Optimizing Onboarding Processes

I can’t stop thinking about this. If you invest in your people from day 1, they’ll invest their talents in your company tenfold. It sounds obvious, but I’ve seen firsthand how often this gets missed. I joined companies and startups with zero training: - no documentation - unclear processes - no real onboarding I was expected to figure it out as I went, and honestly, it was brutal 😭 So here’s what *actually* sets people up for success: —— 1️⃣ What does a new hire need to know but feels awkward asking? Think back to your first 30 days. ↳ How do things actually work here? ↳ Where do I go for answers? ↳ What mistakes should I avoid early on? If the answers live only in someone’s head, that’s the gap. ✅ Document anything you explain more than once. —— 2️⃣ Where are people guessing instead of being guided? When training doesn’t exist, people improvise. ↳ Clicking the wrong thing ↳ Following outdated steps ↳ Copying work that isn’t quite right That’s how errors and rework happen. Tools like Tango make this easy by turning workflows into step-by-step guides. ✅ Record one common task this week and turn it into a reusable guide. —— 3️⃣ What tribal knowledge needs to be documented? You know it’s a systems problem when there are: ↳ Constant pings ↳ Repeating the same answers ↳ Little time for deep work ✅ Have your strongest team member document one core process they own. —— 4️⃣ Are you onboarding people or overwhelming them? More information doesn’t mean better onboarding. People need: ↳ Clear priorities ↳ Time to practice ↳ Space to build confidence ✅ Use a simple 30-60-90 day framework for all new hires —— 5️⃣ Are expectations clear or just assumed? When expectations are vague: ↳ People second-guess themselves ↳ Feedback comes too late ↳ Performance feels personal instead of fixable ✅ Check in early and often and schedule 20-minute check-ins with your manager or onboarding buddy in the first 8 weeks. —— When you give people the right tools, training, and support, you get: → Faster onboarding → More consistent processes → Fewer mistakes and support tickets → Happier, more confident employees 💙 You can’t expect people to thrive without setting them up properly. Set people up to win and they will 🫶 Do you agree? #TangoPartner

🎢 Onboarding UX Playbook (+ Decision Trees). Practical techniques for better onboarding UX, design patterns, kits and Figma templates — on mobile and desktop. 🚫 Users often skip tutorials/walkthroughs entirely. 🚫 Never block the UI with full-page onboarding modals. 🚫 Avoid long multi-step tutorials with 5+ steps. ✅ Ask customers what goals they are trying to achieve. ✅ Allow users to hide walkthroughs and restore them later. ✅ Focus on bringing users to first success moments fast. ✅ Structure your onboarding suggestions in bite-sized chunks. ✅ Explain features when users slow down or make mistakes. ✅ Show features when users lose time with repetitive tasks. ✅ Prevent failure with an early warning system for new users. ✅ Collapsible checklists work well for onboarding. ✅ Personalized onboarding works even better. ✅ Design sets of filters, templates and empty states. ✅ Show starter kits based on user’s profile and interests. ✅ Consider short video guides and email drip campaigns. Good onboarding can’t be generic. It has to be relevant and valuable. Define your user segments first. Design a set of presets to help them get to success moments faster. Think of the questions you need to ask to customize their experience. Think about filters and presets they might need. Onboarding tutorials often appear once and get instantly dismissed, nowhere to be found again. Allow users to find them when they need it. Bring them up when users slow down or make mistakes. And test the discoverability of your features continuously. If a feature is obvious, you might not need to explain it at all. And if it isn’t, perhaps onboarding won’t solve this problem either. Useful resources: How to Choose Onboarding Methods and Components, by NewsKit 👍 Methods: https://lnkd.in/eWn5FPWA Decision Tree: https://lnkd.in/e8TmMDFf Design Patterns: https://lnkd.in/ed7HjzkW Onboarding UX Playbook, by Eleana Gkogka https://lnkd.in/edcDfMFG Complete Onboarding UX Guide (free eBook), by Intercom https://lnkd.in/eAxT6ZM4 User Onboarding Best Practices, by Taras Bakusevych https://lnkd.in/eRwr2tEc Guide to Onboarding, by Phil Byrne https://lnkd.in/esEavgw7 How Spotify Organizes Onboarding in Figma, by Barton Smith, Cliona O'Sullivan https://lnkd.in/ei434tqq Mobile Onboarding Wireframe Flows (Figma template) https://lnkd.in/ekhzWFJz UX Onboarding Patterns, by Eve Weinberg https://lnkd.in/e7_M4kDv #ux #design

When you step into a new job, the real challenge isn’t the tasks—it’s the context. Who’s really making decisions? What are the unspoken priorities? What does that acronym actually mean? Without answers, most new hires spend months in hesitation. With AI, you don’t have to. You can feed in transcripts, Slack threads, or org charts and quickly get the crash course on your team’s language and dynamics. It gives you clarity where there’s usually confusion. AI won’t do the job for you—but it will help you accelerate the messy middle of onboarding so you can focus on the parts that matter most: building trust, contributing ideas, and making an impact faster.

Onboarding in a new job is often a box-ticking exercise with no real strategy. What people think onboarding is: 1 - Making sure a laptop is set up. 2 - A few meetings with people in the diary. 3 - A pen and pad. 4 - Welcome emails from the team. 5 - A quick tour of the office. What onboarding could (and should) be: 1 - Pre-boarding - the onboarding plan should start the moment they accept the job offer. The period between quitting their job and starting their new job can often be a lonely and uncertain time. You could send an email outlining what to expect, a virtual office tour, a quick call with their new manager, or even a coffee date with their team. 2 - A personalised plan with a detailed 30-60-90 day roadmap, including specific expectations and milestones. 3 - Regular check-ins and the opportunity to ask the same question more than once, without feeling stupid. 4 - An in-depth introduction to the company culture. It is talked so much about in the recruitment process, but so little in an induction. 5 - Why limit onboarding to a week when probation periods can be 3 to 6 months? Extend onboarding until the probation period ends to ensure continuous support and guidance, helping new employees truly succeed. Anyone had any poor onboarding experiences? Or any great ones you can share? #onboarding #probation #hr #recruiting

The first few weeks of someone’s job are more revealing than most people realize. Before a new hire knows your full tech stack or process map, they’re already learning something else: → How decisions are made → How people communicate → What gets prioritized—and what doesn’t Onboarding is a mirror. It reflects the culture you’ve built—not the one you’ve written down. When managers are present, check in consistently, and clarify expectations, that sends a signal: You matter. We value your growth. We’re in this with you. But when a new hire is left to guess, to wonder, to figure things out alone… that sends a signal too. The question isn’t whether you’re onboarding someone. It’s what kind of culture you’re onboarding them into.

My Head of Fulfillment Luca Wetzel told me not to share this publicly. But this is the fulfillment playbook we’ve used for over 110+ Personal Brands at notus: For us, fulfillment starts when the client signs the contract. We then: • send an onboarding survey • schedule a kickoff meeting The onboarding survey already gives us an understanding of the client's situation. This allows us to clarify what gaps need to be filled. __ Fulfillment Phase 1: Personal Brand Sprint (4-6 weeks) Step 1: Kick Off We host a 1-hour call to: • align on goals • introduce the content strategist • run through the setup process • pre-block time in their calendar From the client's POV: • They filled out a questionnaire • Jumped on a 1-hour call → Now they have the first 4 weeks of the project already planned & scheduled. __ Step 2: Deep Dive Interview We conduct a 2-hour podcast where we talk about: • Their backstory • Their business case • Industry trends • Personal interests → Now we have all the input we need to get to work. __ Step 3: Setup Deliverables These are the 3 main strategic assets we create: 1. Media Strategy An overview of the (organic) marketing motion: • ICP analysis • Competitive landscape • Offer stack • Funnel visualization • Tone of voice • Etc. 2. Content Archetype The communication lenses that guide all content efforts and define: • What they talk about • Why they talk about it • How they talk about it It's our editorial compass. 3. Profile Revamp Here we turn their LinkedIn profile into a B2B landing page. Among optimizing core elements like: • Profile picture • Banner • Slogan We also make it easy for leads to access the next step in the clients funnel through their featured section. __ Step 4: First Content Call The goal: 4 weeks of content pre-planned before we go live. We go into the call with 4-8 content ideas drafted. By asking targeted questions, we get the input we need to turn content ideas into content pieces. __ Step 5: Client Review & Feedback Both the client and us have set blockers to give and implement feedback. After implementation, we have a finalization meeting. Now, we're ready to go live. ____ Fulfillment Phase 2: Content Engine (Ongoing) From here, we transition into our flagship content engine process. The goal is to maintain a bi-weekly content call cadence to ensure we always have fresh content input. The client only has to check the notion portal for around 1h per week to review and approve posts. The result: high-performing LinkedIn content: • with 1 strategic goal • in the client's tone of voice • churned out like clock-work Smooth like butter - just how we like it. ____ We’ve been refining this process for 3+ years - and we’re not done. This is an ever-improving motion that will be upgraded for years to come. I’ll update you here once we have a new process to share. Until then, feel free to use this as a blueprint for your own content operations Happy execution :)

No one gets into HR because they love writing policies. Let’s be honest. → Workflows. → SOPs. → Checklists. They can feel boring. You would rather coach a leader. Solve a messy employee issue. Roll out a new initiative. Creating documentation feels slow. Unseen. Unexciting. But here is the truth. Clear process protects people. When there is no workflow, decisions become personal. When there is no policy, managers improvise. When there is no SOP, employees guess. And guessing is risky. I once worked with a company that had no written onboarding process. Each manager did it “their way.” Some new hires got full training. Others got a laptop and a quick intro. One employee missed a required compliance training. No one tracked it. Six months later, it became a legal concern. Was it malicious? No. It was messy. We built a simple onboarding checklist. Defined who owned each step. Added a tracking sheet. Nothing fancy. Just clear. Within one quarter: • Managers stopped scrambling. • New hires had the same experience. • Compliance gaps disappeared. The work was not glamorous. But it created fairness. And fairness builds trust. As you grow in your HR career, remember, process matters. Executives do not just reward creativity. They reward stability. They look for people who reduce risk. Who create consistency. Who think ahead. Process is not about control. It is about clarity. It keeps managers aligned. It keeps employees safe. It keeps you out of reactive mode. So the next time you are tempted to skip documentation because it feels boring, pause. Ask yourself: Is this task dull, or is it protecting someone? Where in your HR function could a simple workflow prevent your next headache? If this resonated, share it with another HR pro in your network who needs the reminder. ♻️ I appreciate 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 repost. 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗥 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀? Click the "𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" link below my name for weekly tips to elevate your career! #HumanResources #HRLeadership #PeopleOperations

I will admit that one of the most omitted aspects of creating a new feature (or product) is making sure the user knows how to use it. At the same time, you can only make one first impression. How to make it great? Let's face it: It's very hard to onboard users. People have very little time right now and are used to instant gratification. Thus, if the product requires some effort to use, you may see a very upset user on the other end. At the same time, not all products can be reduced to a single button called "solve my problem". So, how to onboard a new user in a way they actually engage? 1) Start with a great text copy There is nothing worse than a technical copy that is not written with your client in mind. Separate it into easy-to-complete steps so the user can learn and move to the next step easily. Remember, the user is not an expert yet like you are. Also, invest into professional translations, so the copy is great for everyone! 2) Set the production value of onboarding materials very high If your onboarding videos look and feel professional, you will build your brand image and user confidence. While creating such videos used to be expensive, nowadays tools exist that will help you automate and speed up the process, such as this post's partner: Guidde! Guidde allows you to create how-to videos quickly based on the screen recording of the process you wish to document. Using AI, Guidde will automatically generate the storyline with highlights, and add text to voice and multiple CTAs, saving you many hours of work. 3) Make it easy to repeat training People forget or skip onboarding steps accidentally. If it is difficult to access the training materials again, you might avoid a lot of user frustration. Not to mention support calls or tickets that could have been avoided. 4) Add micro onboardings While onboarding is associated with getting the user started using a product, that can also apply on a feature level. Take this into account when planning a new release, so it's stellar and accessible from day one! 5) Make it easy to speak to human support While your onboarding will surely be great, a lot of your users will prefer to talk/write to a human being. Make it easy to find contact info. Bonus: monitor the issues that come with this. Rather than hide support contact, eliminate the causes that led to those calls in the 1st place. Thus: 6) Care for onboarding funnel as a product Monitor onboarding usage and later client engagement. Look for steps/materials in dire need of improvement and monitor the metrics once those are introduced. As I said earlier, you can only make one first impression! Make it count :) So, did you find this useful? How do you build your product so that it's welcoming to new users? Sound off in the comments! #productmanagement #productmanager #onboarding

Onboarding is killing your velocity, not hiring. Most #GCCs obsess over offer rollouts and interview velocity. Then Day 1 arrives and your star hire spends 2 weeks hunting VPN tokens, tool access and “who owns what.” That’s not culture; that’s a latency tax. What to fix (and what to measure): Time to First Meaningful Commit (TTFMC): Target: ≤ 7 days for engineers; ≤ 10 days for analysts to ship a first insight. If you don’t track it, you’re guessing. Access in One Hour, Not One Week: Pre-provision prod-safe sandboxes, repos, dashboards, experiment tools. If it needs an email chain, it needs a policy change. Onboarding Pods, Not Orientation Decks: Pair every new hire with a buddy + product owner + SRE for 14 days. Goal: one real task shipped, one pager rotation shadowed. 90-Day “Evidence > Excuses” Plan: Week 1: ship something tiny. Week 2–4: own a bug class or dashboard. Day 30–90: lead one small change end-to-end (with a post-ship write-up). Kill the Tool Maze: Publish a single launcher (links, creds, APIs, logs, style guides). If your new hire needs to ask “where is X?” twice, the doc is broken. Scoreboard to make this real (post it publicly in the #GCC): TTFMC median (weekly) % new hires shipping in Week 1 Access SLA met in 60 minutes Drop-off in “where is…” tickets after 30 days Bottom line: If Day 1–30 is chaos, your “cost arbitrage” evaporates into backfills and burnout. Make onboarding a product. Ship value in Week 1. Everything else is theatre

🔎 When analyzing the onboarding processes of various companies from a DEI perspective, I have noticed that some organizations understand the importance of having a buddy system, providing DEI training during onboarding, and introducing new hires to ERGs. However, there are also overlooked foundational steps that can drive significant change: 💡 Step 1: Conducting a DEI Audit of an Existing Process Before designing your inclusive onboarding program, it is crucial to conduct a DEI audit of your current process. This audit involves assessing your onboarding materials, procedures, and practices through a diversity and inclusion lens through employee personas. It helps identify any gaps, biases, or exclusions that may exist, enabling you to make targeted improvements. 💡 Step 2: Developing Pre-Onboarding Resources Pre-onboarding plays a vital role in setting the stage for an inclusive onboarding experience. Create materials that introduce new hires to practical information, but also your organization's culture and DEI initiatives. Providing this information in advance helps new hires familiarize themselves with your commitment to DEI and sets expectations for their onboarding journey. 💡 Step 3: Designing an Inclusive Onboarding Program for the First Year Extend the onboarding process beyond the initial few days or weeks to encompass the entire first year of a new hire's journey. This extended timeline allows new hires to deepen their understanding of your organization, build relationships, and fully integrate into the company culture, fostering a sense of belonging. 💡 Step 4: Training Onboarding Facilitators and Buddies While many organizations recognize the importance of training onboarding facilitators, they often overlook the significance of training buddies in DEI. These people play a crucial role in supporting new hires and shaping their onboarding experience. Provide comprehensive DEI training to both facilitators and buddies, empowering them to create an inclusive and supportive environment. This training should cover topics such 🧠 unconscious bias, 💬 inclusive communication, 🗺 cultural competence, ensuring that they can effectively guide new hires through the onboarding process in an inclusive way. ________________________________________ Are you looking for more practical tips and DEI content like this?  📨 Join my free DEI Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dtgdB6XX