5 Things We Learned About Onboarding This Year (and How You Can Improve Yours)

Onboarding is one of the most important parts of the employee experience. Even when it’s done with intention, it’s never perfect on the first try. Iteration is part of the process.

Over the past year, through partnerships with early customers and our Camino Advisory Board, we’ve supported hundreds of new hires through our platform. Along the way, we’ve gathered feedback, experimented with improvements, and learned what really makes onboarding work.

Here are the most important takeaways and some quick wins you can put in place right away.

Quick Wins

Build a simple “What to expect” guide for managers that outlines their role and the general onboarding schedule (what HR covers vs. what managers cover). Send it as soon as the new hire signs.

Set reminders to check in with each new hire:

• End of week 1 (first Friday)

• Day 30

Do a micro-audit with 3–5 new hires. Ask:

• What made you feel most supported?

• What is one thing you’d change?

• Did you feel supported during onboarding?

1. Human Connection > Efficiency

At the end of the day, onboarding success isn’t measured in checklists, it’s measured in how the new hire feels.

“When managers take an active role in onboarding, employees are 3.4x more likely to strongly agree their onboarding process was exceptional.” — Gallup

Automation helps with scale, but real human touch is what drives action.

The emotional experience (whether they felt supported, seen, and guided) matters more than raw efficiency. Onboarding programs should focus on building a sense of belonging and driving human connection.

💡Betterments

• Pre-schedule check-in messages from the HR team (not a bot).

• Pre-schedule new hire introductions (buddy, team, etc.).

• Guide managers to carve out time to formally introduce new hires.

• Create moments for new hires to connect and share about themselves (things like who they are, why they joined, etc.)

➡️ Example: Janna Biagio, Head of Employee Experience at Monte Carlo, uses automated reminders and pre-drafted notes to prompt personal check-ins with every new hire, keeping it personalized at scale.

2. Onboarding Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

Enabling people across an organization is difficult. People have different learning styles, different communication preferences (Slack vs. email), and different priorities.

Design for all. Make it simple. Reinforce ideas through repetition. 

💡Betterments

• Once signed, share with new hires what they can expect from their onboarding.

• Outline expectations for buddies and managers from the start.

• Communicate in multiple ways - Slack, email, meetings, guides (but make sure all info is also centralized).

• Centralize onboarding resources.

• Reinforce important points.

• Revisit key learnings in Month 3–4, once the information overload has subsided.

3. Intentionality + Iteration = Strong Programs

Every company’s onboarding needs are different, and no program is ever “done.” Intentionality goes a long way, and refinement is the real key.

Continuously iterate. Build - Measure - Learn, repeat. Get feedback, any feedback. It does not have to be perfect. Most onboarding programs aren’t measured at all. Any data is better than none.

💡Betterments

• Collect lightweight feedback. Some simple ideas:

  • Simple Day 30 survey with 3 - 5 questions.

  • Day 30 Slack message asking: 1. What was the most helpful thing about onboarding. 2. What is 1 thing you’d change? 3. Do you wish you had more or less (or keep it the same) support during onboarding?

  • Week 2 or Day 30 IRL check-in with new hires

• Quarterly or biannually, run a light revamp project. 1 to 2 iterative changes, not a full overhaul.

4. Managers Make or Break Onboarding

Manager follow-through is tough without clear expectations and nudges. Personalized reminders from a real human work best. Manager support of new hires is extremely important.

💡Betterments

• Send a short manager onboarding guide and expectations at kickoff.

• Lay out all manager tasks upfront.

• Keep tasks short, simple, and centralized.

• Reinforce with reminders - managers need them.

5. Beyond the Product: Partnership and Expertise

Automations are a big win for customers, but a lot of our value also comes from partnership: helping design onboarding programs using best practices, and quarterly business reviews where we recommend improvements.

“Before Camino, we were always scrambling once someone started. Now it feels completely different - way more intentional, way more professional. And honestly, working with the Camino team has been one of the best parts. They’re fun, know a lot about people enablement, easy to work with, and passionate about the space.” — Courtney Catalana, Accrue

💡Betterment

• Don’t build alone. Connect with peers or partners to strengthen your program, and know we’re always here to help.

Where We’re Heading with Onboarding

We are excited for the future! Partnering closely with HR has allowed us to evolve the product rapidly while supporting people teams and delivering better onboarding for new hires. In the next year, we’ll be investing in:

1. Scaling the human side of automation: how can we extend the impact of the people team?

2. Automating feedback and measuring success

3. Expanding integrations

A Challenge for You

Audit your onboarding. What 2–3 simple betterments could you add this quarter to improve the new hire experience? Small changes compound quickly.

And if you’d like to partner with us to improve your onboarding experience, reach out to us at info@joincamino.com.