10 Onboarding Tips for a Seamless New Hire Experience

You might be surprised to learn that 52% of new hires feel undertrained even after undergoing their company’s onboarding process – with 66% of small company employees and 63% of remote workers reportedly feeling undertrained. 

This is because many organizations treat onboarding as an obligation, rather than as an  opportunity to lay the foundation for a longstanding positive employee experience. 

Simply put, your onboarding process is the first impression your company makes on a new hire, and it sets the tone for everything else that follows. 

So, whether you’re onboarding employees in person or onboarding remote employees across various time zones, one thing always remains the same: the quality of your employee onboarding process can either build excitement and loyalty or lead to confusion and disengagement. 

For HR professionals, creating a thoughtful, engaging onboarding process is a core driver of employee satisfaction, long-term productivity, and overall retention rates within your company. 

In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at what makes for an effective employee onboarding process. Then, we'll walk through 10 actionable tips that will help you create a seamless, memorable experience for each new person joining your team. 

What makes for a positive onboarding experience?

When it comes to onboarding a new employee ahead of their first day, there are a few things that will help your business prepare new hires for their job responsibilities and the organization’s culture. 

Clear communication of training schedule 

According to a recent survey, 32% of new hires found their onboarding program confusing. 

One of the easiest ways to cut out confusion is by creating a detailed, clearly outlined training schedule for the new hires to follow to help them feel organized, prepared, and confident from day one. 

When employees know what to expect – such as key training sessions, deadlines, and milestones – they can manage their time effectively while still maintaining a clear understanding of what lies ahead. 

A well-structured schedule eliminates uncertainty and prevents information overload, ensuring that training is delivered in manageable steps rather than a flood of disjointed materials. 

Engaging training materials 

Think back to the last time you onboarded with a new company – it was likely a process filled with dozens of documents for you to read through. 

But let’s face it, text-heavy documentation is no way to capture attention, improve knowledge retention, and make learning more enjoyable for new employees. In fact, traditional onboarding methods – like dense handbooks and lengthy presentations – can overwhelm new hires, leading to disengagement and slower adaptation. 

Video is a great tool to create training content that’s immersive, allowing employees to stay actively involved. Not to mention, visual and interactive content enhances comprehension, which is a great way to ensure employees have what they need to hit the ground running faster. 

Pro tip: Creating onboarding videos doesn’t have to be an expensive or long process. Check out Colossyan’s AI video platform for a way to create professional-quality videos without any cameras or equipment. 

Plus, you can create videos with branching scenarios, allowing you to create onboarding videos that are personalized to a specific department or team.  

Integration of company culture, values, and mission

In order to help new employees understand the bigger picture and align with the organization's purpose from day one, it’s important to keep your company culture, values, and mission at the center of your onboarding process. 

When it comes to company culture, having a clear understanding of how things work  – how teams communicate, what success looks like, and how decisions are made – new hires are better equipped to contribute meaningfully. 

This alignment fosters a stronger sense of belonging and ensures that new hires are not just learning their job responsibilities but also becoming active contributors to the company’s overall success.

Strong manager and peer support 

Humans thrive on connection – and so do new team members. 

Any great onboarding experience creates early moments of social interaction, whether that’s a buddy program, informal video calls with co-workers, or brief check-ins with a manager. When new employees feel seen, supported, and connected, everything else becomes more manageable.

10 tips for onboarding new employees

Now that we’ve explored how communication, the quality of your training materials, and peer support can contribute to an excellent onboarding experience, let’s dive into 10 onboarding tips for crafting a stellar onboarding process for new employees. 

1. Start onboarding before the first day

Onboarding shouldn’t start on an employee’s first day – it should begin the moment they accept the job offer. Send a warm welcome email, offer access to the employee handbook, or even ship some company swag as part of the pre-onboarding process. 

This approach helps new hires feel prepared, valued, and excited before they step into their new role. A seamless pre-boarding experience reduces first-day stress and allows employees to start contributing sooner.

2. Provide a clear job description

Unclear job expectations can lead to confusion, frustration, and disengagement. A well-defined job description ensures that new hires fully understand their responsibilities, priorities, and how their role fits into the bigger picture. 

By providing a clear job description during the onboarding process, you can ensure every new hire is approaching the onboarding process with a clear understanding of how they’ll need to apply what they’re learning to their new role. 

3. Craft a 30-60-90 day plan

Most onboarding processes are solely centered around learning the ins and outs of a new company. Providing new hires with a clear 30-60-90 day plan is a great way to convey expectations related to transitioning from learning to contributing. 

The first 30 days should focus on understanding the company, tools, and role expectations. By 60 days, employees should be working more independently, engaging in projects, and receiving regular feedback. By 90 days, they should feel fully integrated and ready to take ownership of their responsibilities. 

A solid 30-60-90 plan should be specific regarding which projects and tasks you expect your new employee to take on every step of the way to eliminate confusion and reduce overwhelm. 

4. Establish performance metrics and expectations 

New hires need to know how success will be measured in their role in order to successfully deliver. 

Clearly defining key performance indicators (KPIs), expected outcomes, and review timelines ensures transparency and alignment. This process works best when it’s collaborative – for example – asking for employee input on the KPIs and OKRs they’re going to be held to. 

5. Encourage collaboration across departments 

Onboarding shouldn’t happen in a silo – new hires benefit from interacting with teams beyond their immediate department. 

Cross-functional introductions, shadowing sessions, and collaborative projects can provide broader insights into how the company operates and how different teams contribute to shared goals. 

Encouraging interdepartmental communication early on fosters stronger relationships, breaks down silos, and helps new employees feel like an integrated part of the organization. The more connected a new hire feels, the more likely they are to stay engaged and invested.

Also read: Internal Communications Videos: Benefits, Tips, Best Uses

6. Leverage AI video for a memorable and engaging experience 

Traditional onboarding often involves lengthy, text-heavy materials that can be overwhelming and hard to retain. Video-based onboarding can present information in bite-sized, visually compelling formats that improve knowledge retention and allow employees to learn at their own pace.

But the reality is, creating a traditional welcome video requires too much of a manager’s time. That’s where an AI video tool comes in. 

Colossyan is an AI video platform that uses AI avatars and text-to-speech voiceovers to bring your videos to life in minutes – no cameras or microphones required. 

This allows you to create engaging videos to add to your employee onboarding, which your employees can refer back to at their convenience. Plus, with interactive video features like multiple-choice quizzes, you can check their understanding along the way. 

Here’s how Colossyan works: 

Curious to try it for yourself? Generate a free video today – completely risk free. 

7. Assign an onboarding buddy for support

Entering a new work environment can be overwhelming for new employees. One of the best ways to ease the transition is by assigning an onboarding buddy. 

An onboarding buddy serves as a go-to person for questions, guidance, and informal conversations that might not require a manager’s input. 

Regular check-ins with a buddy can improve an new employee’s onboarding experience by ensuring they feel supported in both their professional and social integration with the company – and potentially reducing turnover in the process. 

8. Don’t forget about teambuilding activities 

Beyond formal training, team-building activities help new hires feel more comfortable and connected. 

Host casual team lunches, welcome meetings, or virtual coffee chats. For remote employees, schedule informal video calls to meet other employees and learn about their work. 

Investing in early team bonding makes a significant difference in how quickly new hires settle into their roles. Plus, these early bonds often turn into the trust that fuels great teamwork.

9. Collect feedback along the way 

A strong onboarding process is a two-way street – it’s just as important to listen to new hires as it is to train them. 

Regularly checking in and collecting thoughtful feedback on their experience can make new employees feel heard, in addition to highlighting gaps in the process and revealing opportunities for improvement. 

Asking questions like: “What helped you most?” or “What felt unclear?” can provide insight into what needs more clarification and help you refine your employee onboarding programs in the future. 

10. Re-onboard if needed 

Many direct managers tend to think of employee onboarding as one and done. In reality, onboarding is an ongoing process that’s especially useful for those transitioning into new roles, returning from extended leave, or adapting to major company changes. 

A quarterly refresher on company updates, policies, and business pritoties can help employees stay engaged and aligned with business goals. Regular re-onboarding also ensures that long-term employees continue to grow within the company, rather than feeling disconnected or left behind.

Long-term investments in onboarding lead to happy employees – and better business outcomes.

Takeaway

At its core, successful onboarding is all about helping people feel confident, connected, and transparent about their roles. 

The tools you use may evolve, but the mission stays the same: to build trust, reduce friction, and make space for your hires to do their best work. 

One of the easiest ways to create an onboarding experience your new employees will actually enjoy? With an AI tool like Colossyan.  

With Colossyan, HR professionals can deliver high-quality, personalized employee onboarding at scale in minutes. Book a demo to learn how our platform can suit your needs, or try it for free.