New Employee Orientations - Benefits Module

Did you create the modules? I would love to see some examples of what you accomplished and to know if it was interactive.

Here's a quick idea off the top of my head:

Maybe you have a character that is the "new employee" with a shopping basket that he/she will fill with the various benefits. (Maybe they can even choose a character that looks like them?) As you go through the store, you can click on the benefits on the shelves, which will take you to a page that describes them and then they'll appear in the cart. The idea is to fill the cart as you learn about your benefits. You could make the health plan look like a box of band-aids, the vision plan looks like glasses, legal could be a big book, etc. Then you could make different "aisles" in the store, or even different "stores" for different companies within the organization and they'd only go to the ones that apply to them. Or maybe it's a mall with an optical shop, a lawyers office, a clinic, etc. I don't know I'm just brainstorming...

I honestly think you can take ANY topic and make it creative and fun! Good luck!

Hi, Regina:

Benefits is the probably the most inherently engaging topic in new hire orientation, so you've got that going for you. Because I'm a writer, I tend to learn toward characters and their interactions. And Storyline's built-in characters help in this regard. You might also look into the free templates Articulate offers as well (pretty easy to tweak and make your own).

I'm thinking about two characters who meet in the orientation (their first thought is "Yeah, this training should be about as fun as listening to a Justin Bieber tune backwards") but then they learn about the cool bennies, and well, they have discussions about how the bennies will actually impact their lives ("Charles mentions he's got a "little situation" with his ex-wife, etc., etc., pre-paid legal or whatever might come in handy). That's probably too quirky, but you get the point. Their needs should sort of reflect the needs of your learners. You might be able to introduce new characters when you talk about the different businesses.

The trick: 1. to create interesting characters who are not just a pedagogical tool. Most elearning characters are just shy of embarassing. Make it honest and sort of messy. That'll ring true to people.  2. Not to lean on the characters too much. Feel free to PM me if you need clarification. --Daniel