8 Onboarding Best Practices To Boost New Hire Engagement And Adp

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Oct 31, 2025, 12:43 PM

8 onboarding best practices to boost new hire engagement and adp

A strong, effective onboarding process prioritizes the new hire experience and creates a supporting, engaging introduction to a person's first weeks and months on the job. Adopt these best practices to drive better new hire engagement and retention. Effective onboarding is crucial for setting up new hires for success, boosting engagement and improving retention. The ADP Research Institute found that employees who have a formal onboarding process are 8.5 times more likely to say HR is value-promoting than those who don't go through formal onboarding. However, many organizations struggle to build a program that goes beyond the basics. Melissa Scasny, senior director of HR operations at ADP, shares insights on the key elements of a successful onboarding program.

From pre-start engagement to ongoing support, these eight onboarding best practices can help HR leaders create a seamless, welcoming and productive onboarding experience for every new employee. During the recruitment process, highlight benefits, culture and development opportunities. All these elements help job seekers decide which potential employers to engage with and can help build excitement about a new position. After new hires accept the job, introduce information gradually to avoid overwhelming them — but ensure you're sharing essential details to prepare them for their first week on the job, such as information about... Effective onboarding starts the moment a candidate accepts a job offer. Stay connected with new hires from offer acceptance until their start date.

Simple gestures, like sending a welcome note or a small gift, can build excitement and help new employees feel part of a community. Be the first to know what's going on. Join our mailing list. Receive a FREE issue of HR Pulse, our exclusive member e-newsletter, filled with proven strategies from industry employers. Discover the top onboarding best practice strategies for 2025. Boost retention and productivity with our actionable tips and real-world examples.

Create how-to guides and interactive walkthroughs without breaking a sweat — and say goodbye to repetitive questions. Use our employee onboarding checklist template to simplify tasks, improve retention, and create a welcoming first day. Discover how to improve team productivity with proven strategies to diagnose real bottlenecks, choose the right tech, and build a high-performance culture. The journey from a signed offer letter to a fully engaged, productive team member is one of the most critical phases in the employee lifecycle. Yet, a handshake and a laptop are no longer enough to secure top talent for the long term. Data from Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2023 report shows that only 12% of employees strongly agree their organization does a great job of onboarding.

This is a startling statistic, especially since a strong onboarding process can improve new hire retention by 82%, according to research from the Brandon Hall Group. This article moves beyond generic checklists to provide nine evidence-based employee onboarding best practices, offering actionable frameworks used by leading companies. We will explore how to transform onboarding from a transactional, administrative process into a strategic, transformational experience. The goal is to accelerate productivity, embed cultural values, and secure long-term employee commitment from day one. For a deeper dive into establishing a strong foundation for new hires, explore these additional 8 onboarding best practices to set new hires up for success. This guide provides a comprehensive roadmap for building a program that covers everything from structured 90-day plans and buddy systems to technology-enabled experiences and meaningful first projects.

The period between a candidate accepting an offer and their official start date is a critical, yet often overlooked, phase of the employee journey. Effective preboarding transforms this waiting period into a strategic advantage, making it a cornerstone of modern employee onboarding best practices. This process involves intentionally engaging new hires to build excitement, reduce first-day anxiety, and accelerate their integration into the company culture. A well-structured preboarding program confirms the new hire’s decision to join your team and lays the groundwork for long-term engagement and retention. By front-loading administrative tasks and providing cultural insights, you free up their first week to focus on meaningful connections and role-specific learning. Sr.

Director, HR Operations @ ADP | HR Transformation Leader with Talent Strategy expertise Check out some of the elements and best practices we are utilizing at ADP to build an impactful and thoughtful onboarding experience. Only 12% of employees feel their employer has a good #onboarding process. When onboarding is weak, so are your retention rates, productivity levels, and engagement scores. If you want to improve how new hires ramp up and stick around, it starts with tracking the right data: https://hubs.la/Q03zvScQ0 Orientation and onboarding are often used interchangeably—but they’re not the same.

Understanding the difference helps your employees start strong and stay engaged. Read our latest blog to learn how a strong onboarding process sets your team up for long-term success. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gSaJDXq5 #TripleTrackHRPartners #TripleTrackHR #TripleTrackTips #HRMadeEasy #WNYHR First impressions matter — especially in onboarding. This Forbes piece shares 12 effective ways to elevate your onboarding materials so new hires feel supported, aligned, and empowered from day one. #Onboarding #NewHireSuccess #HR #TalentMgmt #EmployeeExperienc

Reach Top Talent with Job Ads on Our AI-Powered Platform! Good hires deserve great beginnings. Discover onboarding strategies that keep talent around. Did you know only 12% of employees believe that their company is doing a good job of properly onboarding new hires? Furthermore, when it comes to retention and engagement, an increase of 82% can be achieved by following the best onboarding practices for new hires. That goes to show how much impact on reducing turnover and improving employee satisfaction an organization can have by focusing on mastering the art of onboarding.

So, if you’re looking at the best practices when it comes to onboarding your new staff, you’ve reached the right place. So, without further ado, let’s begin with preboarding. When it comes to onboarding, some people believe it begins the day the employee walks into work. However, there is more to it if you want to be on par with companies that have the best engagement and retention rates, and that is by ensuring preboarding; it essentially sets the welcoming... Examples are sending an official welcome email with an employee onboarding checklist (a sort of itinerary but for work). Furthermore, it can include helpful resources and introductions to their new team.

Sharing company swag or personalized messages from team members can also significantly enhance their first-day experience. How many employees worldwide do you think are truly engaged and enthusiastic about their work? 30%? Maybe 50%? Plot twist: it’s just 15% according to Gallup, which is a huge financial drain for businesses considering that offices with engaged employees are as much as 43% more productive. With all of this in mind, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to go back-to-basics with our list of 8 powerful onboarding strategies to boost new hire engagement.

Think back to your first day at a new job. You probably had dozens of questions floating around your head: Your new hires are thinking those same things. Don’t let them go into their first day blind; set them on the right track by explaining the scope of their role and your expectations. Speaking of expectations, it’s never too early to start talking about performance reviews!Share a sample performance review sheet and walk your new hire through setting one performance target, one development goal, and a job... Try our step-by-step recipes for crafting successful employee objectives.

Securing the best employees for your small enterprise is just one component of forming an exceptional team. Proper integration of new hires into their role and the company is crucial for them to effectively carry out their duties. To do so, a well-conceived onboarding plan needs to be developed, which positions all newcomers for success right from the start. Messing up the onboarding experience can kickstart everyone on the wrong foot. Therefore, in this article, we discuss the 9 employee onboarding best practices to optimize a successful employee onboarding process at your company. Employee onboarding is the process of introducing and integrating new employees into an organization.

This involves training, orientation activities, and guidance to enable new employees to feel competent, engaged, and productive at their jobs. Employee onboarding aims to integrate new members into the company and its workplace culture with ease. Intensive onboarding accelerates the accustoming process to business practices and processes, thus making new employees efficient team members.

8 Onboarding Best Practices To Boost New Hire Engagement And Adp

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