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."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Our purpose is to enrich people’s lives with technology, focusing on how to use—not just what to buy."
Sara Asche Anderson Jamie KaspszakNot Your Ordinary Re-Brand: Design's Path to Driving Customer Obsession at Best Buy
January 8, 2024
"I’m dreaming of a world where women-centricity is so ingrained that frameworks like this don’t need to exist anymore."
Mansi GuptaDrawing from Feminist Practice to Make Inclusive Design Operational
September 9, 2022
"What that chance encounter does is provide a small moment of hope and stillness that gives him a chance to renew his energy."
Jemma AhmedTheme Three Intro
March 29, 2023
"You ask yourself, does this activity directly impact the quality, feature, price, or customer experience?"
Bassel Deeb Will OsbornDo More With Less: Equip and Lead Design Orgs Through Adversity
October 2, 2023
"Triangulation is your friend when managing people from different cultures and reserved personalities."
Adam Cutler Karen Pascoe Ian Swinson Susan WorthmanDiscussion
June 8, 2016
"When you share a customer quote, the first layer is literal, but the goal is to dig deeper into what the customer is truly feeling."
Crystal YanBuilding a Customer-Centric Culture
March 30, 2020
"Design is not about one brilliant idea but about collaboration between different roles and expertise."
Sabrina Mach Nina WainwrightHow to Design Your Design Operating Model
September 29, 2021
"Slow and intentional communication allows you to be fully present rather than distracted by constant notifications."
Marc Fonteijn Ru ButlerIncrease your confidence, influence, and impact (through a Professional Community)
December 3, 2024
"I’m drowning trying to create an understanding of our target audience for a new feature, but that leaves me no time for usability updates."
Anna Poznyakov Richa PrajapatiGet The Most Out Of Stakeholder Collaboration—and Maximize Your Research Impact
March 12, 2021