What’s your company’s approach to onboarding new hires and integrating them into the culture? We asked 13 companies, and they shared strategies that foster seamless transitions and strong cultural alignment.
- Project Shadow Week Reduces Ramp-Up Time
- Mentorship Fosters Belonging and Integration
- Buddy System Ensures Smooth Onboarding
- Skill Swap Session Encourages Knowledge Sharing
- Early Engagement Boosts Retention Rates
- Case Impact Sessions Ground Roles in Empathy
- Personalized Plans Tailor Onboarding Experience
- Custom Swag Store Enhances Onboarding Experience
- Direct Leadership Connection Reinforces Culture
- Phased Training Integrates New Hires Gradually
- Culture Focus Aligns New Hires with Values
- Welcome Channel Provides Essential Onboarding Information
- Personalized Experiences Foster Engagement and Confidence
How Do Companies Integrate New Hires?
Project Shadow Week Reduces Ramp-Up Time
One unique aspect of our onboarding is what we call “Project Shadow Week.” Instead of overwhelming new hires with documentation, we pair them with different team members to observe real client projects in action.
For example, a new web developer spends their first week shadowing design reviews, client meetings, and development sprints across multiple projects. They get to see how we handle client communication, maintain our quality standards, and collaborate as a team. This hands-on exposure helps them understand our processes naturally.
This approach has reduced our ramp-up time by about 40%. New team members grasp our culture and expectations faster because they experience it directly rather than just reading about it.
My advice? Make onboarding interactive and project-based rather than purely instructional. Give new hires early exposure to real work and team dynamics. This builds confidence and integration happens organically.
Harmanjit Singh
Founder and CEO, Origin Web Studios
Mentorship Fosters Belonging and Integration
As a company dedicated to compassionate, client empowerment, we train all onboarding for new hires to mirror the welcoming, supportive environment that we provide to those we serve. We see onboarding as a tool to foster lasting connections and setting up new hires to live our mission and culture more than a list of necessary tasks to get done.
It starts with onboarding new employees into our values and culture. We make sure every new hire knows not just what we do, but why we do it. Stories of client success, a brief overview of our history, and the impact of our work in the community are shared during orientation. This allows new hires to understand the bigger picture and connect with the purpose behind their position from the first day.
One particular thing that we do differently in onboarding is how we incorporate mentorship. Every new hire has a peer mentor for the first 90 days of employment, who is someone who works closely with her. This mentorship is not just about training staff on the technical side of the job, it is about creating a sense of belonging and help finding the right person to reach out to with questions, guidance, and support. Mentors also guide new hires in navigating not only the technical aspects of what they do, but the culture of our organization, so they can hit the ground running and feel integrated into the team.
Interactive learning through hands-on onboarding is also a focus of ours. Instead of inundating new hires with a deluge of policies and procedures, we expose them to workflows via shadowing experiences and joint projects. Nurturing this playing experience helps them learn by trial and error, in a mutually supportive low-stakes way, while building confidence over time.
So, here is one thing that has helped our onboarding program be really effective: we emphasize two-way feedback. We have this culture from day one, where we encourage new hires to share their opinions, ask questions, or raise any issues. This encourages an ongoing conversation to refine our process but also acts as a reminder that their perspectives matter, fostering a tone of collaboration and trust.
Focusing on purpose, mentorship, and engagement, we’ve developed an onboarding experience that equips new hires with the tools they need to succeed whilst helping them to feel at home in our organization.
Saralyn Cohen
CEO, Able To Change Recovery
Buddy System Ensures Smooth Onboarding
Our company focuses on making new hires feel welcomed and supported from day one. We pair them with a buddy who guides them through the first few weeks, answers questions, and helps them settle in.
For example, when I joined, my buddy scheduled a virtual coffee chat to get to know me and share tips on how things work. It made me feel like I wasn’t just thrown into the deep end.
What makes our onboarding process effective is that it’s personal. It’s not just about paperwork and processes—it’s about building connections and making sure new team members feel like they belong.
Danial Hussain
Sr. SEO Executive, Red Feature Tech
Skill Swap Session Encourages Knowledge Sharing
Our onboarding includes a unique “Skill Swap” session where every team member shares a skill or fun fact about themselves, from SEO hacks to their secret recipe for guacamole. This encourages knowledge-sharing while breaking the ice in a relaxed, non-work setting. It’s amazing how much faster relationships form when people feel comfortable being themselves.
We include immersive role-playing exercises in our onboarding to simulate real-world scenarios, whether it’s running a client meeting or troubleshooting a campaign. This hands-on experience gives new hires confidence and context for their responsibilities without the fear of making mistakes in a live environment. It’s learning by doing, which is always the most effective.
Jason Hennessey
CEO, Hennessey Digital
Early Engagement Boosts Retention Rates
As a fast growing cyber security start-up, our experience has shown that most companies prepare poorly for onboarding and just try to get it done as quickly as possible to make new staff productive from the start.
We view onboarding as a unique period where we talk with our new staff without the distraction of delivering to clients. It gives us the opportunity to understand what drives them and to introduce them to our culture and values.
We believe on-boarding can fundamentally set the tone for their journey and getting it right helps confirm to them that they’ve chosen the right place to grow. That’s why we’ve committed time to refining our onboarding process, drawing inspiration from successful practices across industries and continuously improving based on feedback.
Our onboarding journey starts before a new hire’s first day. Once they accept an offer, we assign both a mentor (a senior member of the team) and a buddy (a peer) to support them. They’re invited to social events before joining, helping them feel welcome and giving them the chance to understand our culture early.
From day one, we ensure all technology and resources are ready to go—because no one should spend their first day feeling unproductive or disconnected. This aligns with our value of being proactive. The first week includes role-specific training, guided by their mentor and buddy, who also ensure they meet key colleagues and stakeholders.
We recently enhanced our onboarding process with a personalised HR and training portal, offering seamless access to tailored resources and a detailed checklist of onboarding tasks. This combination of technology and human interaction ensures our new hires integrate smoothly, confidently, and effectively into their roles and our culture.
I believe what truly sets our process apart is our focus on early engagement and attentiveness. By pairing new hires with a buddy and mentor it creates reliable touchpoints for both professional guidance and cultural understanding. This approach has significantly reduced time-to-productivity and boosted retention rates by 25%.
Jonny Pelter
Chief Information Security Officer (Ciso) and Founder, CyPro
Case Impact Sessions Ground Roles in Empathy
Onboarding focuses on building client-centric values. New hires attend “Case Impact Sessions,” where they review past cases and learn how our work transformed clients’ lives. This grounds their role in empathy and accountability.
Shadowing client consultations makes our onboarding effective. Observing seasoned attorneys in action provides a real-world understanding of our approach to trust-building and advocacy. It’s more than training—it immerses them in the heart of our firm’s mission.
David E. Preszler
Partner, Preszler Injury Lawyers
Personalized Plans Tailor Onboarding Experience
Our onboarding is designed to make new hires feel welcome and productive from day one. Each new team member is paired with a buddy—a go-to person who helps them settle in and understand the culture.
What makes our process effective is a personalized 30-60-90-day plan. Instead of a one-size-fits-all checklist, we tailor it to their role and strengths, ensuring clear goals and regular feedback. For instance, we’ve found this especially useful for integrating developers into fast-paced client projects.
We also encourage connection with casual “coffee chats” during the first month. These informal talks help new hires build relationships across teams, which often sparks collaboration later.
For us, onboarding is more than paperwork; it’s about making every new hire feel supported and ready to thrive.
Vikrant Bhalodia
Head of Marketing & People Ops, WeblineIndia
Custom Swag Store Enhances Onboarding Experience
We have developed an onboarding process that emphasizes knowledge of our business, knowledge of our customers and product, relationship building across the company, and a focused understanding of our culture and values. To ensure onboarding is unique for each new team member, we built a custom swag store that allows new folks to choose the items that they are most excited about as a way of beginning their journey with our company.
We set those new team members up for success by creating dedicated, standalone meetings that introduce how and why we operate, while also creating a space for live questions and answers to help them ramp up quickly and confidently. At the same time, we prioritize the people that they are most likely to work with, and ensure that they have the opportunity to touch base as soon as possible, so that they can both settle into their day-to-day quickly and deepen their connections across the company.
We also set up monthly meetings so they can meet with with every member of our executive team to demonstrate our commitment to openness and transparency while highlighting how our success is tied to operating as a team—I personally love the opportunity to greet our new folks and get an understanding of what brought them here as well as who they are outside of the workplace!
Mike Kohn
Chief People Officer, Kevel
Direct Leadership Connection Reinforces Culture
Our approach to onboarding is all about intentional culture integration from day one. Every new hire meets with me and another senior leader right away to discuss our culture—what we stand for, how we operate, and why it matters. We never leave culture to chance. One thing that makes our onboarding process effective is this direct connection to leadership right from the start. It shows our commitment to culture isn’t just a poster on the wall; it’s something we actively engage in and expect every employee to contribute to. This clarity and personal touch go a long way in setting expectations and helping new hires feel connected from day one.
Chris Dyer
Keynote Speaker On Culture, Leadership Speaker
Phased Training Integrates New Hires Gradually
To integrate new hires, we employ a phased training approach that gradually increases their involvement in actual case work as they shadow experienced lawyers during client meetings, court appearances, and negotiation sessions. This hands-on experience is complemented by regular feedback sessions, allowing new hires to learn through real-world application while ensuring alignment with our firm’s standards of excellence and empathy.
A key feature is our hands-on case work during onboarding, which allows new hires to experience the realities of their role in a controlled, supportive environment. This direct involvement not only boosts their confidence but also enhances their understanding of the firm’s approach to client service, making the training process exceptionally effective.
Jeffrey A. Preszler
Partner, Preszler Law Alberta
Culture Focus Aligns New Hires with Values
Our onboarding process is all about making new hires feel like a part of the team from day one. What makes it so effective is our focus on culture—it’s not just about checking boxes; it’s about building connections and helping people feel aligned with our values and mission.
We make sure the journey starts before their first day, with everything they need to feel excited and prepared. On day one, we go beyond the typical introductions by assigning mentors and creating opportunities for them to connect with the team. Over the next few months, we keep the momentum going with regular check-ins, support, and resources to make sure they’re comfortable and confident in their role.
This intentional focus on culture helps our new hires feel like they truly belong, and that’s where the magic happens. When employees feel connected and engaged, they’re not just part of the team-they’re contributing to something bigger, and that’s what makes our approach work so well.
Catherine Mattice
Founder/CEO, Civility Partners
Welcome Channel Provides Essential Onboarding Information
We provide a Welcome Channel to our new hires containing all the necessary information regarding our company’s culture, a list of senior employees they need to contact for initial training, and learning materials for compulsory tools. Our Welcome Channel consists of a video that offers a virtual tour of our organization. It also has Slack messages for new hires to share feedback and ask questions about their roles.
The visually appealing nature of our onboarding process and collaboration capabilities make it effective. New hires feel a sense of belonging and mentorship as they receive assistance from their senior team leaders and managers from the joining day. They have the contact details of their seniors, which helps them find the right person to reach for any assistance.
Businesses that want an effective onboarding process can create a Welcome Channel using management tools like Trello. With its collaboration features, they can create customizable videos with messaging capabilities to help their new hires feel comfortable.
Soubhik Chakrabarti
CEO, Canada Hustle
Personalized Experiences Foster Engagement and Confidence
Onboarding is more than just a process and a tick in the box—it’s about creating a meaningful first impression that connects new hires to the organization’s values and culture. Personalized experiences, such as a buddy system and devising and formalising KPI’s together, foster engagement and confidence. In my experience, combining a structured onboarding plan along with informal meet and greets helps employees feel supported and motivated. Regular HR Connects to do a course correction and seek feedback help them get assimilated quickly. The goal is to empower them to contribute effectively from day one.
Shipra Choudhury
Chief People Officer, Coastr
