Onboarding Fast: Beyond “Finding Your Feet”

It’s a familiar scene: a new hire arrives full of energy, only to spend their first week juggling logins, reading policies, and trying not to get in the way. By the end of the week, the excitement has dulled. They feel more like an observer than a contributor.

This is onboarding’s persistent challenge. Despite investment in recruitment, many organisations still leave people drifting in their early days. In fast-paced environments, that drift is costly. Teams cannot afford months of new hires “finding their feet” or “settling in”. Every lost day slows momentum; every gap in belonging risks disengagement or even early exit.

Onboarding is not a box-ticking exercise. It’s a strategic moment to create clarity, trust, and belonging so new hires can contribute quickly and confidently.

The State of Play

• Belonging drives performance: Employees who feel they belong experience a 56% jump in job performance, and 50% reduction in turnover risk.
• Structured onboarding works: Strong onboarding improves employee retention by 82%, productivity by more than 70%.
• Poor onboarding is the norm: Only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organisation does a great job onboarding new employees.
• Early attrition is high: 20% of turnover happens in the first 45 days, and could be higher for Millennials and Gen Z.

The evidence is clear: onboarding directly shapes engagement, retention, and performance. Yet, businesses are not giving it priority.

Best Practices in Action

Some organisations have recognised the need to move faster, deliberately designing onboarding experiences that build connection and momentum:

• Google pairs new hires (or Nooglers!) with a “buddy” before they start, reducing uncertainty and helping people feel part of the team on day one. This led to a 25% increase in Noogler productivity.
• Zappos immerses new employees in cultural rituals by even offering them money (aka “The Offer”) to quit in the first week. Those who stay are committed to belonging.
• Atlassian gives new engineers meaningful work immediately, encouraging them to ship code in their first week to signal trust and capability.
• Microsoft runs structured 30, 60, and 90-day check-ins, ensuring new hires reflect, give feedback, and stay on track.

These examples highlight a common thread: effective onboarding is not about information transfer but about connection, contribution, and cultural alignment - fast.

The Mindflick

A new starter changes the team’s dynamic instantly. Instead of leaving them to work it out, create a sense of belonging from the start. Give them the freedom to be themselves, help them contribute quickly, and show them they’re trusted. Momentum grows when nobody is left hanging back.

At Mindflick, we believe onboarding is about more than information transfer. It’s also about emotional transfer. Helping people feel: I am seen. I am trusted. I belong here.

Three principles guide our approach:

1. Lead with connection. Prioritise human touchpoints over forms and slides.
2. Signal trust early. Give meaningful responsibilities and check-in on progress from week one.
3. Design belonging moments. Small rituals and shared wins weave newcomers into the team.

Onboarding should be a runway, not a waiting room. Done well, it doesn’t just help people “fit in”, it helps them lift off.