If there is a #1 people initiative we’re asked to help our clients create, it’s a process of onboarding their new employees. The intentions are pure: start a new hire’s journey with their orgs on the right foot in those first few crucial days/weeks/months.
Experts are pretty clear on why this is important stuff:
SHRM (Society of Human Resources Management) found that 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they have a positive onboarding experience.
Gallup found that only 12% of U.S. employees believe that their company has a good process for onboarding new team members.
So it’s important to get it right, BUT most companies don’t, which begs the question:
What does getting it right look like?
1. It starts with extending the connection this person already felt with your team: think about this as though this person is walking into a party where everyone knows each other but they’re a stranger (which is not far off!) They’re excited, and probably pretty nervous about arriving at the event - connecting with others is an innate human need, and is what drives us to form strong social bonds. By keeping the connection alive from the interview process, you’re not just telling this person what to do and how you expect it’s done; you’re making introductions, and helping your new hire to feel like part of the group from the get-go. It’s about ensuring they don’t just find a seat at the table but feel embraced and integrated into the social fabric of your company.
Some easy ways to integrate these habits into your onboarding plan:
1. Set up 1:1 meetings for them to meet with key leaders or colleagues they’ll frequently collaborate with.
2. Announce their arrival in team collab channels (Slack, Google Chat, etc) and give them a chance to share a few things about themselves (Psst: we like this template from Donut, which integrates with Slack/Teams/Google Chat and Zoom!) This creates an immediate connection point, can spark conversations, foster camaraderie, and lay the foundation for strong, supportive working relationships.
2. Get clear on what success looks like: you’ve got a job that needs to be done, you saw value in how this person can address that gap, and you liked their approach to solving for challenges. Now define the expectations, the expected delivery timeline, who can support, and what impact this means for the business.
Need some help?
1. I like this 30-60-90 Onboarding Guide as a good option for how to map out milestones.
2. This onboarding guide from HiBob gives some optionality on roles/department.
3. And here’s HubSpot coming in hot with 14+ onboarding checklist templates for you to choose from.
3. Access to the info needed to do the job they were hired to do: imagine you're about to make a complicated meal—something like a three-course dinner with all the trimmings. You’ve got all the ingredients, but none of them are labeled, half the utensils are missing, and the recipe is scattered across three different cookbooks that are written in different languages. You’d spend more time hunting for what you need than actually cooking.
I’ll never forget my first week at a new company a couple of years ago. I was brought in to lead a global HR team and shape the people strategy. But what still sticks with me? Spending hours just trying to track down how to access my company email and set up a simple signature. I’ve worked in tech for years—why was something so basic such a time sink?
That’s what it’s like when your new hires don’t have easy access to the information they need—it turns, what should be, a straightforward task into a frustrating scavenger hunt. Just like with a good meal, having everything at your fingertips is key to success.
What could help here?
We like building a knowledge base to house all of your information - processes, policies, best practices, and everything your team needs to know - Notion and Confluence are two faves, and Google Drive will also do the trick. Think of it like organizing the closets in your house - while everyone may not see what’s inside, it makes things 100x more impossible to find if they’re a mess.
Auxi - think of this as an easy way to bring your documentation to life. It takes all of your info, processes, and policies, and serves it up via AI-enabled chat support as a first line of defense for your HR team: need to find a W2 or how to request PTO? Need to find your company’s process for opening a job req or your culture statement and values? Need benefits plan documents? Auxi has you covered.
4. Be a coach and a mentor: Every good coach I’ve ever had as a former athlete understood that fundamentals were key, mistakes were okay, their role was to harness their team’s strengths, and accountability was the key to being a good teammate. The great coaches in my life served in this very same capacity well after I stopped playing on their teams. Their advocacy and advice lives in my life to this day, and as a leader in your company, your goal is that this person who now entrusts their career in your hands will want to work for and with you again and again. Ask yourself: how do the best leaders in your life make you feel? What lessons have they taught you that you carry forth in your life? To whom would you attribute your success and why? Now write those things down and ask how you can be that person to someone in your life.
What we like here:
Even the best coaches need coaches, and UpNotch is a robust community of fellow professionals. Best part? It’s free to use, and there are pros around the globe in virtually every department and discipline.
Making the time to give and receive coaching is no easy feat. Flint is an intuitive tool that empowers your team to build sustainable habits with customizable tools for 1-on-1s, goal setting, and performance checkpoints. What we love most is how Flint creates easy ways for your team to get and stay connected, automating those crucial coaching moments, tracking the impact your people leaders are having, and aligning goals to drive meaningful progress for your company—all seamlessly optimized to be used in collaboration tools where your team is already spending their time.
Sproutwise helps you turn the first step into a lasting stride. Whether it’s building meaningful connections from day one, clearly defining success, equipping your team with the right tools, or fostering a culture of coaching and mentorship, we’re here to help you build tailored onboarding strategies to ensure your new hires feel empowered and engaged from the start. At Sproutwise, we don’t just help you welcome new employees; we help you win with them. Let’s create a people-first culture that keeps your talent thriving.
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