Best Practices For Onboarding In A Competitive Market

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.

Most new hires don't fail because they can't do the job. They fail because we don't teach them how. We spend months recruiting the perfect candidate, then throw them into the deep end with a laptop and "good luck." But the best companies know something different. They understand that the first 90 days aren't just about orientation - they're about transformation. Here's the 30-60-90 framework that turns confused new hires into confident contributors: Days 1-30: Learn & Assimilate Focus on cultural integration and foundational knowledge. Give them small wins to build confidence while they absorb your mission, systems, and workflows. Days 31-60: Contribute & Collaborate Shift to independent contribution. Assign real projects with deliverables.  Expand their network through cross-team collaboration and establish regular feedback loops. Days 61-90: Lead & Innovate Full autonomy on core responsibilities. Encourage strategic thinking and fresh ideas. They should be mentoring newer hires or learning from senior team members. The magic happens when you combine three elements: → Structure: Clear expectations for each phase → Ownership: Let them shape their own learning journey → Support: Pair them with a buddy and celebrate small wins Most companies treat onboarding like a checklist to complete. The best companies treat it like an investment to maximize. A strong 30-60-90 plan doesn't just help new hires succeed - it transforms them from "just another seat" into high-impact contributors who stay, grow, and refer others. What's the biggest onboarding mistake you've seen companies make?

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?

When I was 24, I built the recruitment department for a billion-dollar hedge fund hiring traders from MIT and Caltech . Here’s how I got the smartest kids in the world to work for me: 1/ Go where they are I wasn’t just recruiting. I was selling a completely different world to engineers and mathematicians. To meet them where they were, I’d sponsor coding competitions and poker bot games. After the event, I’d take the winners to a fancy dinner in a limo. It was about showing them that I understood their skills and how valuable they were. A handful of these dinners turned into some of my best hires ever. 2/ Choreograph the experience Recruiting isn’t just interviews. It’s a performance. For Superdays, I obsessed over every detail: • Hotel proximity • Welcome notes in their rooms • Goody bags on check-in These small touches set the stage for something unforgettable. Even the social events were choreographed…. I matched candidates with the right people—like pairing a cerebral candidate with my head of algorithmic trading. This helps because: 3/ Intentionality ensures the right person lands at the right place. At GrowthAssistant for example, I interviewed a DMA for a client. Talking to her I realized she would be a killer EA for another client, so I asked her and got them started. She’s been there 2 years now. 4/ Thoughtful transitions Our 6-week onboarding program was a game-changer. Classroom time, simulations, and small group projects gave hires the confidence to excel. We even designed sessions to teach managing up and navigating office culture. By the time recruits walked into the office, they already felt at home. And I brought this with me: At GrowthAssistant I am extra careful because these are remote GAs working from thousands of miles away. I get them integrated into the client’s slack, team activities, and prep onboarding plans that make them feel like part of the team. 5/ Build bonds The magic of onboarding wasn’t just the training; it was the cohort experience. We planned group projects, simulations, and activities that created strong peer bonds. When people feel connected to their team, they’re not just joining a job—they’re joining a community. Years later, many of these cohorts still keep in touch, and some have gone on to epic careers. This also led to incredible bonds with my GrowthAssistant team in the Philippines… 2 years ago, Raffy joined as a part-time video design GA. Last fall when she became a lawyer she wrote me one of the most thoughtful emails I’ve received for supporting her in her journey. These experiences and connections are everything.

Let's talk about the critical time between when a candidate accepts the job and their start date. We can call it "pre-boarding." You would be surprised at how often companies drop the ball after an offer has been accepted, leaving the new employee to anxiously await their first day. Preboarding should begin the moment the candidate accepts the job.  While start dates often range from days to weeks and sometimes months post-acceptance, the longer you wait to engage in the pre-boarding, the greater your chances of losing the new hire during that time gap. Also, please remember- a new employee is typically nervous before their first day, no matter how much experience they have.  Reminding them you are excited makes a huge difference. You can build on their anxious excitement and consider using the following strategies while they are in countdown mode (in no particular order)... 💡 The hiring manager plans a lunch to continue to connect professionally and personally. 💡 Send emails once a week to the employee until they start.   This can be a shared responsibility between HR, the hiring manager, and team members.  💡 Invite them to a Town Hall. 💡 Invite them to the office or a Zoom to have lunch with the team.  💡 Send swag to their home instead of waiting for the first day. 💡 Have the CEO reach out personally to welcome them. (I realize this can be challenging in a company with over 1,000 people, but anything under that, in my opinion, should be doable, and let me tell you, it goes a LONG WAY.  💡 Request for them fill out an "All About Me" questionnaire to be utilized on their first day when the hiring manager introduces them to the company. Make it creative and fun. Not standard boring questions like "What's your favorite food?" These are meant to be carried out over time. Not accomplished all in one week if the new hire is starting three weeks later. Be thoughtful about the cadence as the goal is to keep them engaged while drowning out any other noise (companies) from distracting them.  Candidates: ALWAYS ask about a company's pre-boarding and onboarding process. Studies have shown that the more thorough and buttoned up it is, the greater your chances of being successful in your new job.  

Hiring good people is just the start. Onboarding well is the key to keeping them. The truth about weak onboarding: ↳ It costs you 2-3x more in the long run ↳ Creates unnecessary imposter syndrome ↳ Breeds preventable mistakes ↳ Kills momentum before it starts What strong onboarding actually looks like: 1. Structured First 90 Days • Clear milestones and wins • Regular check-in rhythm • Progressive responsibility increase 2. Support System That Works • Dedicated mentor assignments • Cross-team introductions • "Stupid question" channels 3. Resources Ready Day 1 • Updated documentation • Tool access pre-configured • Team processes explained 4. Learning Built Into The Schedule • Protected learning blocks • Practice environments • Feedback loops Stop expecting people to "figure it out." Start investing in their success. The best companies know: A slow start beats a false start. What was your best (or worst) onboarding experience? ♻ Share if you believe in better onboarding

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