The digital age has changed how businesses operate. Even as we speak, e-mails are sending, pictures are posting, and programs are updating. Because we have become so connected to the world through our technology, instantaneous access has become essential to business operations.
The cloud is an asset businesses need to capitalize on to maintain that level of connectivity. While we see the benefits between client and company, we need to look inward and focus on the benefits between company and staff. By making the most out of the cloud by transitioning onboarding and collaboration from the physical form to the digital, there is a reduction in cost, an increase in company knowledge, and instantaneous accessibility. The skills learned in improving onboarding lead into improving actual work. By strengthening cloud-based onboarding, new hires will discover how to effectively collaborate with their teams using the cloud, which itself is an increase in organization, coordination, and productivity.
Reduction in Cost and Time
One of the leading factors in a successful business is being cost effective. In the world of business, it is universally acknowledged that time is money, so we need to understand just how to capitalize on our investment in a new hire. A well-designed cloud service for a new hire is accessible, practical, and encourages the collaboration needed to excel.
Cloud-based onboarding also adds a level of convenience that isn’t available in a physical onboarding experience. First, all the training is located at the employee’s fingertips. Second, the onboarding can be done anywhere. Third, the onboarding can be measured with real-time results.
Not only can data be calculated and stored locally in an online onboarding system, it also can be evaluated for effectiveness. A well-designed onboarding service benefits from user feedback, and can be adapted to reflect the positive suggestions made by the employees who just completed their training. By having the training in the hands of new hires, the most current edition will always be a few clicks away on any device.
Employee onboarding is necessary, but to do it in person can be a burden on resources, personnel, and time. By transitioning to online, we have the freedom to design the onboarding schedule around work, while alleviating costs in materials and demands on the administration and space.
Ease of Access
We know that by making it accessible, onboarding can happen anywhere, which means it can streamline the schedules of both the trainer and the trainee. This maintains a level of productivity for all members of the staff by making the trainers a support system instead of the key source of instruction. By having trainers supplement the knowledge learned from the onboarding, it reinforces the lessons learned by the trainee.
Outside of the demands on trainers, there are additional costs to consider. In a digital system, the administration won’t have to produce, handle, distribute, or archive the paperwork. Online onboarding is practical in that it saves time and resources.
Training saved on the cloud can be edited to reflect beneficial feedback provided from previous sessions. Since the materials are now more available for revision, new editions can be made more frequently. Instead of waiting to print a new manual, the text is edited in one location and made available to all readers.
Since the online aspect is so reliant on the interaction between employee and the service, it’s understandable that this process will allow new hires to interact with their teams and staff more easily.
Increase in Collaboration
The cloud is great for collaboration. The two greatest aspects of an online collaboration are that it provides sharing between the workforce and it opens communication, regardless of distance. With greater communication, teams can delegate tasks more efficiently, and can interact more effectively. Being able to track the productivity of the team generates progress reports, and can help keep the project(s) on track.
Having work centralized in one online location reduces content confusion as the same product is equally accessible for all members. Larger files that can’t be sent via e-mail now are stored online and can be collaboratively edited from one specific location by all members instead of copies of revisions being distributed to individual members.
By not having the team confined to a singular location, projects are now free to be worked on outside the immediate facility. Teams that are spread across the globe now can work in support of each other instead of waiting on copies to be delivered to their location. Feedback, member activity, and changes are tracked, and edits are simultaneously implemented. Regardless of the working location, collaborative work is as diverse as the media a user can access the material.
The benefits ultimately come down to the versatility of the cloud as a resource for your business. The flexibility to design training around individuals allows them the freedom to learn at their own pace, and to constructively evaluate their lessons. The ability to provide constructive feedback immediately upon completion serves as a way to discover what methods work and where to retool the onboarding materials. This is not just a learning tool—it is the first step toward working collaboratively with the company.
Blake Beus is director of Learning Services at Allen Communications, which provides corporate training, e-learning, and development solutions. For more information, visit http://www.allencomm.com.
