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As an employer, it’s natural that you’ll want to ensure that new employees get onboarded quickly and efficiently. Onboarding new employees efficiently has many perks, including saving time, money, and hassle. However, this process isn’t always as simple as it may look—it is certainly not as simple as processing new hire paperwork.
This is especially true in the construction industry. There are many things to cover to ensure that your recruits not only know what to expect but also how to stay safe in the workplace.
That said, over the years, technological advancements have transformed how construction companies undertake their employee onboarding. For instance, internet availability has transformed how people communicate. Relationships are easier to manage, and this is a big part of an excellent induction process. This post will walk through what digital onboarding is and whether construction safety can be learned online.
What is digital onboarding?
Digital onboarding revolutionizes the traditional onboarding process that occurs when inviting a new contractor to work on a construction site. Instead of being performed on-site and in-person, workers complete the process from their preferred location before showing up on the job site.
Digital onboarding is completed using digital platforms. Subcontractors and workers can log in remotely into these platforms and complete all their assigned tasks, including uploading their safety passes. The digital onboarding process standardizes site inductions and helps prevent project delays and risks.
Benefits of digital onboarding
Efficient onboarding of new employees is a foundation for developing a solid, cohesive workforce that heeds to regulations and standards within the company. Whereas there are several benefits to using online training to onboard employees, let’s have a look at the seven most compelling reasons.
Enhanced Productivity
Using online training to onboard your employees ensures that they complete most of their training requirements even before they start working. This will automatically reduce the learning curve while on-site, given that they will be already familiar with most of their responsibilities, duties, and requirements. Additionally, it will enhance their performance.
Improved Safety
The construction industry has numerous health and safety requirements that construction workers have to meet. Whenever a project leader or a supervisor brings in new people for a project, they must ensure that each of them is conversant with the latest safety standards.
There is a significant amount of workplace injuries in the construction industry. Some of these injuries can be severe. Failure to observe safety standards may open up your company to several personal injury lawsuits. A great way of preventing this is to offer proper information and training on every work type.
Implementing digital onboarding can help employees learn various things such as equipment handling and safety protocols, and project processes. You can also use it to retrain your existing employees on the new safety standards. Digital onboarding enables employers to track what employees are learning. They can therefore ensure that the training program is completed as is required.
Reduction in Costs
One of the major reasons why some construction companies fail to invest in the onboarding process is the high cost that comes with it. Developing training programs for new employees and giving them the proper resources can be costly, especially for small construction companies. Even so, automation of business processes has enticing cost savings that make it worthwhile to invest in them.
Unlike physical onboarding, digital onboarding doesn’t require that you hire trainers, rent a training space, or travel to remote areas to get the requisite information. New employees can get whatever information they require from anywhere.
Another way of cutting costs is improving the rate of employee retention. A well-crafted digital onboarding process can help keep your employees loyal. This means that you won’t lose money recruiting new employees every few months.
Saves Time
Digitizing your onboarding process means minimizing paperwork for your staff, including your new hires. Onboarding requires that employees fill different forms. Completing these forms using traditional methods can take a long time. The digital onboarding process saves time by availing these forms to employees anytime and anywhere. This helps save time—the less time employees spend on the onboarding process, the more time they’ll have in undertaking their tasks.
Minimizes Record Keeping
The huge volumes of paperwork that often accompany the traditional onboarding process are eliminated when you use digital onboarding. Rather than using paper forms that can get misplaced easily, with digital onboarding, all record-keeping is done electronically.
Employees can therefore sign up when they have the time, complete their forms online, and begin their training immediately. The training documents are stored online for instant access. Other reference materials will also be available online whenever your employees need them.
The Training is More Effective
Different studies have found that interactive learning can enhance learning engagements and improve the retention of the learners—in this case, the new employees. With there being several electronic tools, it is easier to introduce interactive learning for construction workers on various topics, including safety standards and conditions and how to handle various equipment.
Continuous Learning
Various aspects of the construction industry change with time. Today a worker will be using a particular machine, and after a few months, a different type of machine comes around. When you onboard your employees digitally, you’ll be better placed to offer your employees continuous training.
The onboarding process isn’t clear-cut. As such, different aspects will evolve with time. By adopting the use of technology, you’ll ensure that your employees are conversant with emerging trends and tools in the construction industry. You’ll also create a safe working environment. Remember, a company that is up to date in its operations is more attractive to both clients and employees.
Wrapping up
Digital onboarding is currently the most effective type of training that can streamline and speed up the process of providing consistent training to new hires. It not only offers instant access to various employee training resources but also offers significant cost savings on instructor expenses, training materials, and logistics.
If you need help managing the environment around your construction site, Essel Environmental is your go-to environmental management firm. Contact us to learn more about our services.