When you think of software for new hire onboarding, you probably don't think of knowledge base software.
You are most likely accustomed to using a knowledge base or some other similar knowledge management software to document and organize your company's policies and procedures.
A knowledge base can be a powerful tool for training new hires on their job. It all depends on your employee training curriculum or your knowledge transfer strategy.
Over the past decade, I've helped companies develop their training plans as part of my job with ScreenSteps, a knowledge ops solution. And a knowledge base is always the core of that training curriculum.
Watch this 3-minute video for a brief explanation of the four top benefits of using a knowledge base as part of your training plan. Then continue reading for more details.
1. Decreases memorization requirements
When employees know they will have access to the information they need at their fingertips 24/7, they don't need to stress about memorizing everything.
Instead of getting new hires to memorize every policy and procedure during training, teach your new hires how to quickly find and follow your digital guides.
This will help decrease mistakes and increase productivity in your workers.
HOT TIP
Keep your knowledge base articles up to date. If you let your digital guides become outdated, your employees will be accessing inaccurate information and make more mistakes
2. Reduces your training times
Memorizing dozens of processes and procedures takes a long time. Typically, classroom training takes businesses weeks or months. And that doesn't include shadowing or employee time to proficiency.
When your focus is on teaching new hires how to use the knowledge base, you can speed up the training process.
That's because new hires are using the resources they will have in their day-to-day jobs. Training becomes practice for what they will be doing every day.
3. Enables you to have hands-on experiences
Not only does the traditional training method of memorization slow training down, but it doesn't lead to any practical application. Often, new hires leave training having memorized information — but then they don't know what to do.
Because you spend less time cramming information into your new hires' heads, you have more time to run through realistic work scenarios.
The hands-on experience provides new hires time to learn to find guides in the knowledge base and follow the instructions in them. Plus, this is a more engaging experience for learners.
4. Teaches self-reliance
When new hires leave onboarding knowing what they need to do but not how to do it, they rely on their supervisors.
You want to set the expectation that employees need to be self-reliant. That will reduce the pressure on your supervisors and increase employee confidence.
A knowledge base helps you do that by providing each new hire with personal support. The knowledge base houses all the answers your employee needs.
Simplify new hire onboarding with knowledge base software
Onboarding new hires is a challenging task. There is a lot of knowledge to transfer to new employees to get them up to speed and you want to do that as fast as possible.
We developed the Find & Follow Framework to help businesses learn how to use a knowledge base to speed up employee training as well as improve knowledge operations.
Businesses that have adopted Find & Follow have been able to onboard their new hires in 30 days or less. In some cases, new hires have outperformed tenured employees with the new training method.
Want to see knowledge base software in action?
Watch the ScreenSteps demo videos for a preview of how knowledge base software works.
