Onboarding is a critical period for everyone involved. For talent, it’s when they see the reality of their new workplace for the first time, face pressure to make a good impression, and learn the ropes of their new role. For employers, it’s when they set the foundation for long-term success and create an environment where their new hires can be satisfied and productive.
With so much at stake, onboarding shouldn’t be left to chance. Like any other business-critical project, it requires careful planning and execution in every stage — from preparation, through implementation and on to assessment.
The finer details of the onboarding process are totally different for different roles, companies and individuals. However, experience has shown that breaking it up into these four stages and planning each one carefully is a reliable way to make onboarding more successful — and boost the chances of a long, productive partnership with a new hire.
1. preparation, or preboarding — before the new employee onboarding process starts
Starting a new job can be a daunting and stressful experience — so new hires generally want as few surprises as possible when they arrive at work on their first day. Preboarding keeps surprises to a minimum by ensuring that both the new employee and the rest of the organisation is ready for the later parts of the onboarding process to start.
Aside from making the rest of the onboarding process easier and boosting its chances of success, figures suggest that preboarding is sorely needed in today’s world of work. According to a survey of HR professionals and recently-onboarded workers conducted by talent platform Talmundo and Belgium’s Vlerick Business School, 40% of employees claimed they didn’t get the absolute minimum amount of information required before starting work, and it took a similar proportion more than a week to get all their basic workstation equipment and tools in place.
When this is the reality, it’s not surprising that the study showed a well-planned preboarding process could boost retention significantly and drastically reduce the number of non-starters — new hires who quit before they’ve even started.
Among other things, this preparation stage of the onboarding process for new hires should involve:
- deciding who will participate — which will depend on the new hire’s role and department
- preparing the workplace — ordering computers, phones, tools, stationary, access tags and everything else the employee will need to get their job done
- informing the organisation — ensuring the new hire gets a warm welcome and finds their place in the team quicker
- taking care of admin — getting as much paperwork out the way before the candidate starts lets you focus on more important things during their first week
- updating the candidate — although most job-critical information will be shared in the later stages of onboarding, they should still get the relevant knowledge they need during preboarding — everything from an agenda for their first week and contact details for their future colleagues, to information on where to park and how to get access to the workplace on their first day.
No matter how well-planned and information-dense the rest of your onboarding process is, preboarding sets the tone for the whole introduction period and creates a positive gut feeling for the new hire. So making them feel secure and confident ahead of starting work and being available to answer their questions always pays off in the long run.
2. orientation — getting to know the company
Orientation is the start of the in-person onboarding process. It starts the moment they arrive on their first day, and may be the first time they meet their colleagues or get the chance to explore their new workplace. It’s a time of first impressions — and even though there’s a lot of information that needs to be conveyed during orientation, it’s important to remember the vital human aspect.
According to research from HR training organisation HCI, over half of companies focus only on processes and paperwork during orientation. This type of administration is important, but filling out forms and listening to endless presentations on company policies is not a recipe for high engagement. Successful onboardings instead focus on enabling a human connection by creating opportunities for the new hire to get to know the team and the company. During this period, these steps are important:
- organise a welcome gathering — the first week on the job is often a major event in a new hire’s career. Mark the occasion by getting the team together, and make room for social connections to form outside of a day-to-day work context.
- communicate the essentials in moderation — there’s no avoiding the fact that effective onboarding includes communicating information about company policies, culture and best practice. However, you don’t need to cover it all in the first few days. Spreading it over a number of weeks will make the onboarding process more engaging, and make it more likely the new hire actually absorbs what they’re learning.
- set expectations — some expectations may have already been set during preboarding, but here you should clarify what the new hire should expect from the company in terms of supervision, feedback and collaboration. Additionally, explain what the company expects from the new hire once onboarding is over and work truly begins. You may think the new hire will pick up on these things automatically, but it’s important you don’t leave them guessing.
Through a series of meetings, workshops, presentations and informal gatherings, the orientation period should create a positive gut feeling and leave the new hire feeling confident about what the coming months have in store.
3. training — developing the key capabilities for the role
If the orientation stage was about cementing the new hire’s feeling of belonging in the organisation and sharing the key information that all employees need, training is focused on preparing them for the specifics of their role. The details of this stage will obviously depend on the job, but it will likely include:
- training in core role-related software and tools — this could be anything from the CAD software or CRM system the employee will use, to the safety features of the forklifts they will drive.
- introduction to internal administrative tools — like the system for booking paid time off, or the company intranet.
- information on processes — where does the new hire fit in the overall organisational machine, which other teams and departments do they rely on, and which rely on them?
It will obviously be hard for HR to design and run the training stage itself — this has to be done by the team members with the required expertise. However, HR does play a key role in emphasising the importance of training, making sure it has a place in the onboarding process, and helping the trainers prepare before training actually begins.
Out of all the onboarding process steps, training is probably the most important for the new hire. In our 2024 Workmonitor survey of thousands of workers worldwide, 72% of respondents considered training important for their current job. These findings were echoed in a poll run by Amazon and Gallup, in which 57% of respondents said they were “very” or “extremely” interested in training that would boost their skills at work.
It’s likely that your workers are keen to learn more and get the training they need to master their jobs — so ensure the training period is mapped out and emphasised during the onboarding process.
4. integration — becoming a true member of the team
It’s during this transition period that the employee goes from being the ‘new hire’ to a natural part of the team. This often happens slowly, over the course of weeks or months, as the employee gains a deep understanding of their role and reaches their normal level of productivity.
It’s easy to think of integration as a natural process that will come with time, but this isn’t always the case. You should still see it as part of the onboarding process, and work to make it as smooth as possible — just as you would during the preparation, orientation and onboarding stages.
In practice, this could mean managers and HR continuing to engage with the new hire as they progress. You won’t need to meet as often as you did during the first week, but scheduling regular check-ins to review their onboarding status in the weeks or months following their first day can help you address any issues.
Taking time to ensure your desired cultural integration has succeeded prevents issues before they arise, and can create serious cost savings — researchers writing in MIT Sloan Management Review found that corporate cultural issues were 10.4 times more important as a driving force than compensation for employees who quit their jobs, so with the high cost of employee turnover, ensuring a cultural fit saves money.
This stage of the onboarding process is also vital for HR. The new hire has settled in, but their first weeks on the job are still fresh in their mind — so you should be getting feedback in the form of surveys and interviews to learn about the strengths of your onboarding process and where improvements can be made.
get the onboarding process infographic
During the rush of the workday and the pressure of hiring talented new team members, it’s easy to overlook the details of the onboarding process — especially when you’re in a busy role at a small or medium-sized company. Our infographic breaks down onboarding into its four stages and creates a visual reminder of how your process should look — download it and pin it up on your office wall ahead of your next recruitment.