An Argument for Outstanding Onboarding Experiences

The onboarding process for new hires is, in many ways, just as important, if not more so, than the recruitment and interview process. Why? Because this is your hire’s first impression as an employee, rather than a prospect.

Now that the recruitment process has wrapped, the offer letters are signed, and relocations potentially completed, the reality about how the company normally operates on a day-to-day basis will become evident to your hire, and all expectations the candidate had about the organization will prove true, or false.

To be clear, I'm not here to complain about bad onboarding experiences. Many of us with five or more companies in our CV have inevitably experienced some missteps in onboarding processes. I assume that all companies strive to cover the following basics as table stakes:

• Communication: ensuring that the new hire knows everything they need to know to smoothly begin work and onboarding on day one, who to meet with, what to expect from HR, etc.
• Tools: ensuring that new hires have all needed supplies/hardware/software by day 1. Not having computers and other key equipment ready on day one is not a good message for a new hire.
• Plan: ensuring a basic plan for onboarding that will give a new hire a sense of what general steps they will follow over the first 30-60 days of their new job, so that as they find their long-term place on the team and company, they will have specific tasks/projects to engage as a starting point.

As I reflect back on my hiring and onboarding process experiences, I wanted to highlight some that I thought stood out as not only memorable, but practices I have emulated, and will continue to, in the future on my own teams:

• The "Buddy System:" at Whole Foods Market, our technology team implemented a “buddy system”, wherein new hires were assigned a volunteer "buddy", who wasn't a member of their immediate team, but who was there to provide informal touch points to check in with new hires on their experience. They were given some modest budget to take new hires out to lunch and made themselves available for the occasional informal check in to find out how the onboarding experience was going. Oftentimes, friendships across teams would grow organically as a result, and I thought this was an efficient, effective way to welcome new hires, especially to a larger team.
• The Detailed Team-Based To-Do List: At Lifesprk, Dave Clements creates specific onboarding to-do lists, which are thoughtfully crafted to include a wide variety of onboarding activities that will guide new hires through required training, as well as more informal meetings with other key staff to learn about areas of the business. The key concept here is that Lifesprk sees onboarding as a shared responsibility of the team, and organizes onboarding activities to allow each person on the team a chance to participate in onboarding sessions. This is useful in our environment because it immediately engages new hires and offers a specific path to get to know our team and company.
• Shipping Code on Day 1: When I onboarded onto Kent Rancourt's team, he nudged me and asked if I wanted to ship code on day one, and I gladly accepted the offer! He walked me through the entire process for development, code review, testing, and shipping code to production on my first day. Was it intense? Yes. Did I feel great? Absolutely. Why? Because I wrapped up my first day having already made a demonstrable contribution to the team. This may not fit all teams' way of working, but that was a memorable first day, and it was a great way to get me engaged from the beginning.

When it comes to memorable onboarding experiences, there is one person who demonstrated such an outstanding onboarding experience, I wanted to share it with my professional network as well. In the summer of 2016, I joined Muve Health to work for Brad Rumph, their CTO, as the first full-time technical staff hire. What I quickly learned about Brad is that he feels strongly about making good first impressions on new hires. He not only ensures they are engaged with their team's work, but that they are well-educated on the company's business model and acquainted with their leadership.

When I arrived at Muve Health in Broomfield, CO on day one, Brad had all of my necessary equipment, software, and accessories ready to go. He also laid out my schedule for the week, which included a number of meetings with our company leadership, as well as with other key staff on the team. Here were some key takeaways from those first few days of meetings:

• Business Model Clarity: within the first week, our business model had been explained to me with enough detail, that I went home and was able to make the pitch to my family and friends when they asked me more about my new job. As a technology professional, I appreciated being introduced to the business in such a direct and meaningful way.
• C-Suite Exposure: within the first two days, I completed meaningful meeting sessions with our CEO Marshall Maran and our COO Jane Falk. Not only did I get a better understanding of their roles and duties, but they also got a clear picture of what I was there to do, which I found refreshing. That direct relationship was foundational for me at Muve Health, giving me a sharp focus and motivation as I heard from various leadership perspectives.
• Catching the Big Picture: within that first week of onboarding, I had been not only pitched on the big picture and what the company was doing to get there, but I understood my place within the plan, and what I needed to be doing to help us along that path.

Tying it all together with relationship building was the icing on the cake. Brad knew that I loved the outdoors, and especially the mountains, so he reserved some time in the afternoons to go mountain biking in Boulder and to go hiking in the Flatirons.

The outings were fun, but they had a greater purpose: I remember sitting at the top of a trail in Boulder with Brad, recapping what the vision and strategy was for our team. The whole first week for me was the most memorable onboarding experience. Though I have not yet been able to produce this exact level of onboarding experience for my teams yet, I have attempted to replicate some of those concepts wherever I can.

When I look back and think about it, it must have been exhausting for Brad to produce a week of activity surrounding a new hire, on top of his normal job and family duties. Nevertheless, the onboarding was so effective; I understood the company and what it needed from me very clearly from that point forward. I set off to complete those goals, and I don't recall needing much correction or supervision in getting that work complete. I credit a strong onboarding experience for providing me a clear framework and set of goals to take off and run with.

My argument for outstanding onboarding experiences acknowledges that they are difficult to produce. They also present an opportunity to provide a potentially life-changing, life-long memory to your team members... an opportunity to build loyalty and a strong foundation from the beginning.

I'd love to hear from readers in the comments: what are *your* most memorable onboarding experiences? What things should we add to our list of things to consider in our collective onboarding programs? Thanks!