10 onboarding best practices for 2024

Proper onboarding is a multi-step process that takes at least 12 months after a new hire starts a role. It’s a challenging process that involves granting the tools and resources to develop new hires into productive team members and fold them into a company’s culture and greater mission. And with labor participation in the job market down from pre-pandemic levels, hiring managers may face a skills shortage and talent gap. 

Retaining talent means successfully acclimating them to your company culture to become engaged and happy team members. For this, you must go beyond the basics. Here are 10 of our top onboarding practices. 

10 onboarding best practices in 2024

If done with intention, welcoming someone new to a team and a company is an exciting experience that can be energizing for new and existing employees alike, said Mindi Cox, chief people officer at O.C. Tanner, a software company based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“We often turn onboarding into a checklist of compliance and administrative-focused items and forget that we are welcoming a human being who is volunteering to give their time and energy to the purpose of our organization,” she said. “There’s a big difference between being onboarded and creating relationships that last through an onboarding experience.”

Let’s look at what steps your human resources department can take to engage new employees: 

1. Keep new hires engaged before their join dates

The onboarding process should start even before the new hire steps foot into the office or hops on their first virtual team meeting. Keeping them engaged beforehand can help generate excitement and signal to them you’re looking forward to welcoming them to the company.

There are several out-of-the-box ways to do this: 

• You can add a personal touch by creating a handmade note or customized email expressing your excitement.
• You can send a similar welcome message from the company CEO or their team lead. 
• You may welcome the member to the company’s social Slack channel so they can begin getting acquainted with team members in a relaxed way.

2. Include welcome gifts

A welcome gift can make them feel like a part of the team and company culture. For instance, consider mailing a branded box filled with items that feature your company logo mailed to the new employee’s home prior to their first day, said Cox. 

“This creates anticipation not only for the candidate but from family and friends who ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh,’ along with our new person and reinforce their decision to join our company,” she said. 

Similarly, you can offer your new hire a choice of office equipment they can peruse and choose from to set up their new workspace, whether virtual or in-house. The catalog may include, for example, a selection of computers, earphones, office chairs or coffee brewers. 

3. Set out activities for the first week

Planning activities in the first week for a new hire can set the stage for interaction with colleagues and help them establish a connection. In turn, fostering a feeling of community and a sense of belonging not only boosts a new employee’s happiness on the job but also helps with performance. 

Research reviews that belonging can mean: 

• A 56% increase in job performance.
• A 50% reduction in turnover risk. 
• A 75% decrease in sick days. 

In-person or virtual activities can be geared toward your company culture. Some ideas include: 

• Virtual workshops.
• Icebreakers.
• Team-building challenges. 
• Games. 
• Coffee breaks or lunches.

4. Set up team meet and greets for the first month

Meet-and-greets — either in-person or virtually — with department heads, team members and other employees can offer space for a new hire to get more deeply acquainted with colleagues and managers. It can also be a great opportunity to get questions answered on the ins and outs of one’s roles and responsibilities and gain insights into what’s expected of them.

Give time to socialize with other new hires and people they meet throughout the day. “You can change that by building in time to get to know each other — share fun personal facts, hobbies or career journeys,” said Cox. 

5. Prepare a resource folder

A resource folder contains important documents your new hire can refer to when learning the ins and outs of your business’s organizational structure, processes and culture.

What you include in the resource folder is specific to your company but might include:

• An employee handbook. 
• Process documents. 
• Login information for company email, Slack, project management platform, payroll processing software and other productivity and communication tools. 
• A detailed job description. 
• A bonus: Local restaurants and favorite watering holes in the neighborhood.

6. Set clear goals and objectives

From the first day, it’s important to clearly lay out expectations and objectives. A new employee can understand what’s expected of them on the job and can align that knowledge with your company’s expectations. That way, you’re setting them up for success.

What’s expected of them should be:

• Specific
• Measurable 
• Achievable 
• Relevant
• Time-bound

For instance, you might include: 

• A list of the tasks they’re expected to complete regularly.
• The number of tasks they’re expected to complete within a week. 
• How to complete a series of training sessions. 
• A list of the tools they’ll need to complete any tasks and training sessions.
• Timelines they’re expected to follow to stay on track. 
• Who they should report to if they derail on the expected timeline or have questions.

In addition to helping the employee succeed, by developing SMART goals, other team members gain a better understanding of the new hire’s role on the team. This sets clear boundaries around responsibilities, eliminating ambiguity and helping the whole team collaborate successfully. 

7. Focus on learning before doing

A training schedule helps your new team member know what their responsibilities are, meet expectations and hit their goals. In the early days, focus on getting your new hire introduced to their role to help them gradually gain confidence and an intuitive sense of how to complete their tasks successfully.

As for the cadence of the training, this hinges on the order of what they need to learn as they become a valuable team member.

Ideally, the speed of learning should be in step with how quickly your new hire learns and how they best learn. Some are better solo learners who absorb information by poring over documents, while others learn more by observing their team members and should be given the chance to shadow team members over a period of time.

A training schedule can include:

• On-the-job-training. 
• Mentorship programs. 
• A buddy system where they are paired with an experienced colleague. 
• Workshops. 
• Virtual syncs.

8. Gradually increase workload

In the beginning, your new hire will spend most of their time and energy training. But, over time, they’ll slowly start to spend less time training and more time knee-deep in their work. You can think of it as scales tipping in the other direction. 

Carefully increasing the workload is key to balancing training with hands-on practice and building confidence that translates into competence. 

9. Check in often

Aim to have weekly check-ins with your new employee to make sure they are engaged and comfortable, especially in the first month. It’s an opportunity to provide feedback on their progress, answer their questions and offer support as needed.

You can ask:

• How do you like your job? Is it what you expected? How so? 
• Do you feel like you have a strong grasp on your responsibilities and job expectations? 
• Are there any aspects of your job that you find challenging? 
• Is there any area where you could use more training? 
• Are there any resources or tools that could help you perform your job better? 
• How are you fitting in with your team and the company culture at large?

It’s also a good idea to review and offer thorough, thoughtful feedback on their contributions. This signals to them their contributions are being recognized.

Make a point to touch base with a new employee three to six months out. Only 15% of companies continue the onboarding process six months after the date of hire. But 90% of employees decide whether they want to stay or leave their job within the six-month mark. 

10. Collect feedback and refine onboarding practices

Asking for feedback not only helps you tweak your onboarding practices, but it’s essential to keep new employees engaged, said Eryn Marshall, Oyster HR’s VP of People. She recommends checking in about 30 to 60 days after a new hire’s start date and asking questions such as:

• What did you like about the onboarding process? 
• What could we have done better? 
• Were you confused at any point? 
• What tools and resources could’ve helped you that weren’t provided?

“Then, with each piece of feedback, you can refine your onboarding strategy to ensure even greater success in the future,” said Marshall. 

3 challenges to look for during onboarding

Here are a few common hurdles to be aware of during onboarding: 

1. Assuming onboarding is a weeklong process

A common mistake many companies make is operating under the assumption that onboarding ends after your hire’s first day or week on the job, said Marshall. “Think of it as a process that extends for at least 90 days after an employee starts. It can even last for as long as a year.”

Though it involves a series of tasks, onboarding is not an event or a checklist of activities, said Cox. “It’s a personal process that takes differing lengths of time for each person. It’s helpful to think about onboarding being complete only when someone starts to use the terms ‘we’ and ‘us’ — as they are indicators that they feel they belong and have decided to stay.” 

2. Working in different time zones

If your small business has remote workers in different countries, you’ll need to figure out how to best sync up meetings with everyone’s working hours. Along the same lines, you’ll come across similar challenges working with a mix of in-office and remote workers. 

“You might use an onboarding platform for videos, interactive quizzes and other types of content,” said Marshall. “Coupled these with live sessions scheduled strategically to fit each employee’s time zone and routine check-ins via a messaging platform. In turn, these tools can allow new hires to navigate much of the onboarding process independently.” 

3. The need to re-onboard

In some cases, you might need to re-onboard a new hire. Depending on your hire, you might need to lengthen the onboarding period or a different approach. Some telltale signs that your new employee might need to re-onboard are if they’re: 

• Underperforming. 
• Asking a lot of questions.
• Repeatedly making the same mistakes.
• Disinterested or are not not engaged in their work. 

Tools to help you with onboarding

Here are some top tools to help you with the onboarding process: 

• An onboarding software. Onboarding software can help your human resources (HR) department gather crucial information from your new hires before their first day. Such a platform can help you manage tasks, send onboarding emails, send documents to review and sign and share company processes and policies.
• An onboarding checklist. An onboarding checklist helps make sure you cover all your bases in the first few weeks for your new employee. You can create separate checklists before their first day and throughout their initial and ongoing onboarding journey. 
• A global HR platform. If you have a global business, you might want to look into a global HR platform like Rippling to help you with all parts of onboarding. A software solution can reduce the risk of error, save you time and boost efficiency. It might, for example, offer performance, learning and automation tools to streamline processes and ensure all tasks are completed correctly and on schedule.

Ultimately, however, you’ll need managers and leaders who prioritize the personal needs of your new hire. The most helpful tool in any onboarding process is a leader who is clued into the personal needs of their new team employee.

“Someone who is enabled to do all that with the support of systems and tools can add up to a whole lot of practical empathy,” said Cox. “Onboarding is unique in that it is a milestone life event we have all experienced for better or worse. The onboarding experience is a core memory that lasts an entire career, so we must do all we can to make it an exceptional start.”

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is onboarding?

Onboarding is the process of getting an employee up to speed with their role and responsibilities and integrating them with their workplace culture.

How long does it take to onboard a new employee?

Onboarding typically takes at least one year from the start date of a new hire. The process includes:

• Gathering the necessary paperwork and documents.
• Getting an employee up to speed on their responsibilities. 
• Making the employee comfortable and getting them engaged with company culture.

Why is onboarding important?

Onboarding is important because it helps new employees

• Get situated in a new role. 
• Develop confidence and competency.
• Engage with team members. 
• Integrate into the company culture. 
• Feel supported in their success and development. 

What are the five C's of onboarding?

The five C’s of onboarding are:

• Compliance: The process of helping new hires understand company policies and rules. 
• Clarification: The process of ensuring new hires understand what is expected of them in their new roles. 
• Culture: This is the process of ensuring the new hire understands and practices the company’s cultural values and norms.
• Connection: In this step, new hires are introduced to mentors or employee groups that can help them manage the expectations of their new roles without feeling overwhelmed. 
• Check back: In this step, managers should check in with employees at one, two and three-month intervals to ensure the new employee is meeting set milestones. 

How much does it cost to onboard an employee?

The average cost to onboard an employee can be anywhere from $7,500 to $28,000 and includes recruitment fees, background checks and training. There are also soft costs, such as loss in productivity as the new hire learns their role.