If you want to predict the end for your employees, look no further than the start. A bumpy on-ramp into your organization could very well be steering many of them to the nearest exit.

It should come as no surprise to HR managers, but the first 18 months of employment — when turnover can reach as high as 50 percent — are pivotal in the employee-employer relationship. But according to a Gallup study, a meager 12 percent of employees “strongly agree” that their organization provides a sufficient onboarding training process.

Far too many HR departments risk an abbreviated tenure with new hires by neglecting this early stage. Given the costs of losing a team member — at least six to nine months of his or her salary — preventing employee turnover should be a top priority for every company.

The Untapped Power of Onboarding Software

Thankfully, many HR departments have the necessary tools right at their fingertips. Many of these teams have already implemented a learning management system (LMS) for staff training, but they might not understand some of the ancillary LMS benefits. What was once a tool solely for internal use can now be leveraged long before an interview.

The advantages of a learning management system can begin as early as the recruitment phase. One HR executive recently told me about a successful hire funneled directly from the company’s online recruitment program, which vets candidates with mini certification courses and games designed to test skills. This talent acquisition software enabled the company to build a robust profile of candidate data before the interview process, which ensured it was choosing from the best of the best.

Finding and Onboarding Top Talent With LMS Software

Taking your onboarding program online can yield similar results for your firm. Here are five benefits of recruiting and onboarding new employees using your learning management system:

1)

You can track recruits on a centralized platform. Without a central database enabling a rapid review of an array of applicants, a recruiting manager might have little time to assess résumés or set up interviews. Using online training platform software to aggregate all the pertinent information about your recruits can save precious time.

Once you have the data readily available, you can use it to quickly identify which candidates should stay in the running. The software enables you to find individuals who have the right degree or key qualifications much faster than thumbing through an unyielding mountain of résumés.

2)

You can fill in gaps using detailed reports. Onboarding software brings a host of analytics to your recruitment process. With detailed reports, charts, and graphs of assessment data, you can collect critical information to find the right talent to fit your gaps.

Companies like Johnson & Johnson are adeptly using these features to match recruits with departments. By analyzing the traits of its top employees, the pharmaceutical giant identifies criteria for its assessments and is able to screen out applicants who might be unlikely to succeed. Likewise, you can develop your own criteria for what helps someone thrive in customer service or sales and then structure your employee onboarding software accordingly.

3)

You can uncover hidden talents. As many recruiters and hiring managers have learned, it’s not uncommon for candidates to discover that they’re better suited for a different position during the interview process. Why not let your employee onboarding software accelerate this realization? You can use the system to help prospective hires identify their core talents and then see open positions that match their expertise.

By moving this critical discovery phase forward, you can save your organization a good deal of time and money. Instead of going through the painful exercise of re-recruiting after shifting someone toward another department, you can funnel new hires into the right role from the start.

4)

You can get face time with candidates. Most employee onboarding software has built-in support for video conferencing. Companies such as Unilever have scrapped résumés altogether in favor of a mixture of game-based assessments and automated video interviews.

Once again, software can save you and your department the effort of going through an in-person interview only to discover that your promising candidate is a poor communicator or a bad fit for your organization. Get that important face-to-face contact before an official interview by using technology to connect.

5)

You can customize your onboarding by pinpointing areas of improvement. Because you’ve already established a profile for new hires in your onboarding system through the recruiting process, you can transition seamlessly into training. Given that nearly 90 percent of new hires say they don’t enter a new job with all the knowledge they need, they will require help to bridge the gaps in their skills.

Regardless of any shortcomings that might have come to light during interviews, induction training for new employees coupled with specific online courses can quickly bring them up to speed. You’re thus able to dive right into on-the-job training, which more than 75 percent of new employees have identified as the most important part of onboarding.

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While the benefits of onboarding new employees are well-established, relatively few companies think to put their learning management systems to work during these early stages. With a flexible LMS that supports gamification, video conferencing, applicant tracking, and advanced reporting features, you can employ this software to smooth the on-ramp and pave the way to success for your new hires.

Employee onboarding has come a long way from watching DVDs in the company break room. Here are five ways to use learning management systems to provide a more positive, engaging, and fun experience for recent hires. 

New hire onboarding is a make-or-break moment in the employment cycle. This process helps employees develop their first impressions of their new workplace, their resources, and even their advancement opportunities.

And if it seems like their needs will not be met, they have no problem leaving. In fact, 17 percent of new hires quit within their first three months on the job. Considering the importance of successful new hire orientation, it’s surprising that only 32.6 percent of US employees say they are satisfied with their employers’ training programs.

The solution is pretty obvious: We need to find ways to improve our onboarding eLearning. An onboarding learning management system brings new employees up to speed while immersing them in your corporate culture. An LMS can handle the heavy lifting of orientation because it’s easier to deploy—it can also simplify employee development and monitoring.

These platforms enable companies to stay ahead of the competition and retain top talent. More importantly, new hires develop skills and fill gaps on their own terms, improving their satisfaction and productivity.

Good Training Gets Better

A well-built LMS definitely makes an impression with new hires. One HR manager I worked closely with heard rave reviews regarding her company’s LMS from a new hire. This new team member praised the system’s personalized resources and accessibility, noting it was a far cry from DVDs in the break room.

This speaks volumes about the role that an LMS can play in online onboarding. And the process only gets better when you enhance it with a gamified learning platform. Learning management system gamification provides training that truly motivates employees to keep going. It can transform otherwise boring company policy and compliance protocols into an engaging experience.

Additionally, game-based learning allows employees to gather the skills and knowledge they need to complete job-related tasks while having some fun along the way. They might be so eager to earn the next badge in their virtual display case that they actually go out of their way to learn more about a subject relevant to their job.

Not only is gamified learning more appealing, but it also makes it a breeze to track individual performance and participation. This real-time tracking enables managers to easily identify employees’ strengths and opportunities for growth, which makes annual reviews a more productive conversation. In short, new team members gain more knowledge during online onboarding, and your organization gets better production from its fresh talent.

5 Keys to Successfully Gamify Onboarding

Given the numerous benefits, a gamified learning platform seems like a smart move for companies in any industry. But before you pull the trigger and launch your new platform, follow these five LMS best practices to get the most bang for your buck:

1. Focus on behaviors and practical benefits. New hires are at a crucial stage of the employment cycle, so LMS games should guide learners to the information they need while reinforcing favorable behaviors. New employees should only advance to the next level after they have shown they have the necessary skills. Meanwhile, your game strategy and eLearning course design should demonstrate how learners can translate talents and knowledge gained from online training into the workplace.

2. Choose the right rewards for each task. Your onboarding game mechanics and rewards must suit employee preferences and needs, but they should also address your objectives and desired outcomes. For instance, badges are best for more involved accomplishments or working toward long-term goals. Alternatively, leaderboards tap into our competitive nature and fuel social interactivity. Use each feature accordingly. Consider how companies like Spotify and LivingSocial used constant performance feedback to entice 90 percent of employees to embrace a gamified review process.

3. Tap into intrinsic motivation. The goal of LMS gamification is to encourage the professional growth of your team members. A desire for public recognition might get employees engaged initially, but intrinsic motivation will keep them going. When employees notice that your gamified courses are improving their skills, it increases their confidence and their investment in your eLearning program. For example, LiveOps saw 23 percent better performance from employees who used its training app, which garnered 80 percent participation.

4. Keep competition light and productive. Competition can be a great motivator, but things quickly go downhill if it creates a hostile environment. New employees already feel apprehensive during their first days on the job, so keep the competition friendly and focused. In fact, your game narrative should support your company’s goals and help each employee see his or her role in the bigger picture. This makes the competition and your onboarding process more productive; team members experience a supportive community instead of feeling pitted against their peers.

5. Set clear ground rules. Be as clear as possible about your expectations. Let new hires know how they can earn points or badges, as well as what’s in it for them. Do they get a ticket to an exclusive training webinar? Do they unlock an online resource library? Be sure to emphasize intrinsic motivators: Explain how earning a sales skills badge demonstrates their mastery of the fine art of persuasion. Get early buy-in with your gamified online training program to ensure sustained employee participation.

Make no mistake: Using gamification for new employee training requires a robust LMS. It should have a strong focus on social learning and reporting. Most importantly, it should support your unique goals. Determine your desired outcomes ahead of time, and use that insight to find a gamified learning platform that keeps employees engaged and fosters professional growth.