THE PILLARS

OF STRATEGIC
EMPLOYEE
ONBOARDING

AUTHORS:
Rich Mesch I James Zandstra I Amy Ransom I Mary Ellen Van Buskirk

© Copyright Performance Development Group

TABLE OF CONTENTS

03 INTRODUCTION

04 CHAPTER 1
THREE REASONS WHY TOP-NOTCH ADAPTIVE EMPLOYEE
ONBOARDING HELPS YOU AVOID THE GREAT RESIGNATION

06 CHAPTER 2
FOUR EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING BEST PRACTICES
TO RETAIN YOUR NEW TOP PERFORMERS

09 CHAPTER 3
THE ULTIMATE NEW-HIRE ONBOARDING
CHECKLIST

13 CHAPTER 4
DESIGNING A SUCCESSFUL ON-THE-GO
ONBOARDING PROGRAM

16 CHAPTER 5
LEVELLING UP YOUR NEW-HIRE ONBOARDING WITH THE
RIGHT GAMIFICATION STRATEGY

20 CHAPTER 6
ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING RESOURCES TO BOLSTER
SELF-CONFIDENCE AND JOB SATISFACTION

23 CHAPTER 7
CREATIVE WAYS TO IMMERSE NEW HIRES IN
YOUR COMPANY CULTURE FROM DAY ONE

26 CHAPTER 8
FIVE LIFELONG LEARNING TIPS TO PROVIDE AN ONGOING
JOURNEY OF EMPLOYEE GROWTH

29 CONCLUSION
 INTRODUCTION
When you think about employee onboarding, what comes
to mind? Of course there are a lot of forms that need
to be filled out—and it should be so much more. Since
onboarding is a new hire’s introduction to your organization,
it’s the perfect opportunity to set them up for success
and integrate them into their team, department, and the
company as a whole.

The Pillars of Strategic Employee Onboarding presents

ideas about how to implement a flexible, effective
onboarding program that can improve retention rates,
help new hires hit the ground running, and start to build
connections before the new employee’s first day on the job.
Each chapter offers insights, best practices, and strategies
you can use to right now to protect your organization from
the “Great Resignation.”

3
 CHAPTER 1:
THREE REASONS We are in the middle of an incredible shift in the
workplace. Currently, roughly half of the workforce
WHY TOP-NOTCH is considering quitting their jobs, and “The Great

ADAPTIVE
Resignation” is one of the most pressing issues
facing employers worldwide. Organizations are

EMPLOYEE scrambling to understand why their people are

leaving to determine how to keep them around.
ONBOARDING However, the solution might be more straightforward

HELPS YOU
(and more powerful) than most leaders think

AVOID THE GREAT

RESIGNATION
Improving retention
rates starts with adaptive
onboarding.

WHAT IS ADAPTIVE
EMPLOYEE
ONBOARDING?
Onboarding is how an organization introduces itself to a new hire. It’s crucial for driving culture and creating an
effective workforce. Good onboarding starts early and continues until it flows seamlessly into the rest of a new
hire’s training.

The most powerful onboarding is personalized and adaptive. Adaptive learning is a methodology that alters the course
content available to individuals related to their performance, experience, and personality. It gets better with each
interaction, as it tailors the materials based on how the employee engages with the content.

Adaptive onboarding is a powerful tool that meets employees where they are and when they’re ready.
It plays to employees’ strengths and weaknesses efficiently and matches how they expect to consume content.
Adaptive employee onboarding drives employee retention because it shows employees that their organization is
invested in their future and cares about them as individuals.

4
 REASON #1: ADAPTIVE ONBOARDING PLAYS TO EMPLOYEE
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Adaptive onboarding drives retention because it creates a personalized experience for employees that build on their
strengths while also helping them through their weaknesses. Failure to do so often means employees will become
disenfranchised – they’re either bored or overwhelmed by the material in front of them.

Further, each employee is unique. Every person has their own identity, which is valuable to an organization and the
individual. Two employees may have the same job, but they’re very different people. Organizations need to tailor their
training to foster each person’s unique identity, allowing organizations to make the most of each unique perspective.
This personalization helps employees feel that they’re more than simply cogs in a larger machine.

REASON #2: ADAPTIVE ONBOARDING IS EFFICIENT

In an ideal world, each employee would have a coach who would personally assist them in their onboarding and
career development. Onboarding would be personal and effective. However, this isn’t practical, and it’s not efficient.
Adaptive learning provides a great alternative. It is personalized and helps organizations maximize their learning
resources by using employee interaction with adaptive content data. Adaptive learning can cut onboarding time in
half, making new hires productive employees sooner.

The efficiency gained from adaptive onboarding is great for the organization’s bottom line, making organizations more
attractive. Employees who can contribute positively to a company’s success quickly feel more valuable, are more
engaged, and stay with an organization for longer.

REASON #3: ADAPTIVE ONBOARDING MEETS EMPLOYEE

EXPECTATIONS

Americans spend, on average, 7.8 hours/day engaging with digital content (that’s more than many of us sleep in a
night!). Most of this content is personally tailored to the user’s personality, abilities, and interests. It’s everywhere:
Google searches, Netflix lists, music suggestions, and social media feeds.These expectations are set and won’t
change when employees walk into their first day on the job. Many new hires arrive and wonder why it’s so much
easier for them to get what they need quickly in every area of their lives except at work. It doesn’t need to be this
way.

Adaptive onboarding allows organizations to meet the expectations of their employees. It caters to content for each
individual and makes it easier for new hires to get what they need when they need it. Work feels like a comfortable
extension of the rest of life, which makes employees feel more valued. Ultimately, it results in stronger employee
retention numbers.

There are many reasons to implement an adaptive

onboarding program in your organization. You can
cut training time, increase the efficacy of your training
program, and enable new hires to be positive contributors
CONCLUSION more quickly. However, the benefits don't stop there.
Adaptive onboarding demonstrates that each employee
holds value. When organizations use new employees'
time well, and employees feel they directly contribute
to the company's success, they tend to stay. In a world
where it's becoming increasingly difficult to retain and
attract top talent, organizations that invest in adaptive
learning will come out ahead.

5
 CHAPTER 2: Onboarding is critical for retaining your top talent. Retention
and onboarding go hand in hand. However, simply having

FOUR EMPLOYEE
an onboarding program is not enough. Surveys say that
88% of organizations don’t onboard well, which leads to

ONBOARDING BEST high turnover. Couple that with the fact that, between April
and August this year, more than 18 million people quit their
PRACTICES TO jobs, and it’s clear that the stakes are high and onboarding

RETAIN YOUR NEW

is critical.

TOP PERFORMERS But what does quality onboarding look like? Organizations
that develop a strong onboarding strategy and enact
an onboarding program composed of quality learning,
opportunities to practice, and refine material based upon
past performance will see positive results and effectively
reduce employee turnover.

6
 1 STRATEGIZE
Before developing a new onboarding program, organizations must assess their current offering and compare it to
carefully selected (and measurable) objectives. Honestly evaluate existing programs and goals for the future in terms
of leading and lagging indicators of success.

Leading indicators drive lagging indicators. Leading indicators of success are whether employees know what they
need to perform well, whether they’re doing it well, or being coached well. Essentially, they’re the behavioral changes
leaders hope to see in their people. These ultimately impact the organization more broadly in many ways (lagging
indicators), ideally positively impacting the bottom line.

Preboarding is an essential part of any onboarding plan. Training is done after an employment contract is signed and
before a new hire arrives at work for the first time. Working toward these new short-term and long-term goals should
begin before the new hire’s first day of work. This is a critical time for sharing things such as handbooks, benefits
information, and company history.

Onboarding isn’t a one-time event either. Most organizations only focus on onboarding for a week. Still, the best
programs extend through the first 90 days and, ideally, through the first year, before blending smoothly with other
employee training.

2 KNOW
While this may seem obvious, an onboarding program’s success depends on quality learning material. Onboarding
should be interactive, engaging, and customized to meet critical objectives and produce a strong return on
investment. Visually appealing training is compelling, as roughly 65% of the population are visual learners (auditory
learners make up 35%, and the remaining 5% are kinesthetic learners).

Moreover, we’ve found that blended learning with microlearning elements typically provides the most meaningful
results. This learner-centric approach offers just-in-time training, available in easy-to-digest bits, accessible from
anywhere. They allow employees to learn at their own pace and typically offer serious financial and time savings to
the organization and the learner.

Ultimately, however, the best way to teach your people is unique to your organization. Your learner demographics,
your organization’s culture, and your objectives will drive your process.

7
 3 DO
After learning specific material, it is best to practice and actively engage the content, especially when new to an
organization. Practice can range from simple knowledge checks to on-the-job application of specific skills. We have
found that scenario-based learning is often a powerful way to teach employees.

Scenario-based learning immerses the new hire in real-life situations that require them to apply what they previously
learned in a classroom (virtual or in-person) setting. This is especially powerful for new hires confronting unfamiliar
situations. Scenario-based learning forces learners to apply what they learned, which further solidifies it in their minds,
creating sticky learning experiences. It also causes them to be active participants in their development, as it makes
connections between what they’ve learned in the abstract and what they need to do. These scenarios also drive
behavioral change, facilitate decision-making, and increase critical thinking skills.

4 REFINE
Great formal learning and engaging practice options are still not enough for a complete onboarding program.
The most powerful onboarding (and all other learning programs, for that matter) must also include the opportunity to
refine what the learner knows.

Feedback is essential for creating actual behavioral change that will drive lasting business results. It often comes in
the form of adaptive learning. Artificial intelligence tailors learning materials for a specific individual based on how
they’ve engaged and performed in the past learning sessions. This provides a practical and resource-efficient option,
especially for larger organizations.

Coaching is also a great way to help new hires refine what they know. 87% of organizations that assign mentors
during the onboarding process say this is a great way to speed up new hires’ proficiency.

Onboarding is critical for organizations seeking to drive

their retention rates. However, most are not doing it well.
In a world where people leave their jobs at a record pace,
retention has never been more critical. As leaders attempt
CONCLUSION to find ways to keep their people around, they must not
overlook the most powerful way to do so. Organizations
with a strong onboarding strategy that includes robust
learning assets, opportunities to practice, and material
refined by performance will see amazing results and
effectively retain their workforce.

8
 CHAPTER 3:
THE ULTIMATE NEW-
HIRE ONBOARDING
CHECKLIST
A rich onboarding experience starts well before a
new employee’s first day and lasts well beyond the
new-hire orientation. Use this checklist to build or
update your company’s onboarding program
(let us know what tips and tricks are in your
toolbox that aren’t on the list!).

9
 If you wait until an employee’s first day to start their

PRE-BOARDING
onboarding, you’re missing a great opportunity to get a head
start on completing setup tasks and building connections.
The following items make good use of the week prior to a new
hire’s start date and help them hit the ground running.

ARRANGE TECHNICAL SETUP

Computer

Email account

ID card

Phone number/extension

Security access code

System passwords/logins (intranet, portal, role-specific platforms, and software)

Workspace setup

INITIATE HR SETUP

Documents that require signatures (hard copy or electronic)

Company handbook

Role-specific reference documents

Organization chart

MANAGE JOB-SPECIFIC TASKS

Schedule orientation

Create a first day/week/month/90-day plan with expected milestones

Provide housekeeping information
• Start date, time, location
• Dress code
• Transportation or parking
• A suggested outline of their first day
• A list of any documents/equipment they will need to bring

Confirm workspace set up

Schedule new hire orientation

Send a new-hire announcement to relevant colleagues

Inform the team of hiring decisions (name, role, start date, summary of responsibilities and first few milestones)

Collect information the new hire will need for their first day

Gather necessary project/account information for handoff

Match the new employee with a peer mentor

Schedule first-day lunch with the team

10
 FIRST THE FIRST DAY FOR A NEW HIRE CAN BE OVERWHELMING UNLESS IT’S CAREFULLY
PLANNED. THE FOLLOWING ITEMS CAN HELP CREATE A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION AND
DAY: SET THE NEW EMPLOYEE UP FOR SUCCESS.

WELCOME THE NEW HIRE

Meet and greet the new employee

Introduce the new employee to the team

Conduct a tour of the office/site, with introductions to key personnel

Review any security protocols

Introduce peer mentor

CONDUCT ORIENTATION

Explain the organization’s structure, vision, mission, and values

Review the employee handbook and highlight major policies

Complete or review required employee paperwork

Review relevant administrative procedures

REVIEW JOB-SPECIFIC INFORMATION

Job description

Timeline of milestones

Organizational chart

Outline of their responsibilities

PLANNED, STRUCTURED ONBOARDING THAT EXTENDS BEYOND THE FIRST DAY CAN KEEP
FIRST THE MOMENTUM GOING AND HELP THE NEW HIRE STAY ON TRACK. USE THE FOLLOWING
WEEK: TASKS TO STRUCTURE THE FIRST WEEK AND LAY OUT THE NEW HIRE’S FUTURE WITH
YOUR ORGANIZATION.

Determine knowledge and experience gaps

Create a learning plan to fill those gaps

Assign and outline the first project

Make introductions to additional people they’ll be working with, including executives

and the C-suite, customers/clients, suppliers/vendors, and contractors/consultants

Provide systems and software training

Confirm that all equipment is working correctly

11
 IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO PLAN FOR ONGOING ONBOARDING ACTIVITIES
FIRST MONTH THAT EXTEND FOR AS LONG AS SIX MONTHS POST-HIRE TO MAKE SURE
AND BEYOND NEW HIRES STAY ON TRACK. THE FOLLOWING ITEMS CAN BUILD A FIRM
FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE GROWTH.

Work with the new hire to create weekly “to do” itineraries

Schedule ongoing, job-specific training as needed

Conduct check-in meetings on a daily or weekly basis, depending on the new hire’s progress

Create 30-, 60-, and 90-day development plans based on the new hire’s needs

Ask for feedback about the onboarding process

CONCLUSION

Effective onboarding creates connections, clarifies expectations, and shows new hires that your company wants
them to succeed. Time investment can result in a payoff of commitment and performance as new employees grow
into their roles and become the peer mentors and organization ambassadors who welcomed them on board.

RESOURCES:

• Effective Employee Onboarding Tips (Robert Half)

• New Hire Onboarding Checklist (Indeed)
• Understanding Employee Onboarding (Society for Human Resource Management)

12
12
 CHAPTER 4:
DESIGNING A
SUCCESSFUL ON-
THE-GO ONBOARDING
PROGRAM
Effective new-hire onboarding isn’t a “nice to have” frill
when it comes to training programs—it’s a “need to
have” necessity. Research presented by the Brandon
Hall Group suggests that organizations with a strong
onboarding process improve new-hire retention by
82% and productivity by over 70%. As remote work
becomes the norm, companies need to flex their
creativity and offer onboarding that accommodates
those employees who live and work in the field.
The following strategies can help you transform
remote workers into team members.

13
13
 WELCOME THE NEW HIRE
Help the remote employee feel welcome before onboarding by providing a preboarding kit. The kit can start with an email that
includes relevant information they need to know before their first days, such as when to expect equipment, the agendas for their
first day and week, and links to join initial video conferences. You may also want to provide early access to your employee intranet
for your new employee to explore before day one. In addition, the kit can include company swag, the employee handbook,
and benefits information. Remember to provide support for completing paperwork and making benefits-related decisions.

Any welcome kit is even more effective with a “welcoming partner” who meets with the new hire regularly and guides them through
the first few weeks or months on the job. This go-to colleague answers questions, makes introductions to key people and shares
information, tips, and advice to help the new hire settle in and be productive sooner.

TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS

Starting a new role can be disorienting, and one way to ease the new employee into the job is to make the equipment and
technology setup process as goof-proof as possible. Ensure the new hire receives all job-related equipment before their first day,
and schedule a session between the new employee and experienced coworkers for training on how to use it. Also, provide training
(via a virtual platform or self-paced study guides or videos) on email, videoconferencing and chat platforms, file management and
sharing software, and security requirements (if necessary). Doing this before the start date minimizes technical issues and allows
new employees to be fully present and more comfortable on day one.

SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

With remote workers, “out of sight/out of mind” can lead to miscommunication, frustration, and a revolving door for new hires.
It doesn’t have to be this way—you can head off these issues before they start by clarifying what’s expected and how to meet
those expectations. Set up virtual job shadowing or job training sessions to help new employees learn their new roles and get a
higher-level understanding of what other teams and departments do. Create a coaching plan that includes a specific number of
tasks to complete over the days and weeks following their training, making sure to provide points of contact to set them up for
success. Finally, work with them to create goals for their first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job, and schedule regular check-in video
conferences to gauge progress and ask and answer questions.

OVERVIEW OF THE
COMPANY HISTORY COMPANY’S PRODUCTS
AND/OR SERVICES

WHY YOU DO
WHAT YOU DO FOCUS ON HR POLICIES AND
PROCEDURES
CULTURE
No onboarding is complete if it
doesn’t spend time defining the
company culture, which is the
personality and character of the
ORGANIZATIONAL organization.
STRUCTURE HOW THINGS GET DONE

MISSION HOW DEPARTMENTS

AND VALUES WORK TOGETHER

One benefit of a remote orientation is that it doesn’t have to be done all at once. Rather than creating an information
dump on the first day, consider using strategies like scavenger hunts, round-table discussions with members of the
C-suite, and videos or podcasts that engage and inform.

14
14
 BUILD CONNECTIONS
Remote onboarding is as much about people as it is about processes. Don’t leave relationship creation to chance—build that into
the program, so new hires start to feel part of the team from the beginning. This more personal “integration process” helps new
hires assimilate into the work culture and build meaningful relationships with key stakeholders and colleagues.

These sessions can be themed for holidays, have a specific

HOST VIRTUAL purpose and agenda for more structured events, or feature
GET-TOGETHERS: a game or activity that helps newcomers and tenured
ORGANIZE VIRTUAL EVENTS LIKE employees get to know one another. And remember to include
MORNING COFFEE WITH HR, LUNCH
WITH MANAGERS, AND HAPPY HOUR remote workers in office celebrations like birthdays and work
WITH TEAM MEMBERS. anniversaries. If you can, send a party kit with treats.

The first 90 days are critical for a new hire’s entry into an
organization and one of the most strategic programs HR
MAKE IT FUN:
BRING ONBOARDING TO LIFE WITH
oversees. The onboarding process should not be robotic and INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL ACTIVITIES
should allow socializing and learning, which bridges the gap LIKE GAMES, STORYTELLING, AND
between engagement and assimilation. INFORMAL CHATS.

The first 90 days are critical for a new hire’s entry into an
organization and one of the most strategic programs HR
oversees. The onboarding process should not be robotic and
should allow socializing and learning, which bridges the gap
between engagement and assimilation. As part of your onboarding process, ask tenured employees to
HAVE CURRENT create introduction videos to share their interests and experiences
EMPLOYEES with new colleagues. Hearing employees talk about their lives
CREATE outside of work makes them more relatable. It helps to humanize
INTRODUCTION the onboarding process and foster personal connections with
VIDEOS: colleagues, even while many are still joining remotely.

CONCLUSION
Onboarding can make the difference between a new employee feeling excited about starting with the company or looking for a new
job before the virtual ink is dry on their paperwork. Don’t be shy about using innovative approaches to remote onboarding.
When classroom walls and linear schedules don’t constrain you, your program can continue to make its mark over the first days,
weeks, and months of a new hire’s experience. Remote work is now a permanent feature of the business landscape, and it’s within
your power to help off-site employees thrive from the moment they agree to join your company.

15
 CHAPTER 5:
It’s a whole new world out there, and competition
for top talent is fiercer than it’s been in years.
Attracting top talent is a challenge, and retaining
LEVELLING UP that talent is even more difficult. First impressions

YOUR NEW-HIRE matter, and onboarding are typically one of an

employee’s first experiences on the job.
ONBOARDING Old-school “employee orientation” is a thing of
the past; the onboarding experience needs to
WITH THE RIGHT build excitement, engagement, and a real sense

GAMIFICATION of purpose — all while genuinely preparing each

employee to excel at their job.
STRATEGY

Gamification has become an increasingly

popular way to create an engaging, exciting
onboarding experience that immerses the new
employee into the company culture. But how
do you create a gamified experience?

16
16
 WHAT IS
GAMIFICATION?
Gamification is one of the most misunderstood terms in learning & development. Despite its name, gamification isn’t
really about playing games. Rather, it’s about applying some of the principles of gaming to a learning experience.

So how is that different from playing a game? The differences are subtle but important:

• Games usually have winners and losers, but in a gamified learning experience, we want to minimize failure as
much as possible. This isn’t an “everybody gets a trophy” mentality; it’s an engagement strategy.
• Games are often designed for endless replayability; learning experiences need to focus on growth and forward
motion.
• Some people spend years building the skills to be successful at games. In learning environments, we usually
don’t have that much time; we need to design interactions that can drive similar levels of engagement in a shorter
timeframe.

Gamification isn’t about playing Monopoly or Clue or World of Warcraft or Fallout. It is about looking at these types of
games and understanding what makes them exciting, engaging, and fun — and applying that to the way we onboard.

WHY USE
GAMIFICATION FOR
ONBOARDING?
Like most aspects of learning, it comes down to motivation, engagement, and behavior change. There’s a reason
we’ve been playing games for thousands of years. They engage us, draw us in, and make us want to gain skills
and improve our performance.

Onboarding is one of the first experiences that a new hire has when they join a company. Starting a new job should
be full of excitement, anticipation, and the thrill of the possible. The onboarding experience should match that
excitement and anticipation. Onboarding deeply affects how employees perceive the company’s culture. A recent
study indicates that “90% of new employees determine within the first six months if they’ll stay with a company
or leave,” and new employees are “69% more likely to stay with the company for at least three years” if they
experience well-structured onboarding.

Companies used to think of onboarding as the first few days on the job, but the truth is, onboarding encompasses
an employee’s first 3-12 months. It involves aligning to its vision and culture, learning about the job, networking
with colleagues, identifying the resources needed to succeed, and growing job skills. It’s a tall order, and it takes
some time to execute properly.

The challenge with some onboarding is that it’s fed through a firehose; new hires are overwhelmed by facts and
figures and lists, retaining little of what they’ve learned. Onboarding works best when distributed over time, with
ample opportunity to implement learning and receive feedback. And that’s where gamification comes in.

Gamification helps maintain engagement over time. Gamification is not an event but a journey.
Using gamification for onboarding sets the tone for a company culture that is creative, out-of-the-box, and exciting.

17
 HOW DO I CREATE A
GAMIFIED ONBOARDING
EXPERIENCE?
A GOAL: Almost all games have a goal. In chess, it’s to put the other player’s
WHAT IS THE king in check; in Monopoly, it’s to amass property and wealth; in Super
PURPOSE OF THIS Mario Brothers, it’s to rescue the princess. The goal is what you need to
EXPERIENCE? WHAT accomplish, but the game is about how you accomplish it. This brings us
AM I TRYING TO
ACCOMPLISH? to our next element —

Journeys include many steps or challenges that you need to

A JOURNEY: complete to proceed in the game. That’s a big part of what makes
THE JOURNEY IS gamification so engaging; your destination stays the same, but
THE PATH YOU TAKE each challenge is unique. There is always something new to try,
TOWARD THE GOAL.
which keeps the experience lively and exciting.

A METHOD OF Gamification doesn’t need to be about winning, but it should be

about accomplishing, achieving, and applying the knowledge
MEASURING and skills you have acquired. While there are many ways of
PROGRESS AND measuring achievement, here are a few that work particularly well
ACCOMPLISHMENT: in gamification:

SCORES: Most games keep score in one way or another. Tracking

scores can help build engagement, even if you’re not competing against
other players.

COMPETITION: Competing with your peers can be very engaging

and a lot of fun. We’ve seen learners spend more time on a learning
assignment than required because they wanted to snag as many
points as possible to “win.” Of course, competition can be a slippery
slope; we want our audience focused on learning and growing, not just
winning. But applied appropriately, competitive gamification can build
engagement for a very long time.

REWARDING ACHIEVEMENTS: Gamification often uses a concept

called “badging,” where you receive tokens, or badges, for specific
accomplishments. Badges are helpful because it allows you to achieve
multiple small wins over a long journey. And badges are not unique to
gamification; the journey to be a Six Sigma Champion is long, so you
can accomplish multiple achievements along the way by winning your
Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt, and so on.

PROGRESSING DOWN A PATH, OR “LEVELING UP”: In many video

games, after you accomplish a number of achievements, you “level up”
or move on to a more challenging level of the game. But leveling up is
not unique to video games; in an ancient game like Checkers, you level
up when you make it to your opponent’s side of the board and become
a King, complete with new powers and abilities. Providing learners with
the opportunity to level up builds both engagement and a real sense of
accomplishment.

18
18
 GAMIFICATION Onboarding has unique challenges and opportunities while

AND THE
aligning particularly well with onboarding. Onboarding is
about the excitement of something new, being immersed in

ONBOARDING the company culture, understanding how business is done,

and meeting and networking with new colleagues.
JOURNEY Here’s how gamification impacts those aspects:

COLLABORATION & NETWORKING:

In gamification, it’s easy to set up scenarios where people need to collaborate to succeed. These scenarios are a
great opportunity for participants to network, meet new people, and understand what each role brings to the table. It
can also help new hires learn how collaboration can drive a better outcome. In one successful gamified onboarding
experience, new hires completed a game board by successfully scheduling meetings with key stakeholders and
gathering information from them, like a scavenger hunt. By the end of the experience, they not only had met many
of the key leaders of the organization, but they had also begun building lasting relationships with them. Learning this
behavior in a game is “sticky;” it will stay with you long after the game is over.

ENGAGEMENT:
You can’t learn anything if you’re not paying attention. Why teach new hires an abstract skill when you can get them
to engage in the actual behavior? Gamification gets people involved, gives them a goal, and helps them understand
what they must do to hit that goal. And it all happens painlessly — in fact, they might not even realize that they’re
learning.

CULTURE:
Learning about a company’s culture in an e-learning or classroom environment can be dry and abstract. The best way
to learn a culture is to live it. In a gamified environment, new hires can complete experiential assignments that require
them to behave in ways that align with the company culture. Suddenly, culture is not an abstract concept but a set of
real behaviors that employees have learned and can repeat.

SOCIAL LEARNING:
Whether we’re playing our game in a real-life room or playing online in a virtual space, we’re still working in a social
environment. That means we can create our own experience (within the rules of the game, of course), and the
experience changes based on the people present. We can share our knowledge, experiences, and assumptions and
learn from (and teach) each other. We may be playing a game, but what we’re learning from each other is very real.
And that leads us to —

INFORMAL LEARNING:
Gamified environments create wonderful opportunities for informal learning. As a team of people driving toward a goal,
we inevitably share all kinds of knowledge. All the notebooks in the world won’t drive learning like an experienced
colleague sharing a great story.

Like any learning approach, gamification won’t solve every

challenge. However, in onboarding, gamification presents
unique benefits. As competition for talent increases,

CONCLUSION first impressions matter; engaging onboarding can make a

new hire feel they’ve made the right choice in joining your
organization. But the impact of gamified onboarding goes
beyond first impressions; it can build stronger networks, fortify
company culture, and better prepare team members for the
challenges ahead.
19
19
 CHAPTER 6:
ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEE
ONBOARDING
RESOURCES TO
BOLSTER SELF-
CONFIDENCE AND JOB
SATISFACTION
First impressions do make a difference. Onboarding
is one of the most important processes an employee
goes through; it is their introduction to the company,
their opportunity to start contributing quickly, and
the point at which they decide whether they made a
good career decision. Getting off to a great start from
Day 1 is critical to success! Every day an employee
cannot be productive is a day that includes wasted
money and unattained goals. It’s also a day where a
new employee could become frustrated and question
whether they’ve chosen the right employer or even the
right industry.

What is the correct length for a comprehensive

onboarding program? According to the Society for
Human Resource Management research, best-in-class
organizations extend onboarding touchpoints from pre-
hire to at least the first year of employment, integrated
with each employee’s professional development
plan. Therefore, you should not view onboarding
as a one-day or one-week orientation but rather a
longer program that helps new hires feel acclimated,
motivated, and confident. A recent study conducted
by the Human Capital Institute and Kronos shows
that “capitalizing on new-hire momentum can drive
stronger business results,” and that happens over
the first 90 days. These more extended onboarding
programs consistently correlate to more substantial
business outcomes and lower attrition.

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 KEY CONSIDERATIONS WHEN
CREATING AN ONBOARDING PLAN
As you design an onboarding plan, it is imperative to bring consistency to the process across an organization.
Consider the five most critical pieces of knowledge, skills, experiences, and/or behaviors that a new hire needs to
master within the first 90 days to succeed at the company. Next, prioritize the new employee onboarding resources
and align them to must-learn concepts. According to research shared by Brandon Hall Group, “organizations with a
strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%”.

Make it easy for your new employees to find the training resources when they need them by creating an
individualized Impact Plan. Do they have a clear plan showing them what to expect in their first 90 days? Six
months? Their first year? Part of the kit of resources that new hires need is knowing who to go for answers or help.
Motivating employees to learn to succeed quickly entails seeking out and connecting with others who can help them
get better answers faster to increase their impact.

By putting key content into bite-sized chunks via microlearning or gamification, your new employees will not feel that
they are overwhelmed or “drinking from a fire hose.” Research suggests that it takes about a year to fully onboard an
employee, so why do we deliver everything in the first few days? Using multiple learning modalities and performance
support methods over the first year is more pragmatic and useful, putting information closer to the point of need.

ONBOARDING TOOLS
AND MODALITIES
When you incorporate gamified learning into the
onboarding process, newbies are motivated to complete
tasks, socialize with their colleagues, quickly check off
those necessary compliance and policy requirements,
and become immersed in the company culture. Game-
based learning is not only fun and engaging. It is also
ideal for compressing days of traditional classroom
training into several hours that can be broken down into
small segments and consumed as the new employee
has available time. When you can connect learning
games to a company’s Learning Management System
(LMS), reports can illustrate real-time completion and
retention rates.

Infographics can be terrific

resources to help visual These colorful and engaging tools can streamline
learners and, as job aids, to content, simplify concepts, and improve retention.
Infographics also can help keep learners engaged
bring timelines, processes, longer by breaking up what could have been an
and how-tos to life. overload of data and putting it into eye-catching
and digestible pieces.

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 MANY COMPANIES ARE FINDING
VALUE IN SCENARIO-BASED LEARNING
(SBL) TO SOLIDIFY NEW SKILLS AND
CONCEPTS FURTHER.

SBLs can be conducted either in-person or (more

often these days) in a virtual or digital environment.

Real-life situations give learners a relatable and

highly relevant experience. Its immersive approach
creates high engagement, which leads to improved job
satisfaction.

There are many reasons why SBL is a great option

to consider as you map out onboarding frameworks.
Learning and Development teams gravitate to SBL
because it not only allows learners to apply what they’ve
learned in a safe environment; it can illustrate the
potential repercussions of their decision(s).

One size does not fit all when incorporating SBL into
an onboarding plan. Often the best learning experience
takes place when new employees start with basic
problem-solving scenarios. To test that the transfer
of knowledge has taken place, Immersive Branching
Scenarios will take the learner through a series of
situations where they must make decisions and then
face the consequences of each choice. These types of
experiences will require the learner to recall the concepts
presented in the course.

When new hires are allowed to hone their skills before they
“go live” in their role, they will steadily build their proficiency.
CONCLUSION This leads to higher levels of confidence when faced with
actual challenges they have already had the chance to solve
as part of their onboarding experience.

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 CHAPTER 7:
CREATIVE WAYS
TO IMMERSE NEW
HIRES IN YOUR
COMPANY CULTURE
FROM DAY ONE

The idea of organizational culture took off in the

1960s when businesses found that their unique
mission could give them a competitive edge over
similar companies.

Culture encompasses the core values and principles

that drive the organization. Some may think of
company culture as the ‘north star’ that guides the
behaviors of employees. Ensuring that someone
joining understands and embraces the culture is key
to them becoming fully engaged and contributing to
the company’s goals.

Culture makes the difference between engaged

teams moving in different directions and aligned
teams working toward a common goal.
Companies with a positive culture can retain their
most valuable assets, their people.
These organizations provide collaborative
environments (even virtually) where teamwork
leads to great success. An employee who doesn’t
comprehend culture can easily become lost and
frustrated. Therefore, orienting new employees to
culture is a key requirement of onboarding.

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 PRE-
BOARDING
Many companies send out a welcome video from the CEO. These recorded messages are designed around the
mission, vision, and values that drive the organization and clarify that every team member is critical to achieving the
goals. The tone of the video will also help to paint the picture of the culture. If the CEO is riding his bike through an
open-concept workspace, sitting in her home office petting her dog, or speaking from a research lab, new employees
are forming an image about what it will be like to work there. With many new employees onboarding off-site, getting a
glimpse of what the main office looks like helps them connect to their new home base.

THE FIRST
FEW DAYS
With so many people still working remotely, companies must work harder to foster connections and drive purpose
for their associates, existing and incoming. A warm welcome for employees starting their onboarding journey also
reinforces the messages they heard during their preboarding experience by weaving company values into their first
tasks. This will engage new hires in corporate mission and vision right away. Tie the values to everything that they do in
their first few weeks. For example, if they are assigned their first project, explain how that contributes to its mission and
exemplifies its values.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” It’s true. Research shows that 90% of
information transmitted to the brain is visual. Instead of sending pages of paragraphs explaining the corporate culture,
consider using a colorful infographic as an alternative. Infographics are visually engaging and simplify important
information into bite-sized nuggets that are easier to remember. This all translates into helping new employees
understand and embrace their new culture more quickly.

Build a culture where new employees know that it’s okay to be themselves at work from the very beginning. Hollie
Delaney, former CHRO of Zappos, a company that is well known for its outstanding corporate culture, shares “create
an environment where people can bring their whole selves to work. It was very important to us (at Zappos) that we
had that environment where people could bring those little quirky things about themselves they don’t usually share in
an office setting to make them feel more whole. It helped us become more diverse, more fun, and better able to see
people for who they are.”

Another way to help with the onboarding journey is to assign each new hire a “buddy,” someone that has been carefully
selected to be their mentor. While quickly creating a sense of connectedness to their new company, a new team
member will become more aligned to the organization’s cultural ‘north star.’ When you are considering who would be a
great buddy, look for colleagues that visibly demonstrate the culture in their day-to-day activities.

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 GET TO KNOW YOUR
COLLEAGUES
Meeting lots of new colleagues in the first few
days of a new job is exciting but overwhelming.
When there is a group onboarding together,
it can be helpful to put names with faces by
sharing brief video introductions and fun facts
about themselves. Encourage all employees
to complete bio pages that can be stored on
a shared site so that new people can refresh
their memory when needed.

While working from home offers Organizations that encourage Not only does this develop
welcome flexibility, it can also bring new employees to join peer empathy for coworkers, but it
isolation. New people need to coaching groups can help can also lead to future career
become part of the ‘water cooler’ newbies connect with their opportunities that employees
and peer praise channels often departments. Companies that may not have otherwise
found in Teams or Slack. Channels offer cross-functional mentoring considered.
such as these show exactly what teams can reveal the daily
behaviors are positively recognized activities of their collaborative
and can quickly incorporate these teammates.
practices into their daily activities.

Employees’ connection to your organization’s purpose is as unique as the employees

themselves. When a manager takes the time to get to know everyone on their team and discover
their drivers, they can address them in coaching and connect them to the organization’s culture.
Additionally, team-building activities can help all employees understand one another better, feel
more engaged, and build trust.

Companies are finding a more competitive landscape than

ever before. They must compete to grow new business,

CONCLUSION
retain customers, and hire great people to join the firm.
Quickly connecting new employees to a company’s culture
has a tremendous impact, both short- and long-term. A great
culture can create loyalty from staff, which cascades to better
performance, ultimately driving the bottom line.

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 CHAPTER 8:
FIVE LIFELONG
LEARNING TIPS
TO PROVIDE AN
ONGOING JOURNEY
OF EMPLOYEE
GROWTH
Learning for any employee needs to be a continuous experience,
as ingrained into their job as any regular responsibility. For
organizations that truly prioritize employee development, lifelong
learning is a crucial tool to engage and retain their team members.

While onboarding represents an employee’s introduction to

an organization, lifelong learning serves as an organization’s
ongoing and concerted commitment to the personal growth of
their employees and a determination to help them tap into their
full potential. Despite the benefits, lifelong learning initiatives for
employees can be challenging and are frequently overlooked or set
aside amid the daily demands of the workplace.

However, organizations that embrace lifelong learning go beyond

traditional employee orientation to create a holistic journey that
encourages self-reflection and training throughout a team member’s
career path. When done right, organizations create more engaged
and satisfied employees who also are more productive in their
duties. These organizations not only keep their workers — they
attract others drawn to a workplace with a reputation for developing
the talents of their staff.

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 HERE ARE FIVE KEYS TO A
PRODUCTIVE APPROACH TO
LIFELONG LEARNING FOR
YOUR WORKFORCE.

1
PROVIDE
CONSISTENT
OPPORTUNITIES

Developing your team members means ensuring that they feel

that they always have a chance to improve. It should be an easy
and natural part of their job, baked into every staff member’s
responsibilities. Workplaces that do not create space for their
staff members to pursue growth and learning as part of their job
responsibilities risk creating a static workforce — one unable
to grow and develop in ways that boost both their employees’
careers and the organization’s fortunes.

Organizations can take a highly proactive role in creating learning

opportunities for their team members. For example, launching
certification paths give employees concrete and detailed avenues
to pursue measurable, structured growth. There are always new
skills to acquire and new ways to do a job better, and you will want
your employees to know them all. Emphasizing both reskilling
(training an employee for a new role within the organization) and
upskilling (teaching an employee new skills within their current
role) ensures that team members throughout your organization
receive an array of growth opportunities, no matter their career
path.

2 MAKE
PLAN
A

Lifelong learning for an entire team and its individual members

should follow a purposeful plan. For teams, learning efforts should
align with overall organizational goals. A focus on new technology
and trends relevant to your field, for instance, will help to ensure
that your team is never letting new best practices pass them
by. For individuals, learning objectives should align closely with
performance goals.

Learning plans should emphasize not only the lesson content, but
also delivery methods and applications. An organization will need
to be able to evaluate the big picture and consider both current
training needs and what they might look like in the future.

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 3 MAKE IT
PERSONAL

Organizations should be wary of one-size-fits-all approaches

to learning for their workforce. Whenever possible, a personal
approach to lifelong learning is best. Making learning personal
means making it flexible and adaptable to each team member’s
needs and preferences. Personalized lifelong learning opportunities
greatly increase the chance that team members will embrace
training opportunities and feel connected to the organization. It also
helps prevent “dead time” when employees sit through redundant
training or courses that have no connection to their work or goals.

In addition to adaptability, personalized learning should focus on

topics most relevant to each individual worker. Employing tech-
based solutions helps deliver training tailored to workers so they
can access training resources at a time and pace most convenient
for them. However, relying too much on tech-based solutions
means removing the advantages of the human connection in
learning. Mentorships and coaching allow for open discussions,
probing questions, empathy, networking, and anecdotal lessons that
technology cannot replicate.

4 MAKE IT
PRODUCTIVE

Lifelong learning does not need to be separate from the work

that team members do. Workers who can apply new skills
and knowledge to their jobs learn more effectively and deeply.
Interactive, on-the-job application reinforces lessons, make them
less abstract and more concrete, and eliminate boundaries between
learning about a job and doing it.

Organizations that understand learning is part of the job and not

apart from it will inspire personal growth in their team members.
Learning will not feel like extra work that requires team members to
step outside their responsibilities with
this approach.

For learning to be productive, it needs to encompass larger lessons

that broaden team members’ expertise and understanding and more
specific skills that allow them to do their jobs more efficiently. For
instance, microlearning keeps learning efforts focused on narrow
topics, allowing for targeted growth in specific areas. This can be
particularly helpful in creating practical learning steps that yield
distinct improvements for individual employees over the short and
long term.

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 5 MEASURE
PROGRESS

There is no reason to leave the impact of your employees’ learning opportunities up

to vague assumptions. Data is crucial in determining how well your team members
learn and evaluating possible improvements. It can bolster feedback, making it richer
and more objective.

Organizations should seek ways to identify and analyze how well staff translates
learning into their work. Provide self-knowledge checks so that employees can
gauge how well they’re learning and where knowledge gaps still exist. This
prevents ineffective learning practices from continuing and allows for revisions
and refinements to improve them. The more routine the measurement, the more
effective it is and the more likely to inform staff and supervisors of opportunities and
challenges.

CONCLUSION
Too often, learning and training resources in organizations are tilted heavily toward new
staff members and new promotions. In these workplaces, team members can go long
stretches without encountering any personalized, meaningful learning opportunities.

An organization that puts lifelong learning at the forefront of its workforce training efforts
will build a team that can forever grow and progress, become more productive and
engaged, and feel more rewarded and satisfied in their careers.

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