How to Use LinkedIn Learning to Streamline New Hire Onboarding At Your Nonprofit

Effective onboarding can help your nonprofit get new employees up to speed faster and reduce turnover. Research shows that organizations that provide a structured onboarding process enjoy 62% higher productivity and 50% greater retention among new hires. But when you’re strapped for time, creating a robust onboarding process can feel intimidating. 

LinkedIn Learning can help. Here’s how to leverage this on-demand learning platform to create a repeatable, scalable, and streamlined onboarding process that maximizes new hire success. 

Upload custom content 

Today, LinkedIn Learning is home to nearly 17,500 expert-led courses. But did you know that you can also upload your own custom content to the platform that only your employees can access? This can include everything from videos to PDFs to presentations, and even links to public resources. 

For example, you might upload the following content for a new hire to review during their first week:

• A  welcome video from your CEO

• A PowerPoint deck providing an overview of your mission, history, and programs

• A document outlining your HR policies 

• A recording of a training session on using your organization’s CRM 

• A link to a government research report that’s relevant to your nonprofit’s work

What’s the benefit of uploading this kind of custom content to LinkedIn Learning? You can bring all the content that a new hire needs together in one place. That way, they don’t have to toggle between multiple folders and email threads as they move through their onboarding journey — everything they need is on LinkedIn Learning. 

Create tailored Learning Paths

In addition to sharing content that’s unique to your organization, you may want new hires to watch specific LinkedIn Learning courses created by expert instructors. This might include courses on: 

• Diversity, equity, and inclusion to help you create an inclusive workplace

• Microsoft SharePoint essentials to empower team collaboration 

• Basic cybersecurity practices that employees can employ to protect your nonprofit’s data

Rather than sending multiple links to your new hires, you can use LinkedIn Learning to compile relevant courses and custom content into a convenient playlist that employees can work through. These playlists are called Learning Paths. Create a general onboarding path for all new hires, or build unique Learning Paths for employees in different departments or locations. 

Encourage new hires to learn at their own pace

Starting any new job can feel overwhelming, so encourage your new hires to pace themselves. LinkedIn Learning courses are broken up into bite-sized chapters, making even the most in-depth content feel more manageable. And if your new employee needs to step away and come back later, the platform will keep track of their progress through whatever course or Learning Path they were working through, making it easy to pick up where they left off. 

Successful onboarding doesn’t happen in a day, and your new hire may want to come back to certain content after they’ve gained more context. LinkedIn Learning allows them to not only save courses to watch later, but also see their complete learning history, so they can quickly find courses that they’ve previously watched. 

Onboard, develop, and retain an impactful team 

The way that your nonprofit approaches onboarding can tell new hires a lot about what kind of organization you are and how you treat employees. Giving them access to a robust learning resource from day one signals that you’re invested in their career development and want to set them up for success. 

Learn more about how you can roll out LinkedIn Learning at your nonprofit by contacting our team today.