Onboarding System Automation

Dear Team, Every experienced worker was once the “new person.” The difference between a confident, safe employee and one who struggles often comes down to one thing — how well they were trained from Day One. New Employee Orientation (NEO) is not just paperwork and introductions. It is our first opportunity to shape habits, expectations, and culture. A strong NEO sets the tone for safety, professionalism, and accountability. Why NEO Matters 1. Reduces Injuries and Incidents New employees are statistically more likely to be injured during their first year on the job. They may not fully recognize hazards, understand procedures, or feel comfortable asking questions. A structured NEO: • Explains site-specific hazards • Reviews emergency procedures • Introduces PPE requirements • Covers reporting expectations OSHA requires employers to instruct employees in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and applicable regulations (29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)) and to provide hazard-specific training under applicable 29 CFR 1910 standards. 2. Builds Safety Culture from Day One If safety is introduced as a priority immediately, employees understand: • Production never overrides protection • Reporting hazards is encouraged • Stop-work authority is real Early expectations shape long-term behavior. When leadership demonstrates that safety is non-negotiable during NEO, that standard becomes part of the employee’s work ethic. 3. Improves Confidence and Competence New hires who understand: • Their job tasks • Their hazards • Their emergency procedures • Their reporting chain …perform better and make fewer mistakes. NIOSH research, including the New Worker Initiative, identifies new and young workers as being at increased risk of injury and emphasizes structured onboarding and hazard awareness training as key prevention strategies. 4. Strengthens Accountability NEO establishes: • Clear expectations • Required certifications • Training documentation • Disciplinary standards When expectations are clearly defined and documented, performance and compliance improve. Best Practices for an Effective NEO • Keep it interactive — not just lecture-based • Review real-world scenarios • Show equipment and emergency locations • Introduce supervisors and safety personnel • Encourage questions • Document all training properly • Conduct follow-up discussions after 30–60 days Training is not a one-day event — it is an ongoing process. Remember • New employees are at higher risk • The first impression of safety matters • Culture starts on Day One • Proper training protects people and the company A strong NEO prevents injuries before they happen. P.S. A great question to ask new hires: “If you felt unsafe right now, what would you do?” If they cannot answer confidently, we have more training to do. Safety Takes Time — So Take the Time for Safety. Dwayne Smith

Last week, a viral Reddit, Inc. thread involved a new hire who, due to a subsequent #HR email mistakenly listing September 22 as her start date, did not appear on September 2—the date indicated in her signed contract. As a result of the confusion, the would-be employer rescinded the offer. I discussed the incident with Maria Azzurra Volpe of Newsweek, focusing on the exposure employers could face when onboarding communications are inconsistent. Could the candidate bring a claim for promissory estoppel, breach of contract, or wrongful termination? Potentially, though only in jurisdictions that construe offer letters and accompanying emails as integrated agreements. As for others, well, employment is "at-will," a status that is often presumed. This means an employer or employee could terminate employment with or without notice and with or without cause. So, in many states, an employer could hire an individual on Monday and fire them on Tuesday. I discuss the EXCEPTIONS to the employment at-will doctrine in the article. ⭐ The takeaway for #employers is clear: audit your onboarding process. Ensure that every communication—offer letters, orientation emails, HRIS auto-notices—mirrors the contractual start date. Designate a single point of contact for pre-hire correspondence, build a verification step into your HR workflow, and document the candidate’s acknowledgment of the confirmed date. A modest investment in process controls today can avert costly litigation and reputational damage tomorrow. And here’s the lesson for new hires: “Bottom line: read your emails! New hires should line up the contract against the emails and speak up to HR the moment a mismatch appears.” #EmploymentLaw #emplaw #HumanResources Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/enC-XfGC

What a monumental waste of time. 30% of employees leave during the first 90 days on the job (Job Seeker Nation 2023). That is ridiculous, expensive, and completely avoidable. Great onboarding isn't hard, it just takes a little intention. Try this... 01. It starts the second the contract is signed. Send them paperwork so they don’t have to spend their first day filling it out - things like payroll and tax forms, benefit applications. Include your employee handbook so you can address any of their concerns in advance. Send their equipment and passwords in advance to their home. Ensure they have an IT contact for any problems. 02. A few days before they start work... Send them a note sharing how excited you are to have them join your team. Let them know what time they need to arrive, where to park, who to ask for and what the dress code is. Send them an agenda for their first week so they know what to expect. 03. Announce your new hire to your current staff. Send an email to your current staff (cc the new employee) introducing their new co-worker about a week in advance. Share what the person’s role will be, include a headshot, a brief bio and something fun about the colleague so your team can welcome your new hire on their first day. Organize a team lunch for that day. 04. Set up their workstation before they arrive. Make sure they have someplace to land on their first day by getting their workstation set up. Consider leaving something to make them feel welcome, like notes from their new co-workers, notepads with the company logo or a coffee mug. 05. Set expectations early. On day 1, discuss what you need from them and what they’ll receive from the company to help them achieve their goals. Provide them with a detailed job description and a comprehensive list of their responsibilities - along with a 30/60/90 day plan that tells them what will be expected of them for each milestone. Discuss how their job fits into the bigger picture and helps the business meet its goals. 06. Check in frequently For the first month, the leader should meet with the employee at least once a week for regular check ins to identify any concerns early on and allow the employee time to ask questions and give feedback. 07. It's never too soon to discuss career aspirations. Talking to your new employee about their career aspirations tells them you care from the onset. It's a great time to discuss a longer term career plan.

AI is so freaking cool y'all! We're 9 days into 2024 and my newly built AI-automations have already both saved me a ton of time and improved my client onboarding experience. Here’s a peek into how I've used AI to improve my most popular AI marketing team training package in 2024, for both me and my clients: ⬅️In 2023, these trainings began with a one-hour call with my client to identify the most helpful AI use cases for their team, followed by 30-45 minutes of planning and email drafting on my end. Although effective, this process was time-consuming. While I loved the conversations, figuring out the necessary assets I needed for personalizing each team's training was my least favorite part of my work. ➡️This year, I've leveraged AI to transform my approach so I can focus on what matters most: delivering an impactful AI skills training for my clients' teams! Here's how I've used AI automation to enhance the experience for EVERYBODY: 1️⃣ First I analyzed all of my 2023 trainings and feedback to create a brand new 'AI use case menu' of 29 popular and highly impactful options. Now, my busy marketing leader clients select their use case preferences through a streamlined onboarding form, that also gathers the other information I'll need to personalize their training. This eliminates the need for a logistics meetings and is quick for clients to complete, saving us both time. 2️⃣ The onboarding form links to Zapier, triggering a cascade of automated actions when it's submitted. The responses go to the OpenAI API, where GPT-4 meticulously matches them to the necessary items for personalizing a perfect training for my client. Once completed, Zapier emails me the exact details I need for each client's personalized training. I then perform a crucial human-in-the-loop review before sending the personalization needs list to my client. ⏱️ Time Saved, Value Added: This isn't just about cutting down my workload. It's a dual victory. My clients now breeze through onboarding, investing mere minutes where they once needed an hour. Meanwhile, I have taken 1.5 hrs of my own work down to only 5 minutes. 🌊The ripple effect? My clients now enjoy a richer, more focused engagement. The time previously reserved for preliminary discussions is now rechanneled into a valuable 30-minute post-training debrief session, offering marketing leaders space to ask any questions they may have around supporting their teams' AI adoption. 🧠Implementing this system wasn't instantaneous. It took several hours of work gathering and creating the data necessary, considering the automation steps, creating and testing detailed prompts for GPT-4, ensuring consistent, accurate outputs, and guaranteeing a positive client experience. But now, having seen it in real-world action, I am immensely grateful for the time and energy invested in building this system (which is just one of many I've developed to streamline my efficiency in 2024)!

How I helped a client integrate a $400,000 onboarding process. One of the biggest players in SaaS came to us with a major issue: They had no standardized onboarding process. The handoff from offer to onboarding was chaotic, leading to miscommunication, wasted time, and frustrated clients. Here's how we fixed it: → We designed a fully integrated onboarding system → The new process was step-by-step, with clear paths for clients and employees. → We connected relevant training modules, resources, and tasks in a logical order. The impact? → Client satisfaction soared → Internal operations became more efficient → The system saved time, reduced stress, and eliminated costly communication All leading to faster results. Bottom line: This $400,000 investment didn't just fix the problem, it paved the way for success. Lesson? Sometimes you invest and think long term. Instead of patching together short-term fixes, invest in long-term solutions. Transitions don't have to be painful. But with the right mentor, you can make them seamless. >> What's your biggest challenge when onboarding clients?

Organizations spend a lot of time recruiting new candidates – and not a lot of planning each aspect of onboarding. In the Navy, I learned that the first 72 hours for a new Sailor at a new command is crucial to their long-term success for their duration at the unit. If the first crew member they encounter in that window is an expert who has a positive perspective and can show them the ropes, they tend to thrive. If the first crew member they encounter isn’t a strong Sailor, odds are that the new check will follow in their footsteps and fail to achieve a high level of capability aboard. Those of us in the Navy are well-versed in this trend. On ships, it’s known as the “First 72.” As Hunt A Killer surpassed 100 full-time employees, I noticed a similar pattern. If we could make sure a new hire had a dialed-in, clear onboarding process in roughly their first 8 hours, they’d most likely be a stellar teammate. This onboarding process included: ✅ The assignment of a dedicated Teammate Advocate ✅ A sit down with their hiring manager that included a 90-day plan ✅ Meeting with HR and IT to get their systems set up ✅ A walkthrough of benefits and pay, with time to have questions answered  ✅ Scheduling a meeting with me within their first week 🔍 (I'll go more in-depth on each of these steps in a future post - stay tuned!) The “First 8” became routine for us; every moment of onboarding was scripted. We took this process just as seriously as recruiting and retaining. Tricia Butler, SPHR, SHRM - SCP shepherded new hires through a comprehensive experience that instilled confidence, answered their questions, and immediately made them feel like part of the team. This attention to onboarding practices is some of the best business advice I can give. It made a world of difference when I implemented it with my own team. Don’t leave new employees hanging. Show them how it’s done and they’ll go on to shine - no matter how stormy the seas might get! 

In the last year, Demandbase has cut our TTV (time to value) by 55%. How? Our onboarding leader Graham Grome redesigned our onboarding process around 6 core principles: 1. Start Onboarding During the Sales Process Onboarding doesn’t start with the onboarding kick-off meeting, it starts with the first conversation with the customer. The very first interaction begins the process of understanding needs, roles and responsibilities, and timelines. Through the sales process the scope plan is in development and it is essential that this is handed off to CX and the onboarding team (and that pre-Sales resources stay involved) after the deal is closed. 2. Ground in Strategy to Generate a Value Roadmap Even with the scope in place, it’s critical to begin with strategy in onboarding (not dive into tactics and tasks). You need to know what the business outcomes the customer wants to achieve and the path to get there. That is why we begin with GTM Strategy Discovery sessions and deliver a Value Roadmap with clear now, next, and later actions that align to the customer’s GTM goals. 3. Tailor Configuration to Outcomes Every onboarding should be tailored to customer priorities. No two GTM’s are the same, being flexible in configuration is really important. Out-of-the box will not grow with your goals. We keep projects moving on target, surface risks early, and ensure that platform configuration supports business outcomes, not just your setup. The goal is to help you drive measurable value as quickly as possible. 4. Bring Customer Success into Onboarding As you grow, Onboarding and Customer Success become specialized functions. To maintain a “zero hand-off” approach make sure to include the Customer Success team members who will work with the customer moving forward through the onboarding process. 5. Make sure you leave Onboarding with a Value Measurement Plan You cannot show value without it. Every customer leaves onboarding with a Value Measurement Plan aligned to their objectives, so progress and impact are clear from day one. 6. Measure CSAT Post Onboarding It all sounds good, but how do you know it’s actually happening and where the process can improve? Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys. Feedback on onboarding has to be operationalized, it’s too important to have any blind spots or to stagnate as customer needs evolve. ——— Customers have more options than ever, they are under pressure to justify their spending, they want results now (as they should!), and they know new AI-driven solutions are coming out every day. If you don’t adapt your onboarding to meet these demands, you will be in a world of hurt on churn.

"You guys are completely different from the last agency we worked with" Had a client kick-off call yesterday that reminded me why thorough onboarding matters. This prospect came to us after their previous outbound agency failed to deliver results. Interestingly, they didn't mention the failed partnership during discovery - it only came up during kick-off. Here's what we covered in our standard onboarding process: 1. Call Handoff Protocol Design Since we're booking meetings on their behalf, we mapped out: • Lead qualification criteria • Handoff timing and process • Context sharing between teams • Follow-up responsibility ownership 2. Post-meeting Follow-up Strategy For prospects who ghost after initial interest: • Their internal tea will handle phone follow-ups • We provide complete context: lead magnet interactions, email history, engagement patterns • Coordinated multi-touch approach without overlap 3. Objection Handling Framework We proactively identified: • Common objections specific to their industry • Pre-meeting concerns that kill bookings • Response strategies for each scenario • Team training on objection handling 4. Brand-aligned Copy Development Instead of templates, we: • Analyzed their existing messaging for tone and positioning • Developed new copy that matches their voice • Ensured alignment with their value proposition 5. Angle Testing Strategy Rather than super generic outreach, we designed: • 4 distinct testing angles based on different pain points • Hypothesis for why each angle might resonate • Testing methodology and success metrics • Optimization plan based on early results Halfway through the call, our client stopped us and said "You guys are completely different from the last agency we worked with." They were impressed by: • The depth of our research and preparation • Our strategic approach to testing angles vs. generic copy • The thoroughness of our onboarding process • Our willingness to push back when they instincts conflicted with best practices By the end of the call, they felt genuinely optimistic about the campaign's potential. The difference between average and exceptional service delivery isn't the tactics you use - it's the systems you build around client success. Most agencies focus on getting clients. Elite agencies focus on keeping them successful.

Your onboarding program is training people to quit. Here’s what’s wrong: You bring in a new hire who’s worked in three contact centers before. They sit through the same training as someone who’s never touched a headset. They’re bored. They disengage. They leave. Meanwhile, the first-time agent is drowning. Too much information. Too fast.  By the time they hit the phones (if they even make it to nesting), the shock sets in. “Did I really sign up for this?” I don’t need to do the math for you. Poor training and early attrition cost companies thousands or dollars per agent. We can’t expect to dump information on people and hope it sticks. Research shows that without reinforcement and personalization, most of what’s taught in the first week is forgotten by week two. Companies using Centrical’s AI microlearning are proving there’s a better way. By using AI-powered personalization and data-driven learning paths, they cut training time while improving performance metrics. On average, by 50%. AI assesses what someone already knows and skips it. It identifies knowledge and skills gaps in real time and reinforces them immediately. It adapts the pace to each learner's needs. With AI role-play simulations, agents can practice real scenarios in a safe environment before taking their first live call. It’s pretty simple after all. By meeting people where they are and teaching them what they actually need to know, companies see lower early attrition, faster time-to-proficiency, and better long-term performance.

IAM Application Onboarding Best Practices  Everyone talks about automating access. But very few onboard applications the right way. Most organizations think onboarding an app = adding a connector. But in reality… Application onboarding is where identity governance either succeeds or falls apart. When apps aren’t onboarded properly:  • No visibility into who has what access  • Manual access requests become the norm  • Orphaned permissions accumulate  • Certification cycles fail  • High-risk roles remain unmonitored. Common Application Onboarding Mistakes Teams Still Make: ↳ 🧩 No standardized onboarding checklist  ↳ 🔑 No documentation of app roles, entitlements, or owners  ↳ 🕵️ Missing app owner OR no governance accountability  ↳ 📛 Entitlements onboarded without descriptions or business meaning  ↳ 🔗 Incomplete integration → only provisioning, not de-provisioning  ↳ 🚫 Relying on spreadsheets for entitlement mapping  ↳ 🐌 Using manual ticket-based approvals instead of workflow automation  ↳ ⚠️ No SoD checks for high-risk roles  ↳ 📉 Application not connected to SSO (still using shared passwords) What Strong IAM Programs Do Differently: ↳ 🧾 Use a standardized, repeatable application onboarding framework  ↳ 🧩 Identify the correct app owner and access approvers before onboarding  ↳ 📊 Pull all entitlements and map them to business-friendly names  ↳ 🔗 Implement full lifecycle: provisioning + de-provisioning  ↳ 🛡️ Integrate MFA & SSO (SAML/OIDC) during onboarding  ↳ 🧠 Add the app to RBAC or ABAC models — no standalone access  ↳ 🎯 Define clear request workflows (who approves, under what conditions)  ↳ 🔐 Enable SoD checks where applicable  ↳ 📁 Document integration details, roles, and entitlement definitions #IdentityManagement #IAMBestPractices #ApplicationOnboarding #IdentityGovernance