Winchester City Council is just one of many local authorities for whom Induction training for new joiners was a real pain point. The Council's Learning and Development Advisor Marian Ives’ discusses how the induction programme has transformed.
What was the driver for creating your Induction e-learning?
For many years we ran a traditional ‘classroom’ induction course with the usual PowerPoint presentations but the feedback was becoming less favourable. Attendees found it all too much information at one time, too much ‘chalk and talk’ and there was no real way for delegates to refer back to what they’d learnt at a later date.
In addition, with more and more people working flexibly either at home or out in the community and not necessarily working standard 9-5 office hours it was difficult for them to attend. We thought that e-learning could address these problems, and it did!
How many officers have been trained so far?
All our new starters since launch (April 09) have completed the e-induction. Because of a recruitment slow down due to economic conditions our number of new starters has been unusually low at 26. However, in a ‘normal’ year we would expect between 60-75 new starters to be trained.
We are also going to use the Health and Safety elements of the Induction course as refresher training for our existing staff – starting with a launch of the Fire Safety module. We’re definitely getting value for money from our investment!
How did learners fit in the e-learning with their day job?
This has been one of the main benefits of moving to the e-induction. We asked all learners to complete the modules within their first two weeks of starting their new job although they are able to ‘dip in’ to the learning and do it as it suits them.
This fits in with other activities the learner s may be doing with their new manager or as part of their new role, and is much more flexible than the previous classroom route.
Have you had any resistance from learners completing the e-learning?
The e-learning has replaced the ‘information’ side of induction and has been very positively received.
It helps that the ten Induction e-learning modules we created feature our own staff in the photos and in the recorded voice-overs which we felt would be more fun and inclusive than having actors do them.
It feels very much like Winchester’s own product rather than a generic Induction programme.
We also had some fun in creating it, running Voice Idol (Winchester’s answer to Pop Idol), to find the staff to record the soundtrack.
We didn’t want to lose the face to face element of the Induction programme altogether though so we now offer all new starters the chance to come on a guided bus tour of the district. This helps them to see that the district is much bigger and more complex than just the pretty and historic city part!
There is also a chance for them to meet other new colleagues and the bus tour ends with a buffet lunch with the Chief Executive and senior management team.
This tour is optional (whereas the old PowerPoint day was compulsory) because we know that even if they don’t chose to come they still have all the key information and legal stuff from completing the e-learning. In reality, all starters have so far opted to come on the tour and it has a really nice buzz to it (the PowerPoint day had no buzz at all!).
What feedback have you had from learners so far?
The feedback has been very positive, both from the learners themselves and from their managers.
The e-learning is a good tool for learners to go back and check things that they may not be sure about e.g. holiday entitlement, what to do if you are sick etc. And, because we deliver the e-learning via our Learning Pool DLE, we can monitor and evidence the learning that has taken place and provide management information reports showing this.
What is the best thing about the e-learning?
It’s hard to pick just one thing!
For me, in my role of managing the learning, the fact that we can easily track and record who has completed the induction is brilliant.
For the learners, being able to access the learning as and when suits them is the key benefit and, for Winchester City Council, having such a professional looking introduction for our new starters, while still keeping the personal element of this being a Winchester product with our own team members featuring in the photos and voice over is a real winner.
