Rosenverse

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
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Scott Stephens
The Next Generation in DesignOps Toolsets
2022 • DesignOps Community
Victor Udoewa
Beyond Methods and Diversity: The Roots of Inclusion
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Joseph Williams
Unlocking impact and influence through inclusive hiring in research
2021 • Advancing Research Community
Frances Yllana
D.E.A.R.R. Diaries (Discipline, Experience, Architecture, Reflection + Revolution)
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Kritika Yadav
Optimizing AI Conversations: A Case Study on Personalized Shopping Assistance Frameworks
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold
Sheryl Cababa
Expanding your Design Lens with Systems Thinking
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Joerg Beringer
Scaling User Research with AI: Continuous Discovery of User Needs in Minutes
2025 • DesignOps Summit 2025
Gold
Courtney Kaplan
Taking it to the next level: Career paths in DesignOps
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Husani Oakley
Theme Three Intro
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Peter Van Dijck
Coffee with Lou #4: Taking a Peek Under the Rosenbot's Hood
2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Uday Gajendar
Day 1 Welcome
2024 • Designing with AI 2024
Gold
Peter Boersma
How to Define and Maintain a DesignOps Roadmap
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Dave Hoffer
UX Job Search AMA #2 with Joanne Weaver and Dave Hoffer
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Sam Yen
Driving Organizational Change Through Design? Do more of this and less of that
2017 • Enterprise Experience 2017
Gold
Peter Levin
Solve a Problem Here, Transform a Strategy There: Research as an Occasion for Expanding Organizational Possibility
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold

More Videos

Jen Cardello

"Continuous Discovery runs every two to three weeks with dedicated researchers tied to specific product journeys."

Jen Cardello Jennifer Otto

Learning Velocity—The Insights Speedometer

September 16, 2021

Dan Mall

"Design systems should capture the reality of your organization, documenting how you work now and where you want to go."

Dan Mall

“Ask Me Anything” with Dan Mall, Author of Upcoming Rosenfeld Title, Design that Scales

October 2, 2023

John Cutler

"If you need to cross a dangerous river, you don’t paddle straight into it; you use the opposing force of the river to move forward."

John Cutler

Oxbows, Rivers, and Estuaries: How to navigate the currents of change (without burning out)

December 3, 2024

Bassel Deeb

"Leading indicators help you be on the front foot and act before a risk becomes a crisis."

Bassel Deeb Will Osborn

Do More With Less: Equip and Lead Design Orgs Through Adversity

October 2, 2023

Joe Meersman

"Virtual personas give you directional feedback when human user testing isn't feasible."

Joe Meersman Pooria Sohi

Use AI to Drive Outcomes that Go Beyond the Design Sprint

September 25, 2024

Abby Covert

"Design is not only limited to designers. Business analysts and engineers can design too, supported by designers."

Abby Covert Tomer Sharon

Panel: Collaboration Tools

November 6, 2017

Stephen Anderson

"Drawing pictures together helps reduce interpretation and share perspectives effectively."

Stephen Anderson

Puzzled? How to Coordinate Humans for Complex Challenges

May 27, 2021

Michelle Chin

"My prior experience as a tour manager helped me operationalize and mobilize teams, anticipating risks and preparing for everything."

Michelle Chin

The DesignOps Starter Kit

September 29, 2021

Bria Alexander

"There’s no need to take any notes, because we have sketch notes, session notes, recordings available on Rosenfeld Media website."

Bria Alexander Louis Rosenfeld

Opening Remarks Day 2

March 26, 2024