The need
In a fast-growing company, hiring is heavy and fast, and onboarding becomes the moment when the promise made during recruitment — the Employee Value Proposition — is either confirmed or contradicted. The literature on organisational socialisation (including Talya Bauer's work on the “4 Cs”: compliance, clarification, culture, connection) is clear: effective onboarding does not stop at administrative formalities, it helps people understand their role, recognise themselves in the culture and build relationships.
In practice, then, onboarding cannot be reduced to a checklist and a welcome day that are the same for everyone, left to the sensitivity of the individual manager. Otherwise the risk is that technical know-how stays in the heads of a few colleagues, HR has little visibility on how people are doing until a problem surfaces, and the process is not measured, and therefore does not improve.
The objective shared with the client was therefore to build an onboarding process consistent with values and EVP, tailored to different profiles, sustainable at the pace of growth and measurable, so that it could be managed and adapted independently.
How we worked
In collaboration with Team HR we used a people-centred method.
- From values to experience. With the Canvas we translated values and EVP into concrete experiences, moment by moment, along the whole journey.
- Listening and Personas. With Design Thinking we listened to new hires, managers and colleagues and built the Personas of the different incoming profiles, so as to address needs that change according to role and experience.
- A 90-day programme. Training, events and tailored communications, across digital channels and in person, accompany the person from day one through to the third month.
- Buddies and internal experts. Every new hire is paired with a colleague through structured periodic conversations: how it is going, what they are working on and with how much autonomy, what they need, how they are getting on with the team and with other functions. What emerges feeds a regular update to HR and to the Manager, respecting whatever the person asks to keep confidential. Colleagues with solid technical skills are valued as internal experts who pass on their know-how, with a dedicated path on communication and listening.
- Measuring and improving. We defined the indicators from the outset, measured the impact of the process and introduced successive improvements based on the data.
The results
- An onboarding that is recognisably the company's own: values and EVP lived in concrete moments, not merely declared.
- An experience tailored to each profile, instead of a single path for everyone.
- Early signals for HR: the conversations with buddies and the data make it possible to offer support while it is needed, before difficulties turn into people leaving.
- A process that improves over time because it is measured, and that the HR team runs independently as the company grows.