Concept Proposal: Onboarding Program for Branch Managers

Scope of my Advanced Design project

I would like to develop a new hire training orientation program for my workplace focusing on the needs of branch managers.  This program is needed to enhance the existing offerings available to new branch managers. This training will provide more inclusive and cohesive learning opportunities to help these managers adapt to the company as well as their own specific roles and responsibilities. There are approximately 5,000 employees in this role today.

Courses will focus on topic areas such as policies, standard operating procedures, ethics, computer system, and professional skills.  A new hire program of this nature will immerse the learner into their role from their first day on the job and will help to guide them through their first 30 days of employment.  

Today, we have a much less formal orientation program.  It is somewhat inconsistent and also difficult to track and manage.  Through our companywide learning management system (LMS), we can track completion of the various onboarding tasks.  My goal is to have a core group of courses suitable for all branch managers, consisting of role-specific training to help the new manager adjust to their critical role.  These courses will also help them learn about the company, adapt to the culture, understand their goals and objectives, and branch operations. Through the various activities offered, learners receive training in a variety of formats and delivery methods.

As part of the new hire training program, branch managers will be introduced to training in the areas of safety, sales, product knowledge, systems/technology, ethics/compliance, and leadership, to name a few.  Training for these new hire requirements consists of eLearning courses, simulations, videos, and other interactive learning opportunities.  Some videos are stand-alone and others are embedded within eLearning courses. 

A strong new hire program will help with retention in the branch manager role as well as employee satisfaction. It will also improve retention in this critical role by developing our managers and grooming them to be successful leaders.

The Blended Learning Environment

To best learn these skills, new employees will complete a series of eLearning courses including simulations, sound, images, videos, assessments, quizzes, and evaluations. These courses will provide an interactive and hands-on learning experience for the new employee, exposing them to many areas of interest for their new role.

The program will offer the following benefits:

1. It allows for a consistent delivery of information to the new branch manager.

2. Through our LMS, we can track and manage the progress of the new manager as they complete the various course requirements.

3. It allows new managers to begin orientation on their first day at the branch and not have to wait to start their development. Blogs can be used to communicate additional content to the learners and allow for collaboration. Webinars and synchronous sessions may also be scheduled as part of the program as well.

Blogs can be used to communicate additional content to the learners and allow for collaboration. Webinars and synchronous sessions may also be scheduled as part of the program as well.

Through web based experiential learning simulations and activities, learners are able to use their critical thinking and problem solving techniques while directly applying what they learn to their real life.  Using pre-existing knowledge, experiences, and competencies, learners can use what they already know and build upon those existing skills. Handouts, videos, and program assessment tools will be included to help support the training initiative.

Following the completion of the 90 day new hire orientation and onboarding, new branch managers should be able to successfully oversee branch operations and improved branch performance.  In addition, the company should see an increase in employee satisfaction in the role of branch manager, as well as improved retention.  These are both measurable statistics.

Through employee feedback and evaluations of the program, we will be able to consistently improve our offerings to employees to provide the best new hire orientation possible.

My eLearning components will be developed primarily using an application called Lectora Inspire (http://trivantis.com/products/inspire-e-learning-software/).  Course(s) will be available to our class within an instance of Moodle that I set up recently.  I will be referring to content and resources from Society for Human Resource Management (www.shrm.org), Association for Talent Development (www.td.org), and The eLearning Guild (www.elearningguild.com) to name a few.

In our Wankel and Blessinger textbook, the authors stated, “advancement in both digital technologies and learning theories are transforming the way we teach and learn and those advancements are refining our views of what it means to learn in the contemporary post-industrial age: (Wankel, 3). Through the use of various forms of learning technology, I hope to improve my current workplace learning environment by improving overall learner experience, employee engagement, retention, and motivation. The authors further stated that immersive environments “have the potential to foster a sense of progressing, which is important in motivation and developing competence. (Wankel, 8).

References

ATD, Retrieved September 19, 2015. https://www.td.org/

eLearning Guild. Retrieved September 19, 2015. http://www.elearningguild.com/

SHRM. Retrieved September 19, 2015. http://www.shrm.org/pages/default.aspx

Trivantis. Lectora Inspire. Retrieved September 19, 2015.  http://trivantis.com/products/inspire-e-learning-software/

Wankel & Blessinger. Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Immersive Interfaces: Virtual Worlds, Gaming, and Simulation. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. UK. 2012.