CONTEXT

When’s the last time you nailed a first impression?

We all know how much that first moment matters—whether it’s meeting someone new, pitching an idea, or… welcoming a new hire.

Mess it up, and you’re playing catch-up for weeks. Nail it, and you’ve set the tone for something great.

Onboarding is the first impression of your company’s culture and systems.

Do it right, and you’ll see the benefits: 82% higher retention and 70% more productivity from new hires.

Do it wrong, and you’re looking at costly turnover and disengagement.

Did you know that without proper onboarding, it typically takes eight months for a new employee to reach full productivity?

However, with effective onboarding, this time can be significantly reduced, leading to faster integration and enhanced performance.

The good news? Onboarding doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With the right tools and strategies, you can make every new hire feel confident, connected, and ready to contribute from Day One.

Let’s explore how to make it happen.

THE TOOLS

1. BambooHR: The Onboarding Swiss Army Knife
↳ BambooHR is your all-in-one solution for making onboarding (and HR management) smooth and stress-free.

Key Features:

• Pre-boarding Perfection: Send welcome emails, collect paperwork, and prep everything before Day One.

• Task Automation: Assign and track onboarding tasks for managers, IT, and HR.

• Digital Forms: Let new hires complete everything online. No more printing, scanning, or chasing signatures.

🤔 How much better would onboarding feel if you never missed a detail? BambooHR keeps it all organized so you can focus on the human side of hiring.

2. Rise: Streamlined Onboarding and HR Management
↳ Rise combines intuitive HR software with a personalized onboarding experience, perfect for simplifying your process.

Key Features:

• Preboarding Made Easy: Send automated welcome emails and collect necessary documents before Day One.

• Employee Portals: A central hub where new hires can access onboarding tasks, benefits, and company policies.

• Customizable Workflows: Tailor onboarding to reflect your company’s culture and processes.

🤔 What if every new hire could hit the ground running with a seamless, organized onboarding process? Rise makes it happen.

3. Deel: Onboarding for Global Teams
↳ Deel is designed for companies with remote or international employees, making compliance and onboarding a breeze.

Key Features:

• Localized Contracts: Generate compliant employment contracts in over 100 countries.

• Global Payroll: Pay your team in their local currency, effortlessly.

• Effortless Paperwork: Handle everything from tax forms to benefits, all within the platform.

🤔 How much easier would onboarding be if you never had to worry about international compliance? Deel takes care of the details, so you can focus on building your team.

4. Trainual: The Ultimate Playbook for New Hires
↳ Trainual organizes your processes and workflows into a user-friendly manual for every role.

Key Features:

• Step-by-Step Training: Keep new hires engaged with videos, quizzes, and checklists.

• Role-Based Content: Customize onboarding for specific teams or job functions.

• Knowledge Hub: Store your SOPs in one place, so employees always know where to look.

🤔 What if every employee knew exactly what to do from Day One? Trainual gives them the roadmap to succeed.

5. AI-Powered Training Videos: Choose Synthesia or HeyGen
Transform your onboarding process with engaging, scalable training videos tailored to your team’s needs.

• Synthesia: Create professional-looking training videos with voiceovers and subtitles in multiple languages. Perfect for delivering polished, consistent onboarding content.
  🤔 What if every new hire could get a high-quality introduction to your company’s culture and processes? Synthesia makes it easy.

• HeyGen: Add a personal touch with human-like AI avatars delivering the training. Ideal for companies wanting an approachable, relatable onboarding experience.
  🤔 What if your onboarding videos felt like a real conversation but were scalable across global teams? HeyGen delivers that personal touch.

🔗 Want a deep dive into AI videos and strategic use cases to transform how your business communicates? Check out this newsletter.

THE ART

Onboarding is more than a process—it’s a promise. It’s your company’s first handshake, your warmest “welcome aboard.” The art lies in making it personal, intentional, and memorable.

Here’s how industry leaders are turning onboarding into an experience worth talking about:

1. Tell a Story: Use onboarding to immerse new hires in your company’s narrative. Show them how their role fits into the bigger picture and why their contributions will matter. A short video from the founders or a success story from a long-time employee can make your mission feel real.

2. Prioritize Belonging: Introduce new hires to your culture through small but meaningful gestures. Think personalized welcome kits, Slack shoutouts, or team coffee chats. Pair them with a mentor or “onboarding buddy” to help them navigate unwritten rules and build instant connections.

3. Break It Down: Avoid overwhelming new hires with too much information upfront. Create a phased onboarding process that introduces key tasks and concepts over their first 30, 60, and 90 days. This gives them room to absorb and apply what they’ve learned.

4. Gamify the Experience: Transform onboarding into an interactive journey. Use quizzes, challenges, or scavenger hunts to make learning about your company policies and processes engaging. Tools like Trainual let you embed these features directly into training modules.

5. Solicit Feedback Early and Often: Onboarding shouldn’t be a one-way street. Use surveys or informal check-ins to ask new hires how they’re feeling and what could be improved. Acting on their suggestions shows you’re listening—and constantly striving for excellence.

The magic of onboarding is in its ability to connect the practical with the personal. Done well, it equips employees with the tools they need while making them feel genuinely excited to be part of your team.

WHY IT WORKS

Great onboarding isn’t just nice; it’s transformational. Here’s why:

1. Builds Confidence Quickly: When new hires feel prepared, they contribute faster. Streamlined systems, clear expectations, and access to resources remove guesswork, letting employees focus on their strengths.

   • Employees are 58% more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding.

2. Strengthens Team Dynamics: Welcoming someone isn’t just about them—it’s about the team they’re joining. Structured onboarding reduces friction, clarifies roles, and encourages collaboration.

3. Sets the Standard for Engagement: A well-thought-out onboarding program shows employees your company cares about their success.

   • Positive onboarding programs lead to higher employee satisfaction and a 54% increase in productivity.

4. Reduces Turnover Costs: Hiring is expensive, and replacing a bad hire is even more so. Strong onboarding reduces attrition, saving costs on recruiting, training, and lost productivity.

   • Poor onboarding experiences can cost a company up to 33% of an employee’s annual salary in turnover costs.

5. Future-Proofs Your Culture: Every hire is a chance to strengthen your company’s DNA. By emphasizing culture and values during onboarding, you ensure that every new employee becomes a champion of what makes your organization unique.

Onboarding isn’t just about what happens in the first few days—it’s an investment in what happens next.

A thoughtful, engaging process creates ripples that improve everything from productivity to employee satisfaction, ensuring that your team doesn’t just grow—it thrives.

Until next time,

Shawn

P.S. Need help leveling up your onboarding process or exploring the right tools for your team? Let’s connect on LinkedIn—I’d love to share insights and brainstorm solutions with you! Reach out here.