Building a Strong Onboarding Program for Development

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?

In the 20+ recruiting audits I have completed of companies, I have found that more than 25% of recruits who sign offer letters never join. All that energy with nothing more than a finish-line disappointment. Yet if you ask a recruiting leader what their game plan is, once someone says yes, most have nothing. Recruiting doesn't stop when someone agrees to join your team—it’s just the beginning of solidifying their commitment. A formalized game plan ensures recruits feel welcomed, valued, and confident in their decision, reducing the risk of last-minute changes of heart. Here’s a step-by-step approach to create a game plan: 1) Immediate Engagement: Celebrate their decision with personalized outreach (e.g., a call or handwritten note). Have senior leadership send congratulatory messages to validate their choice. 2) Bridge the Gap with Continued Conversations: Schedule weekly check-ins to discuss their onboarding, answer questions, and keep excitement high. Involve current team members to introduce them to the culture and key connections inside the company. 3) Create a Sense of Belonging: Arrange a dinner or event involving their spouse or family to build deeper connections. Ship a personalized welcome kit with branded items and a personal note to their home. 4) Showcase the Culture: Invite them to attend a team meeting or shadow virtually so they can experience the culture firsthand. Provide access to training resources or tools to give them a head start. 5) Eliminate Doubt: Reiterate the unique value your organization offers that their current company cannot match. Role-play possible counter-offer scenarios and coach them on how to respond confidently. 6) Formalize the Onboarding Journey: Provide a clear timeline for their first 90 days, with milestones and support touchpoints. Assign a mentor or buddy to guide them through the transition. A structured plan ensures recruits transition smoothly, feel connected, and remain committed to your team. It transforms the "yes" into a day one success.

A good onboarding plan conveys: People - Who do you need to know Personalities - How to collaborate well Process - How to do stuff Policies - What the rules are Politics - What the unwritten rules are Think about format. How should you best convey this information? How should it be referenced or reinforced? Self-paced resources? One-on-one convos? Group trainings? A combo? It's going to be different based on the role, what you need them to know, and when. And WHEN. What information must be conveyed immediately vs later? If later, how do you ensure "later" doesn't become "never?" When I was still leading teams, my go-to onboarding template was: 1️⃣ Pre-scheduling 1:1s with key stakeholders in the role, prioritized and spread out over the first 14-30 days. No agendas, just get to know you's. 2️⃣ Pre-scheduling 1:1 role-related chats with process/policy/outcome stakeholders. These stakeholders were strongly requested (required, if poss) to create a 1-2 guide for the new hire to have as a reference. The new hire was expected to read the reference BEFORE the meeting and come with questions. It's meant to be more of a conversation than a training. 3️⃣ Creating (if needed) a role wiki that tracks with the JD, naming stakeholders and linking to recommended tools/docs 4️⃣ Making sure the team has updated their "User Manuals," documents that explain their roles, a bit about their personalities, and working style. These manuals include the sections "When I'm At My Best" and "When I'm At My Worst" so preferences and quirks are explicit, instead of discovered slowly by accident. 5️⃣ Scheduling 2x weekly hour-long 1:1s for the first month, staggering down in frequency and duration as needed into the appropriate cadence for their role and growth trajectory. Sounds like a lot, but it's worth it to make sure you get the best out of someone. So many downstream problems and costs can be avoided with decent onboarding, and it doesn't have to be high-tech.

I once worked with a team that was proud of their onboarding process. New hires got swag bags, welcome lunches, and long orientation decks. But here’s what no one was tracking: How long it took those new hires to make a real impact. In one case, it was 90+ days before someone delivered their first key result. Not because they weren’t capable—because we hadn’t built a runway for them to land on. So we reworked onboarding completely. Not as an HR checklist. As a business acceleration strategy. We asked questions like: • What does success look like in the first 30, 60, 90 days • What’s their first deliverable that actually moves the needle • Who are the people they need to build trust with quickly • What tools, data, or decisions are they missing to get started • How do we shorten the time from “welcome” to “impact” The result? Time to productivity was cut in half. Confidence went up. Retention improved. So did results. Because when onboarding is done right, it’s not about orientation. It’s about acceleration. #HRRealTalk #OnboardingMatters #EmployeeExperience #TalentDevelopment #NewHireSuccess #HRLeadership #PeopleStrategy #TimeToProductivity #WorkforceEnablement #FutureOfWork