What is Everboarding in Manufacturing Operations?

Everboarding is a modern approach toward employee onboarding and training that recognizes learning as an ongoing process. It shifts away from the traditional “one-and-done” onboarding model and focuses on providing employees with continuous learning opportunities throughout their tenure with an organization.

Everboarding in the context of the manufacturing industry refers to a forward-looking approach that ensures employees remain well-trained, adaptable, and aligned with industry standards throughout their employment. It extends beyond the traditional onboarding process, focusing on ongoing learning and development throughout an employee’s tenure.

Read below to learn more about everboarding in manufacturing, specifically everboarding’s defining characteristics, its benefits vs. traditional onboarding methods, and techniques to implement everboarding processes in manufacturing.

What is Everboarding?
The Benefits of Everboarding vs. Traditional Onboarding
Implementing Everboarding in Manufacturing
Foster a Culture of Continuous Learning with Augmentir

What is Everboarding?

Everboarding’s fundamental belief is that learning doesn’t stop after the initial onboarding period. Instead, it emphasizes continuous skill development and knowledge enhancement for employees throughout their careers. Key characteristics of everboarding include:

Ongoing Learning
Personalization
Collaboration
Reinforcement
Employee Experience

Everboarding tailors training and learning experiences to individual employees’ specific needs and roles within the organization, ensuring that they receive the most relevant and effective training. Additionally, it encourages peer connection and collaboration among employees, facilitating knowledge sharing and creating a supportive learning environment.

An everboarding approach toward workforce development incorporates spaced repetition, coaching, and reinforcement to help employees master content and skills over time, leading to better knowledge retention and skill application. It could include microlearning, digital learning modules, and other learning technology or knowledge management tools.

Pro Tip

To better facilitate everboarding in manufacturing, we recommend leveraging AI-based connected worker technology and learning management systems. These tools can help deliver personalized training, track employee progress, and align training and skills with work done on the shop floor.

Everboarding strongly emphasizes improving the overall employee experience by providing ongoing support, feedback, and growth opportunities. Research by Brandon Hall Group found that organizations with strong onboarding processes can increase productivity by 70% and experience an 82% improvement in new hire retention.

Everboarding transforms traditional onboarding into a continuous learning journey, fostering employee development and engagement beyond the initial onboarding phase, and ultimately contributing to improved employee performance and satisfaction.

The Benefits of Everboarding vs. Traditional Onboarding

Everboarding offers several advantages over traditional onboarding in the manufacturing industry, fostering continuous learning and skill development. Here are some of the benefits everboarding offers over traditional onboarding methods:

Adaptability: Manufacturing processes often change rapidly, everboarding allows employees to stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and practices, enabling manufacturers to remain agile and competitive. Additionally, in times of change or crisis, continuous employee training allows manufacturing companies to quickly adapt by providing targeted training to address new challenges.
Improved Worker Attraction and Retention: Continuous learning and skill development provided by everboarding show potential employees that organizations are dedicated to their workforce and each individual’s success. This also contributes to higher employee satisfaction and retention rates compared to traditional onboarding.
Increased Productivity: Continuously upskilled employees are more productive, contributing to enhanced manufacturing efficiency and output, whereas traditional onboarding may not focus on ongoing skill development.
Employee Empowerment and Engagement: The continuous nature of everboarding keeps employees engaged, empowering them with access to relevant training materials and knowledge when needed, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Reduced Skill Gaps: Everboarding actively works to reduce skill gaps through ongoing workforce development, ensuring that employees are adequately equipped to handle their roles and responsibilities effectively.

Furthermore, everboarding fosters peer connections, promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing among employees, this is especially valuable in manufacturing where having teams working closely together leads to improved production and success in manufacturing initiatives. Overall, everboarding in manufacturing offers a more flexible, adaptive, and employee-centric approach to onboarding and skill development, contributing to long-term success.

Implementing Everboarding in Manufacturing

Applying everboarding processes to manufacturing involves tailoring continuous learning and development approaches to the unique needs and challenges of the manufacturing industry.

To successfully implement everboarding processes in manufacturing organizations, manufacturers must utilize emerging digital technologies and platforms to deliver everboarding content efficiently. This can include e-learning modules delivered through connected worker solutions, mobile apps, and even virtual reality simulations for hands-on training.

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To best foster the adoption of continuous learning processes, it’s also crucial to shift the mindset within manufacturing organizations. Everboarding should be seen as an ongoing process that begins with onboarding but extends throughout an employee’s career. Leaders in manufacturing companies should set an example and emphasize the importance of continuous learning and skill development across all levels of the organization.

As manufacturing processes continue to evolve, employees must be routinely educated on process improvements, new technologies, and efficiency initiatives. With everboarding processes, manufacturers can provide personalized training plans that align with each employee’s specific role and responsibilities within manufacturing operations. Everboarding can incorporate continuous safety training ensuring that employees are always up-to-date on the latest safety protocols and best practices to prevent accidents and injuries.

Applying everboarding to manufacturing successfully involves creating a culture of continuous learning, tailoring training to specific roles, focusing on safety and process improvements, and utilizing digital tools, such as AI and connected worker solutions, to deliver content effectively. It’s paramount that frontline manufacturing workers are always equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to excel in their roles and adapt to industry changes.

Foster a Culture of Continuous Learning with Augmentir

Augmentir is the world’s first AI-powered connected worker platform that helps industrial frontline workers reduce onboarding and training time through smart technology. We are transforming workforce development by digitizing the entire skills and training lifecycle and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Smart insights into worker performance help prioritize and optimize upskilling and reskilling opportunities. With our AI-driven, smart, connected worker solutions manufacturers can instantly visualize the skills matrix for their teams, see what skill gaps exist, and take action to fill them.

Learn how the world’s leading manufacturers are using Augmentir to apply everboarding techniques and drive improvements across their industrial operations – contact us for a demo today!

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