Top 6 Ways to Create a Remarkable Onboarding Experience

When a new hire walks through the door, or logs on for their first remote day, they’re bringing with them hope, potential and a touch of nervous anticipation. The way you welcome and support them can affirm their choice to join your company and inspire long-term commitment.

Research indicates that effective onboarding can significantly boost engagement, accelerate productivity, and reduce turnover. In fact, it’s often the difference between a new employee who merely shows up and one who fully shows up.

In this post, we’ll explore six impactful strategies to design an onboarding experience that sets your people and your organization up for lasting success.

Strategy #1: Deliver Information in Digestible Phases

Onboarding isn’t about cramming everything into the first day. It’s about pacing the journey.

Instead of overwhelming new hires with an avalanche of content, break onboarding into thoughtful phases. Prioritize essential tools and expectations early on, and layer in deeper learning over 30, 60, and 90 days. Access to microlearning, spaced repetition and self-paced online learning resources create a more confident, empowered experience.

This is where a Learning Management System (LMS) becomes invaluable. An LMS allows you to organize training content into structured modules, track progress, and reinforce learning over time, ensuring nothing gets lost or forgotten.

Every role has unique expectations, tools, and rhythms. A one-size-fits-all onboarding program often falls flat.

Create role-specific tracks that deliver relevant training, systems access, and success metrics tailored to each job function. Collaborate with department leads to ensure alignment. Personalized onboarding makes new hires feel seen, supported, and ready to contribute.

Using an LMS, you can assign different learning paths based on role, location or seniority so new hires only see the training that’s relevant to them.

Strategy #3: Weave Culture into Every Step

When new employees understand your “why,” they connect more deeply with their work.

From day one, share stories that bring your company’s values and mission to life. Introduce new hires to the company’s traditions, leadership philosophies, and the informal ways in which people support one another. Assign mentors or buddies to help model your culture in real time. Culture isn’t just taught. it’s experienced.

You can reinforce this through your LMS by embedding welcome videos, company history modules, or even interactive quizzes about core values. Culture can and should be part of the curriculum.

Clarity builds confidence. When new hires know what’s expected and how success is measured, they’re more likely to thrive.

Map out 30-, 60-, and 90-day goals. Pair them with frequent check-ins, feedback sessions, and small wins worth celebrating. When employees feel a sense of progress, they stay motivated and engaged.

With an LMS, you can create checkpoints, assessments and dashboards that help both employees and managers track learning and development in real time.

Strategy #5: Integrate Your HRIS or ERP for Seamless Onboarding

When you are a new employee, nothing is inspiring about filling out the same form three times. or waiting days for access to training because systems aren’t talking to each other.

That’s why one of the most powerful ways to elevate your onboarding program is to connect your LMS with the tools you already use to manage people and processes, especially your HRIS or ERP. With integration, onboarding becomes less about busywork and more about building momentum.

When your LMS syncs with your HR system:

• New hires are automatically enrolled in the proper training based on role, location, or department.

• Completion data and progress can be pushed back into the employee’s HR record, giving managers a complete view of each person’s onboarding journey.

• You reduce manual errors, eliminate duplicate data entry, and accelerate time-to-productivity.

Whether you use Workday, UKG, ADP, or another HRIS or ERP system, the right integration ensures your onboarding experience is both smart and scalable.

If your LMS doesn’t easily integrate with your tech stack, it might be time to explore other options.

Strategy #6: Extend Support Beyond Week One

Onboarding doesn’t end when the paperwork is done. The most successful companies view it as a journey, not an event.

Continue coaching, learning opportunities, and social integration for at least 60–90 days. Offer access to upskilling, mentorship, and meaningful peer connections. Ongoing support leads to long-term success.

An LMS can host optional courses for continuous learning and provide access to a library of resources that employees can return to at their own pace even long after onboarding is complete.

The Bottom Line

Onboarding is your opportunity to show new hires they made the right decision and to equip them with the tools, knowledge, and relationships to flourish.

By focusing on personalization, culture, clarity, and long-term support and by using tools like an LMS to scale and reinforce the process you can turn onboarding into a true strategic advantage.

Want a simple way to get started?

Download our New Hire Onboarding Checklist to build a structured, scalable program that helps every employee hit the ground running.