Creating a Memorable Onboarding Experience: Tips from the Experts
Gaining insights from seasoned professionals, this article reveals the keys to crafting an impactful onboarding experience. It distils expert strategies into practical advice, avoiding common pitfalls in welcoming new team members. By unpacking these top tips, organizations can ensure a smooth and memorable start for their new hires.
- Assign a Day-to-Day Buddy
- Start Onboarding Before Day One
- Prepare and Involve the Team
- Send New Hires on a Mission
- Gather Unique Skills and Interests
- Treat Onboarding as an Experience
- Give Real Tasks on Day One
Assign a Day-to-Day Buddy
One thing we’ve done that has made a significant difference in our onboarding process is assigning a “day-to-day buddy” – someone who is not the new hire’s manager. This buddy is not a formal mentor, but rather a go-to teammate who can answer all the small, unwritten questions.
New hires often hesitate to ask questions they think are too basic — such as how meetings usually run, who to talk to for time off, or whether it’s acceptable to block focus time on their calendar. Having a peer they can message casually makes those early days feel much more normal.
The buddy connects with the new hire in the first week and then checks in informally over the next few weeks. Sometimes this is done via Slack, sometimes through a 10-minute chat after a standup meeting. It’s not a significant commitment, but it creates a real sense of connection.
This one small step has made our onboarding process feel more human, and it’s one of the things people remember most fondly.
Vikrant Bhalodia
Head of Marketing & People Ops, WeblineIndia
Start Onboarding Before Day One
As a recruiter, I’ve noticed that the best onboarding processes start early.
Rather than waiting until a new hire’s first day, the smartest companies start the moment they sign on.
This pre-boarding is far more than a welcome email or office tour. For example, some companies pair new hires with a mentor. Others provide drop-in opportunities to meet the team they’ll be working with well ahead of time. One company I worked with sent new hires a short, fun quiz about their work style and preferences, then used that information to tailor their first-week experience—right down to their desk setup and first team lunch.
This approach makes new employees feel valued from day one, reducing first-day nerves and increasing engagement from the start. When onboarding feels personal instead of just procedural, new hires integrate faster, feel more connected, and are more likely to stick around.
Michael Moran
Owner and President, Green Lion Search
Prepare and Involve the Team
A well-prepared, fully involved team is what makes an onboarding experience truly memorable and impactful.
For example, when I organized an 8-week onboarding program for more than 15 new remote team members, the biggest difference wasn’t in the materials they received. It was in how aligned and organized the existing team was from the start.
Everyone received a full overview of the onboarding process, including daily plans, schedules, and session objectives. All sessions were pre-booked in their calendars to avoid last-minute stress and confusion. We also used shared checklists to track what had been covered and what still needed attention.
This structure gave new hires a clear sense of direction and made the experience feel intentional from day one. It also helped the team manage the extra workload without feeling stretched too thin.
In the feedback survey, every new hire rated the experience a 10 out of 10. Most mentioned they had never felt this supported during onboarding. That kind of feedback speaks for itself. When the team is prepared, coordinated, and committed, onboarding becomes something new team members remember for all the right reasons.
Ana Colak-Fustin
Founder, HR Consultant and Recruiter, ByRecruiters
Send New Hires on a Mission
As the CEO of a UI/UX and growth marketing company, the most impactful onboarding element we’ve implemented is what I call “The Origin Story Mission.”
Instead of overwhelming new hires with company policies on day one, we send them on a curated journey to discover our company’s narrative. They interview five team members across departments, including our earliest clients, to uncover how and why we started, what problems we solve, and how we’ve evolved.
This approach accomplishes three critical things simultaneously: new hires build relationships across departments, internalize our purpose beyond the standard mission statement, and feel they’re actively constructing their understanding rather than being lectured to.
The results have been remarkable. Our new hire retention increased by 37% after implementation, and time-to-productivity decreased by nearly three weeks. Most importantly, new team members speak about our company mission with genuine conviction because they’ve personally uncovered its origins.
The key insight? Onboarding isn’t about information transfer – it’s about identity adoption. When someone joins your company, they’re not just learning procedures; they’re joining a story already in progress. By making them investigators of that story rather than passive recipients, they become invested co-authors rather than just employees.
Don’t simply tell new hires your company story. Let them discover it, and they’ll retell it with authentic passion for years to come.
Shantanu Pandey
Founder & CEO, Tenet
Gather Unique Skills and Interests
Occasionally, I’ll start to tire of something, and then I’ll poll my circles and realize that they do too. Essentially, I’m tired of the same, mundane intake of information during the onboarding process. Demographics information, W-4, I-9…yawn. The new hire should be asking, “I thought you wanted to know more about me?” Businesses should be asking, “How can we gather some information in order to refer back to it for the purposes of enhancing our business using our new investment?”
What drives them? What’s a unique skill…maybe even one that wasn’t highlighted during the recruiting process? Either way, there’s a good chance that the quick-hit synopsis that distinguished that individual won’t transfer to their employee record, so give them a chance to boast. Gather skills and competencies, find out what they want to do to make the company better, allow them to upload a picture of their pet. They’re different, so why shouldn’t you be different and actually ask for this stuff?
Jeremy Ames
Leader, Workplace Technology
Treat Onboarding as an Experience
As a recruiter, I’ve seen companies turn new hires into loyal, engaged employees within weeks—and I’ve seen others lose great talent before they even got started. The difference almost always comes down to whether onboarding is treated as a process or as an experience.
The companies that get it wrong see onboarding as paperwork and PowerPoints. They overwhelm new hires with policies, dump them into a sea of training modules, and then expect them to just figure it out.
The companies that get it right, on the other hand, make new hires feel like they matter from day one. I’ve seen firms send personalized welcome packages before an employee even starts, introduce them to their team in a meaningful way, and assign them a mentor who checks in regularly. One company even had a structured 90-day plan that included lunch with executives, shadowing key employees, and small, quick-win projects to build confidence. You can bet their retention numbers were strong.
It’s about investment. Integration is only step one. But when people feel seen, supported, and excited about their role, they become engaged on another level.
Jon Hill
Managing Partner, Tall Trees Talent
Give Real Tasks on Day One
Give them something to do on day one. Not busywork–something small but real. When I joined Rathly, I got a mini brief and filmed a sample video that afternoon. I felt like I was already part of the team. That early win builds confidence fast.
Also–introduce them like a person, not a title. A Slack post with a fun fact, a short Loom from the team, something human. It breaks the awkward silence and makes people feel seen. That’s what sticks.
Natalia Lavrenenko
Ugc Manager/Marketing Manager, Rathly