Revamped onboarding prepares teams at an air and space transportation agency to adapt to change and thrive

An information technology division within an airspace transportation government agency stood at a pivotal moment. After implementing a new matrix-driven, centralized business model to streamline how they handled support tickets, the goal was clear: become more responsive and more agile. But there was a problem. As a nationally distributed organization with over 45,000 employees, the teams within the technology division needed to adopt a systems-thinking mindset, understanding how each agency employee worked together to support the organization’s mission and goals. Having undergone a systematic change, the division’s existing onboarding program was outdated and no longer up to the task.

Recognizing the urgency, they knew they needed a solution to bring their teams up to speed quickly and effectively. The technology division needed more than just training—they required a complete transformation. With a deep understanding of the organization’s inner workings and a history of successful collaborations with other parts of the organization, bringing in the expertise of the Cynuria instructional design and training team was the natural choice to guide this overhaul. Our familiarity with their operations, expertise in modernizing training, and system-agnostic approach to developing training meant we could hit the ground running and build a program that not only fit their needs but also ensured their teams could thrive in the new matrix system.

Redesigning to modernize

First, our instructional design team tackled the division’s in-person employee onboarding program. We re-designed the existing two-day experience and created a dynamic and immersive in-person instructor-led training program to maximize the ability of new employees to connect and collaborate within a shared physical space. The new approach integrated a variety of hands-on activities and opportunities for participants to collaborate with peers to reinforce their understanding of the organizational structure, its mission, and their role within it.

Through experiential learning techniques, participants explored strategies and best practices to equip them for success as new members of the information technology team. To deliver the instructor-led program, our team of writers, designers, and developers created a curriculum that included a comprehensive participant workbook, an engaging facilitation guide, a dynamic slide deck, and an informative evaluation.

The onboarding program aimed to improve interactions with customers, stakeholders, and peers through strategic communication and critical thinking. With hands-on activities, team-building exercises, and scenario-based learning, participants gained practical skills they could immediately apply in their roles. Our tailored approach ensured each learner connected with the organization’s updated mission and values while adopting a system-thinking mindset to empower them with the tools needed for success as they navigated new processes and technologies.

Adapting the delivery model

The global pandemic forced most organizations to reconsider their approach to training. Limited possibilities for in-person interaction meant that we needed to re-envision the training experience originally designed to take place through face-to-face instructor-led training.

Leveraging our insights from the pilot program for the instructor-led training program and our deep expertise in virtual training facilitation, our team pivoted to support the agency in its journey to adopt the newly developed onboarding program in a virtual environment. We leveraged our deep expertise in curriculum and training design to transform the in-person experience into an engaging virtual learning training rooted in proven adult learning theories.

Knowing the challenges of virtual delivery, our team first restructured the experience to accommodate time for engagement and interaction in the virtual space. The new approach expanded the experience into five interactive sessions over three days, strategically combining collaborative group projects with independent exercises to ensure participants could apply critical concepts in real-time.

Engagement in virtual training is critical to ensuring retention. To create an incentivized environment, we introduced game-based elements, where participants earned points for completing activities, fostering healthy competition and motivation. A leaderboard encouraged continuous interaction, idea exchange, and networking, creating a dynamic learning environment that kept participants fully engaged from start to finish.

Our team also leveraged the power of media in the new experience, creating videos and media content that could be engaged with asynchronously within the learning management system, empowering participants to review content before and after virtual group sessions.