Accelerated Onboarding Programs

I sent laptops to 7 remote hires. 5 quit within 90 days. Costly mistake.  Brutal lesson. I thought I was onboarding them. They felt abandoned. And the data proves I wasn’t alone: 🚫 63% of remote employees say onboarding was inadequate. 🚫 60% feel lost and disoriented after their first week. 🚫 Remote hires take 3-6 months longer to reach full productivity. A laptop in a box isn’t onboarding.  It’s a fast track to disengagement. So I rebuilt our process—and retention jumped 82%. Here’s exactly what worked: 🔥 The Buddy System ✔ Assign a mentor (daily check-ins for the first 2 weeks) ✔ Encourage “silly” questions—zero judgment ✔ Make support feel human, not bureaucratic 🔥 Connection Before Content ✔ Virtual coffee chats before training starts ✔ Executive welcome video on Day 1 ✔ Remote-friendly team social event in Week 1 🔥 Digestible Learning ✔ 90-minute training modules (no info overload!) ✔ Spread onboarding across 3 weeks, not 3 days ✔ Live discussions > passive video watching 🔥 Tech Readiness ✔ IT setup completed before Day 1 ✔ Test systems with the hire the day before ✔ Provide a digital “emergency contact” for tech issues 🔥 Culture Immersion ✔ Virtual office tour with real team stories ✔ Inside-joke dictionary (every company has one!) ✔ Daily connections between work tasks & company mission 🔥 Strategic Check-ins ✔ Week 1: "What surprised you?" ✔ Month 1: "Where do you need more clarity?" ✔ Quarter 1: "How can we better support your growth?” 🔥 Early Wins = Early Buy-In ✔ Assign a small, meaningful project in Week 1 ✔ Recognize their success publicly ✔ Show them how their work makes an impact Remote onboarding isn’t about dumping information. It’s about building confidence, connection, and commitment. Do this right, and your new hires won’t just stay. They’ll thrive. P.S. What’s one thing you wish you had in your first remote onboarding? ♻️ Repost this to help HR teams fix onboarding before it costs them top talent.

Stop “welcoming” new hires. Give them a win in 30 days instead. When I first hired 8 years back, I thought the best onboarding was all about making new hires feel at home. I was wrong. New hires actually struggle with: → Understanding the business and their role. → Aligning with company culture and expectations. → Getting that first “win” to build momentum. → Building relationships with colleagues. I’ve now completely changed our onboarding process. The only goal is to get new hires to their “first win” fast. Instead of generic training, we work backward from their first big achievement. Here’s the framework: Step 1: Define the “first win” (within 30 days) Every new hire gets a specific, meaningful milestone. 1. It should be important enough that not doing it has a business impact. 2. Something that pushes them but is achievable with team collaboration. 3. It should give them real insight into how we operate. Our new Demand Gen Marketer’s first win was securing Market Development Funds (MDF) from a partner. To do this, they had to: - Work with our internal team. - Engage with a partner manager. - Propose a campaign relevant to both companies. This wasn’t just a task (it was a meaningful contribution). Step 2: Provide context (without overloading them) Most onboarding programs drown new hires in endless presentations. We limit training to what they need for their first win. 1. A 45-minute deep dive on the company’s journey, priorities, and challenges. 2. Targeted learning on only what’s relevant for their milestone. 3. Hands-on guidance instead of passive training. For the Demand Gen hire, we focused on: - Who the partner manager was and their priorities. - How the partnership worked. - What MDF campaigns typically get approved. Step 3: Align them with our work culture Culture isn't learned in a handbook. It’s experienced. Every new hire is paired with a mentor to guide them through: → Quality Standards → What "good" looks like in our company. → Processes & Tools → How we work and collaborate. → Feedback Loops → How we review, iterate, and improve. The result? New hires achieve something meaningful within their first month. They feel pride, momentum, and confidence (not just onboarding fatigue). Great onboarding isn’t about information. It’s about impact. 💡 How do you set up new hires for success?

Organizations spend a lot of time recruiting new candidates – and not a lot of planning each aspect of onboarding. In the Navy, I learned that the first 72 hours for a new Sailor at a new command is crucial to their long-term success for their duration at the unit. If the first crew member they encounter in that window is an expert who has a positive perspective and can show them the ropes, they tend to thrive. If the first crew member they encounter isn’t a strong Sailor, odds are that the new check will follow in their footsteps and fail to achieve a high level of capability aboard. Those of us in the Navy are well-versed in this trend. On ships, it’s known as the “First 72.” As Hunt A Killer surpassed 100 full-time employees, I noticed a similar pattern. If we could make sure a new hire had a dialed-in, clear onboarding process in roughly their first 8 hours, they’d most likely be a stellar teammate. This onboarding process included: ✅ The assignment of a dedicated Teammate Advocate ✅ A sit down with their hiring manager that included a 90-day plan ✅ Meeting with HR and IT to get their systems set up ✅ A walkthrough of benefits and pay, with time to have questions answered  ✅ Scheduling a meeting with me within their first week 🔍 (I'll go more in-depth on each of these steps in a future post - stay tuned!) The “First 8” became routine for us; every moment of onboarding was scripted. We took this process just as seriously as recruiting and retaining. Tricia Butler, SPHR, SHRM - SCP shepherded new hires through a comprehensive experience that instilled confidence, answered their questions, and immediately made them feel like part of the team. This attention to onboarding practices is some of the best business advice I can give. It made a world of difference when I implemented it with my own team. Don’t leave new employees hanging. Show them how it’s done and they’ll go on to shine - no matter how stormy the seas might get! 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. One of the biggest drivers of delay during implementation? Trying to get 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 done during the onboarding calls. That’s when tasks pile up, deadlines slip, and value gets pushed further down the road. But if you want to drastically reduce time-to-value, here’s the shift: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. And don’t wait for kickoff. Start the moment the deal closes. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟰-𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆: 𝟭. 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝟮–𝟯 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀 Before each onboarding call, give your customer a short list of actions they can complete. No more than 3 — anything more, and completion rates drop fast. 𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 Link to help center articles or short videos for each task. No guesswork. Just clear, self-serve guidance. 𝟯. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 Add those tasks to your pre-call and post-call email templates so the customer always knows what’s next. 𝟰. 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝟮𝟰-𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 Follow up the day before each call. Either check your system to confirm completion or send a quick note asking where they’re at. What happens when you do this? ✅ Onboarding speeds up ✅ Time-to-first-value shrinks ✅ Customers become 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴, not passive passengers ✅ You get early signals of customer risk (If they can’t complete tasks in Week 2, don’t expect magic by Month 12) And yes — it works even with complex solutions. At Revver, this approach helped cut onboarding timelines from 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀, 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟲𝟬%. Because the real secret to onboarding success? It’s not about moving faster. It’s about helping your customer move 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 — even when you’re not on the call. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲? #customersuccess

Coinbase had the best onboarding process I have ever experienced. Unfortunately, in most legal teams, onboarding is treated like an afterthought. Some docs on a shared drive, a few meetings, and then you’re on your own. No wonder most new hires spend their first quarter (or more!) just figuring out which processes to follow, where to find the right templates and the right people to ask questions. That’s why Coinbase’s process stuck with me. In a remote first company, they managed to bring newcomers up to speed in 2 weeks. → Videos that explained the different functions in the company → A list of critical Slack channels that introduced people to ongoing projects → Quizzes to reinforce what you learned → 1:1 intros with relevant folks so you knew who to go to for what So here’s a tactical list for Legal Ops teams building onboarding programs: 1. Share org charts and key tools. 2. Assign a legal team buddy to answer questions informally. 3. Record a Loom video explaining where to find SOPs, playbooks, and templates. 4. Host intro calls with key cross functional partners (Sales, Finance, Procurement etc). 5. Set up learning modules explaining internal processes. 6. Add new hires to relevant Slack channels and explain their purpose. 7. Schedule recurring 1:1s in the first month for feedback and support. 8. Use quizzes or checklists to make learning fun and track progress. Shout out to L.J. Brock and Emilie Choi at Coinbase - yours is one of the best onboarding processes I’ve seen. Would love for legal teams to learn from it too. What’s one thing that has helped with onboarding in your legal team? #LegalOps #LegalLeadership #Onboarding #LegalTech #ScalingLegal

I discovered a single workflow that perfected onboarding. The best part? New hires feel like they belong - before they even start. Here's the exact process we built: We automate policies. We checklist productivity. But we forget to build belonging. And that’s where most companies lose their best people before they even start. 🧠 High-performance onboarding isn’t just paperwork and passwords. It’s relationship architecture. It’s trust, built deliberately. It’s clarity that says: “We’ve got you.” Here’s what elite onboarding systems do before day one: ✅ Schedule 1:1 meetings with teammates and stakeholders ✅ Assign a buddy or mentor as a daily go-to ✅ Provide access to past projects so new hires understand legacy context ✅ Deliver a crystal-clear 90-day ramp-up plan (culture → role → execution) Most orgs? They overload day one. Ghost on day three. And wonder why confidence never ramps. The real cost? Disengagement. Attrition. Low-trust teams. And it compounds fast - especially in regulated, fast-scaling environments. Let’s flip the script: ✔️ Prepare everything before day one ✔️ Automate the logistics ✔️ Focus the human effort on connection When onboarding is done right, it doesn’t just boost productivity. It anchors culture. It retains talent. It scales your systems and your people. We’ve built Process Street to help you do exactly that. Without losing the human in the process. 👋 Want to see how we’ve helped teams like Salesforce and Calderys level up onboarding (and compliance) across global teams? Check out the link in the comments! Let’s make day one feel like belonging.

Up to 20% of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days. So why do so many companies still treat onboarding as a series of PowerPoint presentations? Generic webinars and handbooks leave new hires with their most important question unanswered: "What will I actually DO here?" These same hires then go on to quit out of frustration, or get placed on a PIP. Recently I spoke with Aaron T. Jones, M.M., CPTM from Live Nation Entertainment about transforming onboarding from presentations to skill development. His approach has led to hires reaching productivity up to 70% faster, and increased overall productivity by 26-28%. A few topics we covered: ► How skills-first onboarding accelerates ramp up ► Why onboarding should be role specific ► How to measure success by tracking task mastery ► How to inspire employees through onboarding Watch the full episode to discover how organizations should rethink their approach to onboarding: https://lnkd.in/eU3zAUF3

When I arrived at USPTO in 2018, I was greeted with something unforgettable: a welcome package, a personalized basket, a tour to meet every stakeholder, and even a team-wide pause for a warm “welcome party.” I had never felt so valued on day one. We took onboarding seriously. Every new hire had a “buddy” responsible for making sure these steps were covered before and during the first week: 1️⃣ Build a welcome basket using contributions from the team, our library, and donations. Bonus points for finding out the new employee’s interests and adding something personal. 2️⃣ Take the new employee on a tour to meet stakeholders, visit offices, and share lunch in the cafeteria to encourage quick socialization. 3️⃣ Coordinate a short, in-person welcoming party on the first day where everyone stopped to greet the newcomer. 4️⃣ Schedule longer introductory meetings during the first week with key stakeholders to build context and relationships. The impact went well beyond making people feel good. Research shows that personalized gestures such as welcome baskets increase trust and commitment. Structured socialization practices like tours and team welcomes reduce anxiety, build belonging, and accelerate role clarity. On top of that, buddy programs and early stakeholder meetings provide psychological safety and social capital. Furthermore, studies from Microsoft and Gartner found that employees with a buddy were more productive and more likely to stay, and other research has shown that early supportive interactions predict higher performance and long-term commitment. The results in our office spoke for themselves. We saw virtually zero turnover, had a waiting list of internal employees eager to join, and filled nearly every open position internally through promotions or cross-moves. The culture was so strong that even when I eventually accepted another opportunity, it took a significant offer and a month of persuasion to make me leave. To this day (and no disrespect to my other employers) it's one of those decisions I revisit often and say "what if." Making people feel truly welcomed is not fluff. It is a strategy that builds retention, engagement, and culture. So how is your organization welcoming its new employees? Let's here some great practices that we all can adapt. #EmployeeExperience #OnboardingMatters #CultureByDesign #RetentionStrategy #WorkplaceCulture #EmployeeEngagement

📌 THE REAL COST OF POOR ONBOARDING (And How We're Fixing It) Last week, Microdata Group welcomed 7 new junior professionals. Instead of throwing them into the deep end, we invested in a structured onboarding process. The result? They're ready to contribut meaningfully to projects. Why Traditional "Sink or Swim" Approaches Fail Most companies lose top talent within the first 90 days—not because people lack potential, but because they lack proper integration. The numbers don't lie: - 70% productivity increase with structured onboarding - 82% better retention rates (Source: Factorial, 2024) Our 3-Phase Onboarding Framework PHASE 1: PRE-BOARDING Skills gap analysis and expectation setting Welcome package preparation Internal team briefings Early culture exposure when possible PHASE 2: ACTIVE INTEGRATION Structured first-week schedule Buddy system with experienced colleagues Progressive skill-building workshops Clear performance expectations Regular check-ins and feedback loops PHASE 3: LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT 360-degree feedback sessions Personalized growth planning Process improvement retrospectives The Bottom Line Every new hire arrives with enthusiasm and motivation. Our job isn't to erode that energy with poor planning—it's to channel it effectively. People aren't just headcount. They're investments in our future innovation and growth. What was your onboarding experience like? Did it set you up for success or leave you struggling to find your footing? Recommended reading: "Onboarding: How to Get Your New Employees Up to Speed in Half the Time" by George Bradt --- 🌍 About me: I'm an HR Consultant and Business/Career Coach who bridges the gap between candidates and employers. I specialize in global career transitions, helping professionals navigate different cultures, languages, and time zones to expand their career horizons. Follow for insights on #TalentAcquisition #CareerDevelopment #HRStrategy Connect with me for coaching, career consulting, or HR training on communication and LinkedIn personal branding.