4 Ways To Structure Onboarding In A Hybrid World

With more employees working in hybrid models, how we onboard new hires must reflect this shift

The workforce looks different two years into the pandemic. Employment rate is rising after record low numbers in 2020, the Great Resignation continues to rage on and remote/hybrid models have become key differentiators in the competitive talent search.  
   
Hybrid work, in particular, has grown in popularity with employees across various industries around the globe. According to Microsoft's 2021 Work Trend Index study, 73% of employees want flexible remote work options to stay. 
 

To avoid losing out on potential hires, employers are adapting accordingly. Research from PwC's US Remote Work Survey shows that 87% of executives expect to change their real estate strategy — consolidating office space and/or opening more satellite locations — to adjust to the new work model.

These findings show that the hybrid work model isn't going anywhere. But with employees increasingly working in remote locations, the process of onboarding new hires needs to shift to account for the hybrid experience. Let's look at four ways to structure onboarding in a hybrid world: 

1. Transition from Just-in-case to Just-in-time 

As employees onboard, they're typically frontloaded with copious amounts of information, ranging from a broad scope of the competitive landscape to the value propositions of their new organization. This just-in-case learning method holds valuable information that new hires need to know, but it often isn't as impactful as it should be. 

Because this information isn’t targeted or connected to a specific situation, where it can viably be used, it can be lost among everything else new hires learn during onboarding. For this information to be useful during the onboarding process, just-in-case learning needs to transition to just-in-time learning.

Just-in-time learning aims to present timely information that focuses on what new hires will need to know in certain situations. Suppose a new employee in a sales organization will learn about their company’s product portfolio during an upcoming virtual training session. Before they attend the training, they can be given pre-recorded content that explains the various products, benefits and ideal customer profile. 

With the just-in-time learning now absorbed, they can come to the session with background knowledge on each product, allowing the meeting to be more actionable — with the focus being on role-playing exercises and quizzes to display their understanding. They can also refer back to these materials whenever they need a refresher on a specific product.

2. Develop a Learning Library

The amount of information that new hires receive during onboarding can make it difficult to truly comprehend all that they're taught. On top of that, they may have trouble remembering key concepts, especially if the concepts aren't reinforced. Developing a learning library can assist new hires in information recall and supplement their ongoing learning.

With a learning library, employees have a one-stop-shop of readily-available content, assets and reinforcement exercises designed to acclimate them to their new role and help them digest information faster. Learning libraries also add a convenience element, which is essential in hybrid environments where teams have varying schedules and may be unavailable to answer new hire questions as they arise. Now, new hires have the power to quickly find the information they need when they need it.

Because new hires spend hours going through onboarding, the content in learning libraries should be bite-sized and easily consumable. New employees don't need an entire course of information, just something that explains key concepts concisely and can quickly be found. Videos are a great method of disseminating crucial learning in an easy-to-digest format. Making them engaging and keeping topics varied (such as peer insights, customer testimonials, product info, etc.) encourages new hires to rewatch. 

To ensure new hires understand what they're learning, periodic quizzes or flash drills can be given once they're finished watching or reading content. This spaced repetition of the same information and applied knowledge makes it easier for new hires to retain new material over time. 

3. Capture and Share Peer Expertise

It's not uncommon for new hires to meet with top performers and subject matter experts (SMEs) within an organization during onboarding. It's a way for them to gain invaluable insights and access a repertoire of expertise. But they won’t be able to glean from these key contributors forever. You can’t expect SMEs to make time for every new hire, plus when the expert leaves the company someday, their knowledge leaves with them.

Failure to preserve this knowledge can leave gaps in a crucial part of the onboarding experience. To avoid this, start proactively capturing their expertise.

An effective way to capture institutional knowledge is through video. By recording an SME speaking on specific topics, like company positioning vs. a competitor, their insights can be saved and shared among new hires, even after they've parted with the organization. This recording can be turned into training opportunities during onboarding or incorporated into the learning library for employees to reference at any time. 

4. Enable Self-guided Learning

The move to hybrid gives employees more autonomy, allowing them to choose where and how they work. As a result, they operate on their own schedule and complete tasks at a pace that works for them. Onboarding can lean into this work model by enabling self-guided learning.

The coursework and training modules that new hires work out of should give them flexibility in their learning styles. If one new hire quickly understands the material, they can move through their training faster; whereas, if another is struggling with certain concepts, they can spend extra time until mastering it. Self-guided learning gives new hires the room to learn information in the way that’s most conducive to them. 

As the workforce shifts to a hybrid model, onboarding must also shift to accommodate remote workers. By structuring onboarding to provide just-in-time learning, an accessible learning library, captured peer knowledge and self-guided learning, new hires will be better prepared and more successful in their new roles. 

Amy Cohn is the Chief People Officer at Allego. Amy oversees the strategic development and execution of HR initiatives, including talent management, leadership development and DE&I. With over 20 years of HR experience, Amy is passionate about shifting from learning to action with a focus on inclusion and equity so that she can help attract, engage and retain more diverse workforces. Prior to joining Allego, Amy served as the CPO of Quickbase, where she led the company’s global HR operations and strategy.