All companies must train new hires. While the content of onboarding training and the needs of new hires will be different from business to business, some onboarding best practices can be adopted.
A strong and meaningful training program will equip new hires with everything needed to perform in their new roles and ensure a clear pathway to success is laid out. However, it is also a vital tool for your organization to give an excellent first impression; by selling its ethos, and the vital role the new-starter will play. Doing so will provide much-needed assurance, making new hires feel enthused about joining your organization.
For many, onboarding training starts out enthusiastically with the very best intentions, but this tends to taper off after the first few weeks. To ensure your organization doesn’t get caught by this pitfall, this article has set out six best onboarding practices for any training program that will lay the foundations for your new hires to flourish.
All new hires will have queries and small issues they need assistance with—this is only natural when starting in a new place. With this in mind, it’s key to signpost them to the right resources to ensure these queries can be answered quickly and easily.
Providing ‘soft’ versions of resources at the click of a button is ideal for empowering your new starters to quickly find answers themselves. This reflects how they might seek to solve a problem in their daily lives, creating a positive onboarding experience. Of course, there always needs to be a balance between making information readily available and not overloading people with content.
Targeted information ensures new hires receive your organization’s key headlines but prevents them from feeling overwhelmed by lengthy strategic and policy documents. The more varied and imaginative your content, the greater its impact will be. Short guides, infographics, and bite-sized videos are all great examples of how to efficiently use content for maximum impact.
All businesses have their own special values, and understanding these is part of introducing new starters to an organization’s working practices and the rationale behind these. This can be seen from the tone of policy documents, how staff work and use their office space, or how you expect your new hires to prioritize their time. All of this expresses the ethos of your organization and makes employees feel part of the bigger picture.
However, this ethos isn’t usually something that can be set out in a one-pager, or captured neatly in a structure chart; rather, it is learned over time. Your onboarding training is a key tool for exposing your new hires to this as soon as they enter the organization, allowing them to quickly become accustomed to the culture of their new workplace.
Ensuring that big issues are given sufficient attention is key in employee onboarding best practices. Highlighting issues such as workplace success and valuing customers in the training program will build an important base and mindset that your new hires can easily buy into and quickly begin to ‘live’ through their day-to-day work.
One of the best, and most likely untapped, resources are your existing employees. Not only are these the people who already know all about your organization, but they’re the ones best placed to tell the story of why it’s such an amazing place to work. Inspiring your employees to share their knowledge, and empowering them to create their own content not only personalizes the onboarding process but also lets your existing employees feel valued.
The best onboarding program will enable your new hires to make connections from their very first day. Onboarding best practices seek to create a joined-up working environment where key connections can quickly be made. This will give new hires the confidence to succeed in their new roles.
Your onboarding program should never be viewed as a finished product. Instead, it should be organic, with always room for improvement. One of the easiest ways to assess its success is to ask those who have most recently used it.
An onboarding training program that focuses on both the needs of the organization and the individual, will help new employees feel empowered to ask for the tools they need to succeed. Furthermore, feedback will not only facilitate continuous improvement, but the information gathered can inform future recruitment processes and assist with corporate priorities. Don’t forget that successful engagement from day one, will likely lead to happier, more productive employees in the long term.
The content of your onboarding training program will only be as good as the delivery methods you use. Think about how your new hires access information in their everyday lives and try to reflect this in the delivery of your onboarding training program. This can include making sure the onboarding content is available on-demand and accessible through a range of devices from laptops to smartphones.
The easier and more accessible the content, the more engaged your new hires will feel. Furthermore, using this type of shorter and more accessible e-learning will allow users to experience the knowledge and quickly apply it in their roles.
No new hire can be inducted into an organization in a few short days and expect to succeed. The best practices for onboarding new employees will provide long-term support to new hires and ensure that the onboarding process naturally links to annual performance assessments and discussions.
This creates the crucial ‘golden thread’ linking an employee’s current performance to when they initially joined an organization. Setting up new employees for early success will equip them to achieve this throughout their time with your organization.
A one-size-fits-all onboarding program doesn’t always set new hires up for success. Each role and department comes with unique requirements, and tailoring onboarding to meet these needs ensures employees can hit the ground running. For instance, a new marketing hire will benefit from creative tools and campaign overviews, while a finance team member may need deeper insight into company budgets and compliance.
Tailored onboarding helps employees feel supported and understood. Providing role-specific training modules or assigning mentors within the same department are great ways to ensure that the training feels relevant. This approach helps employees connect their responsibilities to broader company goals, making their work more meaningful.
For example, pairing new customer support agents with experienced colleagues for live shadowing sessions can accelerate learning. Similarly, personalized onboarding for leadership hires may include strategic planning workshops to align them with company objectives. These tailored experiences ensure employees are equipped with the tools they need to excel in their roles.
Managers play a crucial role in ensuring onboarding success. They act as guides, helping new hires navigate their roles and align with the team’s expectations. A manager who invests in the onboarding process sets the tone for an employee’s long-term performance and engagement.
To start, managers should set clear goals for new hires. Breaking these down into manageable milestones helps employees build confidence early on. For instance, in their first month, a sales hire might aim to complete product training and shadow a sales call. By the second month, they could work toward independently closing a small deal.
Managers should also provide regular feedback during onboarding. Weekly check-ins give new hires the chance to discuss challenges, celebrate wins, and receive guidance. These conversations show that the manager is invested in their growth, creating a stronger bond between the employee and the organization.
Encouraging cross-departmental onboarding gives employees a broader understanding of how the company operates. By interacting with colleagues from different teams, new hires gain insights into workflows, priorities, and interdependencies across the organization.
For example, introducing a marketing hire to the sales team can clarify how campaign strategies align with sales goals. Similarly, having a product development hire spend time with customer support can help them understand end-user challenges. These cross-department interactions improve collaboration and communication, which are vital for success in any role.
This practice also builds a stronger sense of community. When employees feel connected to colleagues outside their immediate team, they’re more likely to collaborate effectively on cross-functional projects. In turn, this helps create a more unified and well-rounded workforce.
International hires bring diverse perspectives to your company, but they may also face unique challenges when adapting to a new workplace culture. Cultural onboarding is essential to help them feel comfortable while also introducing them to your company’s values and ways of working.
Start by providing resources that explain workplace norms, expectations, and unwritten rules. For example, a guide to communication styles, meeting etiquette, and time zone coordination can help international hires adjust. Pairing them with a cultural mentor is another effective strategy. This person can answer questions and offer advice on navigating both professional and social interactions.
Additionally, be mindful of language barriers. Offering training materials in multiple languages or simplifying key documents can make information more accessible. Remember to celebrate cultural differences as well. Acknowledging holidays, hosting cultural exchange events, and encouraging team members to share their backgrounds create an inclusive and welcoming environment.
Onboarding is much more than just an onboarding checklist of tasks. It’s an opportunity to connect new hires to your company’s mission, provide them with the tools they need to thrive and foster long-term engagement. When done well, onboarding lays the foundation for employee satisfaction and organizational success.
As we’ve seen, effective onboarding requires a mix of thoughtful strategies. From tailoring experiences to individual roles to fostering cross-department collaboration, each best practice works toward building a stronger, more connected team. Managers, too, play a vital role by guiding employees and ensuring their early wins translate into sustained success.
By investing in effective onboarding best practices and providing continuous support, you can ensure that every new hire—no matter their background—feels valued and confident in their role. With these best practices in place, you’re not just preparing employees for day one—you’re setting them up to contribute meaningfully for years to come.
Danielle Agass is the Content Marketing Manager at Easygenerator and has been writing ever since she could pick up a pencil. A Brit by birth, she moved to the Netherlands in 2018 with her husband and their cat, Ron.
