Interactive Onboarding Simulations and Why Your Employees Deserve It

According to a 2014 BambooHR survey, 31% of respondents had left their job within the first six months. Amongst them, 15% quoted that one of the reasons for quitting was the lack of a strong onboarding process.

The HR industries believe that onboarding is gradually becoming a top initiative for organizations only second to recruiting. A strong onboarding program familiarizes your new employees with the social and performance aspects of the organization. It helps them feel at home. Onboarding does not benefit only the employees but also the organization. It reduces the costs related to learning on-the-job. When your new hires feel that you care for them, there is less turnover. As per Onboard, a robust onboarding program can improve employee performance by 11.5% and the new hire retention is 50% greater than what it would be without a structured orientation program.

You need to keep your onboarding interactive and engaging. It should boost the excitement in your new hires. If they like their first learning experiences in the organization, then they will remain motivated for their jobs. Simulations are a great way to make your orientation program interactive. They have several advantages over traditional onboarding programs.

Here are a few ways in which simulations can jazz up your onboarding program.

#1: Simulations are immersive.

The modern workforce has an attention span that is less than that of a goldfish! Do you really hope to keep them hooked to your boring, page-turner onboarding module? You have to build the excitement upfront if you want their attention. Simulations offer the immersive experience that can hook the new hires from the beginning. It provides a realistic feel of the company culture. The more invested your employees are the better they retain the knowledge taught.

#2: Simulations bring the remote teams closer.

It is not easy to gather all the new hires across your business units worldwide. It costs money and hampers productivity. But it is not wise to avoid it either. There may be a disconnect as a result of a broken onboarding process. Simulations help here by enabling a lifelike face-to-face experience.

#3: Simulations offer virtual tours.

If you have multiple offices and facilities worldwide, a simulated onboarding training program is the best option for you. It may not be monetarily feasible to take your new hires to visit all the facilities physically. But giving them a virtual tour is possible and provides them with a cross-culture feel.

Even though simulations may feel like the ideal option for onboarding, there are certain things that you must keep in mind.

You must set expectations upfront. Some of the new hires may have previous job experiences. They can get caught off-guard if they expect passive learning. It is important that you let them know, beforehand, what they are about to experience.
Make sure that your simulations have the relevant degree of challenge. Avoid hand holding your new hires. It is good to guide them but let them figure out their way. They learn better when they struggle.
Do not write off bandwidth issues completely. The new hires may not access the modules only during office hours. It defeats the purpose of anytime learning. It is wise to have an offline version for such instances.

With the use of custom training simulations from Designing Digitally, Inc. you can offer your learners an in-depth knowledge and immersive learning experience. Our team of expert instructional designers have been creating custom 2D and 3D simulations for decades. We have the required experience and skills to provide your employees with the best experiential training.

To learn more about this learning approach and how it can be implemented into your training plans, talk to our team or request a free quote today.