New Leaf & ICON Transform Healthcare Onboarding via eLearning

Onboarding new employees is a critical process that can significantly impact an organisation's success. As the healthcare sector grapples with challenges such as high turnover rates and the need for continuous upskilling, innovative solutions become imperative.

Glassdoor research underscores how companies with robust onboarding programs experience 82% higher employee retention and 70% increased productivity. Conversely, inadequate onboarding can lead to early departures, with up to 31% of employees leaving within the first six months.

Michael Hanly, Managing Director of New Leaf Technologies, shares how eLearning became a game-changer for ICON PLC, a global provider of outsourced development and commercialisation services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. This partnership resulted in the award-winning ICON New Joiner Orientation Programme, showcasing the power of eLearning in workforce integration and development.

ICON PLC: A Leading Force in the Healthcare Sector

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, ICON PLC has established itself as a leading contract research organisation (CRO) with a comprehensive service offering that spans the entire lifecycle of product development. With over 45,000 employees in 40 countries, ICON’s operations extend across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. The company’s success hinges on its ability to efficiently conduct multinational clinical trials and maintain a high-performing, cohesive global team.

The Goal: Efficient and Effective Onboarding

In its pursuit of excellence, ICON PLC pinpointed several critical learning and development objectives. These included the effective onboarding of new joiners within a diverse, multinational workforce and minimising the dependency on traditional face-to-face facilitator-led orientation sessions. Additionally, the company aimed to boost the adoption of their Learning Management System (LMS) to enhance the overall learning culture. 

Ensuring a seamless learning workflow across their operational software stack was also a priority, alongside reducing internal support queries. Furthermore, ICON sought to gamify the onboarding experience to make it more engaging and to modularise the process for easier content maintenance, thereby optimising both the efficiency and effectiveness of their onboarding program.

The Challenge: A Diverse and Complex Workforce

The ICON PLC Learning and Development team, with members based in Ireland, the Philippines, India, and the US, faced the formidable task of creating a custom onboarding program that could streamline the integration of new employees. This challenge was compounded by the multicultural and diverse nature of their workforce and the complexity of their global operations. 

More so, traditional facilitator-led training was deemed unsustainable due to its ineffectiveness and high costs. Thus, the team turned to New Leaf Technologies to design a revolutionary onboarding solution.

The Solution: A New Era of Onboarding

New Leaf Technologies developed the ICON New Joiner Orientation Programme, an innovative eLearning solution that transformed their onboarding process across five key areas of information. 

This program offers an engaging online induction experience with interactive challenges, where new hires collect "molecules" as points to form the ICON DNA and earn the ICON DNA trophy. It includes immersive VR activities and virtual office tours, providing realistic environments that help new employees connect with their workplace. Interactive software simulations are also part of the program, enabling new hires to familiarise themselves with operational systems. 

By gamifying onboarding, ICON improved engagement and ensured new hires embraced the company's culture, creating a seamless integration experience.

Following the initial rollout, ICON gathered feedback from various departments to refine the onboarding course. The collaborative efforts between ICON and New Leaf Technologies ensured a seamless transition to a new LMS, with content and workflows rigorously tested for efficacy. 

The onboarding training is a dynamic process, continually introducing new learners to ICON and guiding them through their first months.

Today: A Streamlined Onboarding Across Continents

Today, ICON PLC operates across four sectors, inducting new employees through the streamlined onboarding process created in partnership with New Leaf Technologies. Every new joiner is introduced to ICON PLC via this comprehensive training course. The program’s success is evident in the consistency and efficiency gained across ICON's multinational workforce.

Return on Training Investment: A Quantifiable Success

ICON PLC investment in eLearning has yielded significant returns says Justine Leigh, Senior Director, Learning & Development. "By shifting from traditional classroom-based training to an innovative online induction program, we've achieved significant time and cost savings while adhering to our budget. This transition has also ensured consistent training quality and engagement across our global operations, with 100% staff compliance. Moreover, the integration of eLearning into our organisational framework has fostered a robust culture of continuous development, empowering our employees to excel in their roles."

“Our collaboration with ICON PLC exemplifies how strategic use of eLearning can unlock an organisation’s potential, ensuring employees are retained, empowered, and equipped to achieve excellence that continues to evolve” says Michael Hanly. “We understand that no single tool is more influential to your candidates onboarding experience than the platform you use. What you want is a learning management platform that’s secure, easy to use, and makes training seamless, efficient, and engaging.” Hanly concludes. 

eLearning is not just a trend; it's a strategic imperative for healthcare organisations looking to thrive in a competitive landscape. By investing in a robust eLearning onboarding program, healthcare institutions can unlock the potential of their workforce, ensuring that employees are not only retained but are also empowered to achieve excellence in their roles. 

With New Leaf Technologies end-to-end learning solutions that integrate existing software you can onboard, train, and track new hires on a single platform seamlessly.  For more information and to participate in upcoming training sessions, please visit www.newleaftech.com.

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About New Leaf Technology

New Leaf Technologies is a premier eLearning solutions provider headquartered in South Africa, with a global presence spanning Johannesburg, Stellenbosch, Ireland, Canada, and New York. As a frontrunner in the African Learning Renaissance, we are committed to making corporate education accessible, engaging, and transformative. Our innovative platforms, including aNewSpring, Articulate, TalentLMS, and our proprietary Training Intelligence System, redefine learning experiences by integrating advanced data analytics to enhance learner engagement and business performance. 

Recognised among the top five learning organisations worldwide at the 2024 Learning Technologies Awards in London, we continue to set new industry benchmarks. Through initiatives like the Learning Indaba conference, we foster collaboration and innovation within the Learning and Development community. Trusted by global brands, we offer over 35,000 courses, bespoke learning experience design and partner with the world's leading edtech providers to deliver frictionless solutions. At New Leaf Technologies, we are dedicated to growing people and transforming lives through education. Think empoweredlearning, Think New Leaf.