Employee Onboarding: The Key to Successfully Integrating a New Employee into the Company
In this guide, we will take a detailed look at what employee onboarding is, what types of onboarding exist, how to implement a typical onboarding programme for new employees, and other important aspects. We will cover the standard stages of new employee adaptation - organisational, professional, social, and psychological. We will also address the creation of an internal document - the employee onboarding policy. You will learn about proven practices and receive expert advice.
What is Employee Onboarding and Why is it Necessary?
Employee onboarding is the process of integrating new employees into the company, helping them to quickly become an effective part of the team. It is a purposeful process of familiarising a newcomer with the work environment, company rules, and assisting with their integration into the team. In essence, it's about the entire journey an employee takes from their first day to fully mastering their role in the organisation. This onboarding process is necessary not only for newly hired individuals but also for employees who are transitioning to new positions within the company. The main goal of onboarding is to ensure the employee becomes productive as quickly as possible, feels they belong, and remains with the company for the long term. A well-planned onboarding process reduces stress for newcomers, shortens the time to achieve productivity, and lowers the risk of staff turnover.
Why is Effective Employee Onboarding Critically Important?
Many businesses recognise that successful onboarding directly impacts staff efficiency and retention. A well-established onboarding process reduces the time it takes for a new person to reach an optimal level of productivity from a possible 6-12 months to ~3-4 months. According to research, up to 40% of new employees leave a company within the first few months due to ineffective onboarding. This represents a colossal loss of investment in recruitment and training. Conversely, when an onboarding programme is structured, companies report a 30-40% increase in newcomer productivity and a reduction in re-hiring costs. In other words, onboarding is not a "nice-to-have bonus" but a necessary condition for the Company's development.
The Main Objectives of Employee Onboarding
The objectives of onboarding can vary: from the very pragmatic (to train and get them up to speed quickly to reduce operational costs) to the cultural (to instil loyalty and company values). In practice, two main groups of objectives are identified:
Economic: to increase productivity and reduce losses from potential errors or a slow start. To achieve these goals, it is optimal to use a clearly structured onboarding programme for new employees, which includes step-by-step instructions, training materials, and checkpoints. This approach is particularly effective in companies with high staff turnover or complex production processes where errors can be costly. The synergy between training, mentoring, and regular feedback allows for a significant reduction in the time to productivity and minimises the risk of mistakes.
Non-material: to increase the engagement, motivation, and trust of a new employee. For this, it is worth applying socio-psychological adaptation methods, such as introductions to colleagues, team events, appointing a mentor or a "buddy", and an open channel for feedback. These tools work best in companies with a team-oriented culture, where interaction and support are important. The synergy between a comfortable working environment, support from colleagues and management, contributes to building loyalty and reducing stress, which ultimately improves the employee's effectiveness and reduces the risk of leaving.
Properly conducted onboarding reduces a newcomer's uncertainty, prevents the feeling of being an “outsider” and, as a result, decreases the likelihood of their early departure. Instead, the new employee feels like an important part of the team and is quicker to unlock their potential for the benefit of the business.
The Power of First Impressions in the Onboarding Process
In practice, onboarding acts as a “bridge” between recruitment and daily work. HR experts emphasise that first impressions are incredibly powerful. According to a BambooHR survey, 70% of new employees decide if a job is right for them within the first month (and 29% within the first week!). A bad experience during these early days can permanently sour their attitude towards the company: almost two-thirds of newcomers (62%) say that their opinion of their employer, formed on the first day, remains unchanged. Therefore, every detail matters: whether the person was greeted warmly, whether their workspace was prepared, and whether they were left waiting for hours to get access credentials. As HR manager Michelle Hay rightly noted:
“a poor onboarding experience can lead to dissatisfaction, isolation, and demotivation – which is a direct path to rapid burnout and the newcomer's departure”
The Main Stages of Onboarding and How to Navigate Them
The onboarding process can be classified according to various criteria. Understanding these types helps to build a more flexible and effective onboarding programme.
Key Areas of Employee Onboarding
Traditionally, 4 main areas of onboarding are identified, which often occur in parallel.
Organisational Onboarding
This involves familiarisation with the company's structure, its mission, rules, and organisational processes. It is important for a newcomer to understand “how things work here”: the hierarchy, who to contact for which issues, what departments exist and how they interact. This also includes an introduction to corporate policies, instructions, and standards. The result: the employee has a clear understanding of their place in the system and the general rules of the game. This stage is the foundation for the entire subsequent onboarding process.
To automate the effective execution of the organisational stage of onboarding, progressive companies use the LMS Smart Way platform. With the help of an LMS, they create courses that cover key information about the company's structure, its mission, and internal rules. Automated tests and assessments help to verify the new employees' comprehension of the material. Furthermore, an LMS allows for tracking the progress of each employee and providing timely feedback, which significantly increases the effectiveness of onboarding and promotes faster integration into the team.
What to do? Explain the structure, roles, show them around the office, provide a handout with contacts.
Result: The employee understands how the company is structured and what the rules are.
Professional Onboarding
This is the actual entry into the professional role: mastering job responsibilities, work tools, technologies, and procedures for completing tasks. In this area, the new employee learns how to do their job specifically within this company: they get acquainted with products/services, internal knowledge bases, necessary software, the reporting system, and performance indicators. For junior specialists, professional onboarding is critically important.
What to do? Teach internal procedures, introduce the product, give initial tasks. The LMS Smart Way can be used for training and knowledge assessment.
Result: The employee has mastered the necessary skills, knows the standards, and performs tasks independently.
Socio-Psychological Onboarding
Integrating into the team is the human factor of onboarding. The newcomer gets to know their colleagues, builds working relationships, adopts the corporate culture, and becomes part of the team's informal traditions. Without support here, it can be difficult: if you don't help a person to “fit in”, they may remain isolated, which will negatively affect their motivation. The success of socio-psychological onboarding largely determines an employee's loyalty.
What to do? Organise informal communication (a team lunch, coffee break). If the team is remote, conduct a Zoom introduction, add them to chats. It is important to assign a responsible person so that the new employee does not feel abandoned.
Result: The person feels part of the community, understands the unwritten rules of communication, and has accepted the culture.
Psychophysiological Onboarding
This refers to getting used to the new work schedule, workload, work environment, and even physical conditions. A person may feel tired or stressed from the changes - the company's task is to ease this period. Psychological support (regular check-ins, feedback, possibly involving a corporate psychologist or mentor) helps to overcome anxiety. The onboarding process is impossible without considering this aspect.
What to do? Create a friendly atmosphere, be patient with mistakes. Provide constructive feedback: praise successes, gently correct errors.
Result: The employee gets rid of stress, gains confidence and motivation. The onboarding process becomes comfortable.
How to Build an Onboarding Programme for a New Employee?
An onboarding programme is a detailed plan of activities that covers the period from the job offer to the moment the employee is fully integrated into their role. Even in small companies, it is worth formalising it to ensure consistency. Start by creating quality onboarding plans and implementing them.
New Employee Onboarding Plan (created during the recruitment stage)
A new employee onboarding plan is a structured document, developed during the recruitment stage, that outlines the key steps for the successful integration of an employee into the company. Such a plan helps to ensure a systematic approach to the onboarding process and allows for a clear distribution of duties and responsibilities between HR, the line manager, and the mentor.
The main components of a new employee onboarding plan include:
Objective of Onboarding — formulating the goals the company aims to achieve, for example, rapid integration into the role, familiarisation with corporate culture, building motivation.
Onboarding Period — a clear definition of the onboarding timeframe.
Stages of Onboarding — a sequence of actions including preparation for the first day, orientation, professional training, social integration, and psychological support.
Specific Tasks — a list of key activities for the new employee, such as reviewing the job description, completing training courses, and participating in team events.
Responsible Persons — defining who is responsible for each stage and task: HR manager, direct line manager, mentor, or coach.
Control and Feedback Mechanisms — regular meetings, surveys, evaluation of onboarding results, providing support, and adjusting the plan as needed.
Creating an onboarding plan at the recruitment stage not only increases the effectiveness of the staff onboarding process but also gives the newcomer a sense of support and clarity, which contributes to faster integration into the company and higher productivity from the very first days of work.
Tip: Formulate tasks in the plan using the SMART principle (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). This helps to make the new employee's onboarding plan clearer and more effective. Each task clearly defines what needs to be done, how to evaluate the result, how important it is for the overall goal, and by when it must be completed. This avoids vague wording and misunderstandings between the newcomer, HR, and the manager. Tasks formulated according to SMART motivate the employee, as they see concrete goals and understand how to achieve them. Furthermore, this approach facilitates progress monitoring and timely feedback, which is critically important for successful staff onboarding.
Preparing for the First Day at Work (Pre-boarding)
The onboarding process begins even before the employee arrives at the office.
Paperwork: Prepare all necessary documents in advance so the employee can quickly review and sign them. Do not make the person wait, as this will create a negative first impression of the company that could be decisive for the employee's future productivity.
Workspace Preparation: Computer, access credentials, email, stationery — everything should be ready. This will show the company's organisation and create a pleasant first impression, fostering loyalty and motivation.
Information Letter: Send a welcome email with information about the first day: time, location, who will meet them. This reduces anxiety and improves the first impression of the company.
Onboarding Plan: Develop an individual onboarding plan for the new employee before they start and familiarise them with it on their first day. This will give the employee a clear understanding of what to do and who to contact for which issues.
The First Day of Onboarding: A Checklist of Actions
This day is the most important for forming an impression of the company.
Meeting and Tour: Greet the newcomer warmly, give them a tour of the office.
Introduction to the Team: Introduce the new employee to colleagues and management. Assign a mentor or a "buddy".
Welcome Pack: Hand over branded gifts, an employee handbook.
Introductory Presentation: Talk about the company's history, mission, values, and products.
Discussing the Plan: Go over the newcomer's onboarding plan for the probationary period with them.
Do Not Overload: Avoid swamping them with tasks on the first day. The goal is a comfortable integration.
If your onboarding process is automated, add new employees to your LMS and explain how to use it.
The First Week and Month: Training and Integration
After the first day, a more in-depth onboarding begins.
Plan for the First Week
Training: Completion of all planned training sessions (product, internal systems, policies, rules, regulations, etc.). To automate this process and control knowledge retention, the LMS Smart Way is an excellent choice.
Monitoring the trainee's comprehension of materials. If you are already using LMS Smart Way, it will do this for you. If not, be sure to hold daily meetings with new employees and colleagues to monitor the new employee's onboarding process.
Simple Tasks: Gradual involvement in work under the supervision of a mentor. This is important as it helps the newcomer to adapt without undue stress, gradually acquiring the necessary skills and confidence in their role.
Plan for the First Month
Consolidating Knowledge: The new employee begins to perform their main duties more independently, applying the knowledge they have gained in practice. It is important to ensure a gradual increase in the complexity of tasks to avoid overload and maintain motivation.
Feedback: Weekly meetings to discuss progress and difficulties are key to successful onboarding. They allow for the timely identification of problem areas, provide support, adjust the training plan, and boost the newcomer's confidence. Effective feedback should be constructive, specific, and motivating.
Socialisation: Active involvement in team events, informal communication, and corporate traditions helps to foster a sense of belonging to the team. Social integration helps the newcomer to adapt more quickly to the corporate culture, establish trusting relationships with colleagues, and improve communication.
Initial Review: Conducting a survey on their impressions of the onboarding process allows you to assess the effectiveness of the programme and identify opportunities for improvement. It is important to involve the employee in the evaluation, as their experience is a valuable source of information for optimising the staff onboarding process. Furthermore, at this stage, it is recommended to discuss further development steps and identify individual training needs to ensure professional growth.
End of the Probationary Period: Evaluating the Success of Onboarding
Typically, onboarding formally concludes after 3 months.
KPI Assessment: Analysis of the completion of tasks set during the probationary period. It is important to establish clear, measurable performance indicators that correspond to the specifics of the position and the company's goals. This helps to objectively assess how well the new employee has adapted to their responsibilities.
Final Meeting: Discussion of the onboarding results with the manager and HR manager. At this meeting, it is worth providing constructive feedback, discussing strengths and areas for development, and also defining the next steps for professional growth.
Development Plan: Defining the next steps for the employee's professional growth. Developing an individual development plan helps to motivate and retain the employee, and also helps them to develop the necessary competencies to achieve the company's long-term goals.
Additionally, it is expertly recommended to implement a systematic collection of feedback from the newcomer regarding the onboarding process. This allows for the identification of potential problems at an early stage and the prompt adjustment of the onboarding programme for new employees, thereby increasing its effectiveness.
It is also important to consider the individual characteristics of the newcomer during the onboarding process, as different employees may have different levels of experience, motivation, and learning styles. A flexible approach to staff onboarding allows for the quickest possible integration of the employee into the team and provides them with comfortable conditions for development.
Overall, the successful completion of a new employee's onboarding is the result of the comprehensive work of HR, the manager, and the employee themselves, based on a clear onboarding programme for new employees, regular feedback, and support at all stages of integration.
Employee Onboarding Policy: What It Is and How to Draft It?
An employee onboarding policy is an internal document that formalises all procedures for introducing new employees to their roles. It is needed to standardise the approach, ensure consistency, and manage the onboarding process.
Sections of a Typical Policy (Example Structure)
General Provisions: The purpose of the document, its scope, and to whom it applies.
Aims and Objectives of Onboarding: What the company aims to achieve (quick integration into the role, building loyalty, reducing turnover).
Stages of Onboarding: A detailed description of each stage (pre-boarding, initial, professional onboarding) and their timelines.
Onboarding Activities: A specific list of actions (orientation tour, training, assigning a mentor).
Responsible Parties: A clear division of roles (HR, manager, mentor).
Monitoring and Evaluation of Onboarding: How effectiveness will be tracked (feedback, review meetings).
Concluding Provisions: The procedure for approving and amending the document.
How to Implement the Policy in the Company?
The formalisation of onboarding is a sign of mature HR processes. It is important that the document does not just remain on paper.
Develop it collaboratively: Involve line managers and new employees for feedback.
Be flexible: If a part of the onboarding process is not working, review and change the policy.
Tips and Case Studies for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
Employee onboarding in small and medium-sized businesses has its own specifics due to limited resources, but it can be just as effective. Here are a few tips to help optimise this process:
Plan in advance: even with a limited budget, employee onboarding can be effectively structured; develop a basic onboarding programme for new employees that will include key stages and tasks.
Use internal resources: involve experienced employees as mentors or coaches for newcomers; this will help to integrate them into the team more quickly.
Automate processes: use affordable LMS platforms to organise training and monitor the comprehension of materials.
Ensure regular feedback: hold short meetings with new employees to discuss their progress and resolve any issues.
Support social integration: organise informal events or online meetings so that newcomers can get to know their colleagues and feel part of the team.
Be flexible: take into account the individual needs and characteristics of each employee, adapting the programme according to their learning style and experience.
Applying these tips will help small and medium-sized businesses create an effective staff onboarding system that will contribute to increased productivity and reduced staff turnover.
How Ukrainian Companies Onboard Newcomers
Fozzy Group: For mass recruitment, they focus on standardised training programmes and clear checklists for managers.
Grammarly: In the IT sector, a key role is played by mentoring and deep immersion in the corporate culture from the very first days.
Miraton: Clear staff onboarding plans with tasks set according to SMART principles, fixed deadlines, and responsible persons.
Typical Onboarding Mistakes in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses and How to Avoid Them
Lack of preparation: A new employee arrives, and nothing is ready for them. Solution: Create standard onboarding plans and follow them.
Information overload: Bombarding the newcomer with all the information on the first day. Solution: structure the information in an LMS and deliver it in manageable doses throughout the first week.
The “sink or swim” policy: Leaving the newcomer alone with their tasks. Solution: Assign a mentor, even if it is the manager themselves.
Ignoring social integration: Assuming that the employee will get to know everyone on their own. Solution: Organise a brief introductory meeting.
Lack of feedback: Not asking how the new employee is doing. Solution: Schedule short weekly meetings.
Innovative Approaches to the Onboarding Process
Using an LMS: This will solve 90% of all staff onboarding problems and make the process simple, understandable, and predictable.
Gamification: Turn the onboarding process into a quest with tasks and points. This reduces stress and makes training more engaging.
Reverse onboarding: Ask the newcomer after a month to share fresh ideas for improving processes. This increases their engagement and provides you with information on which processes need to be optimised.
Conclusions: Successful Onboarding of New Employees is a Smart Investment in the Company's Development
Employee onboarding is not just a formality, but a critically important investment in the future of the company. An effective onboarding process helps not only to retain talented employees but also to significantly accelerate their journey to peak productivity.
A systematic approach, which includes a clear plan, the involvement of a manager and mentor, quality training in an LMS, and regular feedback, creates an environment in which a new employee feels valued and motivated. The use of modern tools, such as the LMS Smart Way, allows for the automation and structuring of the onboarding process, making it convenient and measurable.
Remember that the first weeks and months of work determine the future of an employee within the organisation. By investing time and resources in a well-thought-out onboarding, you are laying the foundation for building a strong, loyal, and highly productive team capable of achieving the most ambitious business goals.
