The UX of a New Hire Onboarding Process for Start-ups: How I Maximized the First Month in a New Job
User experience (UX) is the interaction users have, such as emotions and attitudes, with a particular product or service. Meanwhile UX should be applied to a variety of products and services within a business, start-ups should adopt UX design principles for the employee on-boarding process, prioritizing employees’ experience.
Talent acquisition is like UX design. I, as a talent acquisition manager, design an interactive new hire onboarding process so that I can reinvent the employee experience.
Side Note: Talent acquisition constitutes a thorough strategy that focuses on attracting, hiring, and retaining (including onboarding process) top talents for growth and long-term human resources planning whereas recruitment heavily concentrates on filling vacancies.
User experience (UX) design: the process design teams use to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to user
How does an organization (team) create an employee onboarding process (product/service) that provide meaningful experiences to their new joiners (users)?
I empathize with new employees, define areas that could use some enhancement, generate new ideas, implement an experimental process, test it, then repeat testing and adding or editing elements until it delivers value to new employees.
I had a pleasure experiencing the employee on-boarding process at first hand since I joined as a talent acquisition manager. Around my week 2, I gave feedback on my on-boarding experience to my colleagues (see below).
I jotted down a couple of things I was impressed by and some areas needing improvement. And, that’s how I started my first project here — improving the employee onboarding process while I, myself, am a new joiner.
I’d like to share a few examples of how I was able to quickly identify problems since the first day of employment and made headway.
Re-constructing our Notion page
The employee experience begins from the very first interaction with the company — which is even before employees knock the interviewers’ socks off and receive an official offer letter. I wanted every potential employee of ours to be fully educated on our vision and mission from the start.
As our original Notion page (created for recruitment purposes; where candidates weigh job descriptions up) had all the content on one single page. Although single page sites have their charms, I decided to apply some changes for intuitive design since there was lots of information available on the page.
I created two separate columns of data, organized each section in a form of blocks, and updated the content. I also executed an office photoshoot with one of our engineers who does photography as a hobby. I plan on contributing striking content to this page regarding our company culture, interview tips, and many more.
Click here to check out our Notion page!
Creating an employee handbook
From vacation policy to expense report templates, information about fundamentals was widely dispersed across multiple platforms when I first joined the team. Docs, Slack, Jira, Clubhouse, Confluence, Drive, you name it.
I built an employee handbook not only for new hires, but also for our existing employees. It contains our values, mission, vision, history, culture, and guidelines for essential tools.
You’d be surprised how little things like an employee handbook can pave the way to productivity. One of the new joiners came up to me and said, “I was beyond touched by the handbook. It speaks volumes about how much the organization cares about its employees.” Having a holistic approach to the entire onboarding process creates a dynamic experience for new recruits.
What’s even more worthwhile is that existing employees put forward suggestions by informing me what to add so that I can continue to enhance the handbook. It almost feels like a scavenger hunt, digging through piles of data.
Employee onboarding is pivotal for creating a sense of belonging. New joiners feel supported and welcomed as all the necessities are provided upon their arrival.
Building a new hire onboarding deck
There was a HR onboarding meeting on my first day. The content itself was powerful, yet, it did not deliver the message compellingly since it was presented in text on Google Docs. I felt the need of putting all the information together and building slides for an effective presentation. Below is a few slides from our new hire onboarding deck.
The team and I are currently solidifying the onboarding program by adding more of 1:1 sessions with managers of engineering, product, business, etc. Employee onboarding process is a great opportunity to educate new recruits about the company basics.
Welcoming with wide open arms
Along with setting up a newbie’s equipment and desk, I started placing our branded welcome package — rather than handing out the welcome kit inside a bag or a box, I deck out the entire desk in company swag so that the newbies feel pampered as soon as they meet their new workspace.
Never underestimate the power of a new hire welcome pack. You should celebrate the event of adding awesome talent to your team by preparing a welcome pack as a gift for the newbie as if you celebrate your friend’s birthday with a thoughtful gift.
The best things in life are free: adding a personal touch
Call me old school, but old school is cool! I created this handy checklist for new hires and their first week. Skipping a little task such as receiving an invite URL to a team wiki platform can hold back the new joiner from a smooth soft-landing. I ensure that every new hire jump-starts their first day using the checklist so that they are aware of all the key documents and information — I physically check each checkbox of the checklist with them throughout their first week. Oh, and of course, a welcome note written by yours truly is also provided ;)
In addition, I announce the arrival for new hires by sending out a Slack message to the entire organization and share their own definition of data (since we are a data business start-up), career path, hobbies, and fun facts along with a picture of them.
The team and I also implemented an onboarding buddy program last month. As a majority of our employees work remotely during these uncertain times, I attempt to make our newbies feel welcome at every opportunity.
My goal is to host virtual team bonding events more often — we had our first remote office holiday party last month and it was festive!
I call these emotional benefits. Every new hire should feel welcomed on their first days at work — first impressions do last.
Not going to lie, the past few weeks in my new role weren’t easy breezy. But, I learned that passion truly is the fuel behind my career and it is being fulfilled by focused actions.
I can’t stress this enough: all the above action items were completed within my first 30 days at work solely because I am at such a healthy work environment. I am not here to flaunt my possession — I want to reiterate the significance of being in a positive work environment where every employee earns respect and trust from the beginning and maximizes their potential.
“Trust is the best medium to grow success. It creates an environment in which people feel free to be authentic, passionate, committed, and willing to share all they have to offer.”
It’s been one hell of a ride and I can’t wait to see what this role has in store for me!
