Rosenverse
Onboarding: The Ecosystem, not the Afterthought

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Onboarding: The Ecosystem, not the Afterthought

Gold
Tuesday, November 7, 2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Share the love for this talk
Onboarding: The Ecosystem, not the Afterthought
Speakers: Russ Unger
Link:

Summary

Onboarding new employees to your team is all too often treated as an afterthought, or best case, as an at-the-moment-thought. Employees deserve a well-thought out experience that includes them from the very beginning–from the creation of the position description—to that time after they’ve become integrated into our teams and organizations. We can trace some of these imperfect scenarios all the way back to the creation our performance profiles or position descriptions, and how they were created. When we understand the entire journey from candidate to employee we see the value of treating onboarding as an ending of a particular process instead of a solitary event in time.

Key Insights

  • •

    Traditional job descriptions focus on tasks rather than measurable performance outcomes, limiting effective hiring.

  • •

    Performance profiles clarify what success looks like and help teams agree on hiring criteria, leading to better candidate matches.

  • •

    Structured interview guides aligned with performance profiles ensure consistent, fair, and relevant candidate assessments.

  • •

    Unpaid design exercises or take-home tasks can exclude qualified candidates with caregiving or other external responsibilities.

  • •

    The candidate experience after the interview and before the start date is often neglected, causing anxiety and disengagement.

  • •

    Maintaining personal contact with candidates post-offer fosters comfort and commitment before they begin.

  • •

    First day onboarding should be treated as a commencement event, not a paperwork marathon, reducing overwhelm.

  • •

    Buddy systems provide critical social and informational support, improving new hire adjustment and retention.

  • •

    Assigning safe internal projects early helps new hires gain practical familiarity without pressure.

  • •

    Onboarding should be considered a multi-touch ecosystem involving ongoing feedback, communication, and adaptation.

Notable Quotes

"If you really care about success, you define it first and hire against performance, not just experience."

"Manhole cover questions belong in the past. Focus on real skills and relevant experience instead."

"Unpaid design exercises are unfair because they don’t take into account people's real-life constraints."

"Waiting and vague communication during hiring is a painful guessing game for candidates."

"The post-offer period isn’t HR’s alone; hiring teams must stay in touch and keep the candidate engaged."

"Day one is a commencement, a graduation from candidate to employee, not a paperwork slog."

"Buddy systems create leadership opportunities and a support network without changing org charts."

"Internal projects give new hires a safe place to learn how the organization functions without fear of breaking things."

"Hiring managers should facilitate hiring decisions but truly rely on the team members who work daily with the candidate."

"Onboarding isn’t a single event or process, it’s an ecosystem with many touchpoints impacting the new employee experience."

Ask the Rosenbot
Tim Parmee
Changing Our Design Pressure Points
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Etienne Fang
The Power of Care: From Human-Centered Research to Humanity-Centered Leadership
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Harry Brignull
Beyond Clicks and Tricks: Why deceptive design has grown into a regulatory faultline
2026 • Rosenfeld Community
Farid Sabitov
Theme Four Intro
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Liam Thurston
Why Your Design Team Is Quitting, And How To Fix It
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Jeff Ephraim Bander
Eye Tracking Gamechanger: Why Smartphone Eye Tracking will Revolutionize Your UX Research
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Carol Smith
Operationalizing Responsible, Human-Centered AI
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Uday Gajendar
10 Years of Enterprise UX: Reflecting on the community and the practice
2025 • Enterprise Community
Smitha Papolu
Theme 3 Discussion
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Alla Weinberg
Cross-Functional Relationship Design
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold
Bria Alexander
Welcome
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Roberta Dombrowski
5 Reasons to Bring your Recruiting in House
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Clara Kliman-Silver
UX Futures: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Design
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Gonzalo Goyanes
Design ROI: Cover a Little, Get a Lot
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Jemma Ahmed
Convergent Research Techniques in Customer Journey Mapping
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Nathan Curtis
Beyond the Toolkit: Spreading a System Across People & Products
2016 • Enterprise UX 2016
Gold

More Videos

Dave Malouf

"Sometimes it’s easier to say what DesignOps isn’t than what it is."

Dave Malouf Patrizia Bertini Jon Fukuda

The Past, Present, and Future of DesignOps: a 2-part DesignOps Community Call (Part 2)

April 28, 2022

Kristin Skinner

"A small, dedicated design ops team has incredible leverage and impact."

Kristin Skinner

Opening Keynote: Org Design for Design Orgs

November 6, 2017

Anil Dash

"When you have something grounded in community, it becomes easier to ask for power because you’re sharing it together."

Anil Dash

Designing with power in the age of AI

June 10, 2026

Andy Warr

"Insight primers help you identify opportunities, customer problems, and develop strategies."

Andy Warr

Under My (Research) Umbrella: The Benefits and Challenges of Building a Unified Insights Function

March 25, 2024

Dean Broadley

"When crabs shed their shells, they're vulnerable, so they gather in safe groups for protection."

Dean Broadley

Not Black Enough to be White

January 8, 2024

Iram Shah

"An intelligent person understands what is being said; a wise person understands what is left unsaid."

Iram Shah

Closing Keynote: The View from the Top

June 4, 2019

Dalia El-Shimy

"People broadly fall into three communication styles: positive, fact-based, and intensity-based."

Dalia El-Shimy

So You've Got a Seat at the Table. Now What?

March 31, 2020

Nick Cochran

"As leaders, spending one-on-ones with managers can cascade connection-making culture down to teams."

Nick Cochran

Growing in Enterprise Design through Making Connections

June 20, 2019

Marina Martin

"Veterans don’t use the internet was the common excuse we heard, but that was simply not true."

Marina Martin

Lives on the Line: The Stakes of UX at the Scale of Government

June 14, 2018