Onboarding shouldn’t be an impersonal and disconnected experience. But today’s workforce is diverse and often dispersed globally, making it difficult for new employees to feel connected. At HDR, an engineering firm, new employees felt isolated and unable to make meaningful connections during onboarding. The result was a lack of engagement and motivation to complete required training. HDR needed a way to build connectivity and accountability into learning and onboarding.

In this case study session, find out how HDR reinvigorated new employee performance and engagement by creating a connected learning environment using a cohort training model. You’ll discover how the right mix of technology and collaborative learning led to a dynamic change in attitude and behavior, encouraged accountability and friendly competition related to course completion, and fostered enduring connections between employees and the company. In addition, you’ll learn about the technologies and tools that worked (or didn’t) when connecting cohort participants. Finally, you’ll identify the best way to design, structure, and manage an effective cohort learning program.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why cohort learning leads to better retention and on-the-job application
• How to design and implement an effective cohort learning program
• About the best resources and technologies to support a cohort learning program
• How to effectively manage and maintain a cohort learning program

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
WebEx, Yammer, SharePoint, LMSs, Google Docs, wikis, microblogging, surveys, polls, gaming, interactive whiteboards, instant messaging, Skype, and YouTube.