in this blog post, you can cre­ate an effec­tive onboard­ing and train­ing plan. This will help you attract and retain top tal­ent in the long run.

With the right plan in place, you can ensure that your new hires are equipped to do their best work, and that they feel wel­comed, sup­port­ed, and engaged in the long run.