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First impressions don’t end after the interview. If your onboarding process is clunky, awkward, or just plain boring, you could be sending your new employee running for the exit before they’ve even figured out the printer.
Let’s look into what might be going wrong, how it shows up, and what a genuinely welcoming, engaging onboarding process should look like (it doesn’t involve drowning them in PDFs on day one).
Common Signs Your Onboarding Process Is Doing More Harm Than Good
Radio silence after contract signing – If a new hire doesn’t hear from you between “Offer Accepted” and “Day One,” don’t be shocked if they get cold feet.
Day one = death by PowerPoint – No one wants to sit through five hours of slides. Especially not alone in a boardroom with instant coffee and a stack of forms.
No proper tech set-up – Starting a job without a working laptop, login access or clear instructions is a sure-fire way to make someone feel like an afterthought.
Vague role expectations – If they don’t know what they’re doing or who to ask, they’ll feel lost. And worse — like they’re already underperforming.
No social introduction to the team – Humans need connection. Without it, your “welcome to the team” message means very little.
Here’s What Good Onboarding Looks Like
Communication before day one
Send a welcome email. Share the plan for their first week. If they’re remote, post out a welcome box or just a handwritten card. Little touches = big impact.
A structured (but not robotic) first week
Mix in training, 1-to-1s, shadowing, and downtime. Give them a buddy. Let them absorb the culture gradually. Don't flood them with info, just help them feel included.
Set clear expectations
They should know:
What their goals are for the first 30/60/90 days
Who their go-to people are
What success actually looks like in their role
Make it personal
Find out how they work best, what support they need, what excites them about the job. Onboarding shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all.
Check in regularly
Not just “How’s it going?”—really check in. Ask what’s working, what’s confusing, what could be better. Feedback in those early weeks is so important and will help you learn for future onboarding.
Real Talk: Why This Matters
Because people do leave bad onboarding experiences. They feel invisible. Or overwhelmed. Or like they were sold a different job altogether.
And replacing a new starter who ghosts in month one? Expensive, awkward, and totally avoidable.
The bottom line?
Onboarding isn’t admin, it's your chance to show new hires they made the right choice. A smooth, thoughtful start sets the tone for everything that follows. So if you’ve gone to the effort of finding great people, don’t let them down in the first week. Nail the welcome, and they’ll be far more likely to stick around, thrive, and become your biggest advocates.