You're Hired! Now What?

Why onboarding takes more than a checklist and a 90-day review

I've been the new employee with a completed checklist and no idea who to ask.

The orientation was done. The training was scheduled. The paperwork was signed. What I didn't have was a person I could turn to with a question, or someone I felt I could trust with an honest one.

Most organizations handle the visible parts of onboarding well. You meet your colleagues, attend orientation, begin your training, and perhaps follow a structured program with 30-, 60-, and 90-day check-ins. Everything seems to be in place.

But then what?

Having worked in different organizations, including large corporate environments, I've experienced onboarding both as an employee and as a Human Resources and Learning & Development professional. One thing I've learned is that having an onboarding process doesn't necessarily mean an employee has been successfully integrated.

According to Gallup, only 23% of employees strongly agree that their onboarding experience was exceptional. Gallup has also reported that only 29% of new hires felt fully prepared and supported to excel in their roles following onboarding.

For me, the gap wasn't information. I understood what was expected of me. What I lacked was someone to ask, even about the basics of how the culture worked. I didn't know who to turn to or who to trust, so I learned the unwritten rules by making mistakes and learning from them. I suspect a few honest conversations early on would have saved me some of those mistakes.

Communicating expectations is one thing. Creating the conditions to meet them is another.

Every organization has rules that no one writes down: who to approach for help, how decisions are really made, what's acceptable and what isn't. Rose Hollister and Michael D. Watkins, writing in Harvard Business Review (2019), reported that only 29% of surveyed HR executives said their organizations provided support for cultural familiarization.

This matters even more in the UAE, where many workplaces bring together different nationalities, languages, and professional backgrounds. The country is already investing here. In 2025, the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources launched GOVReady, a New Employee Journey Program, and the Ras Al Khaimah Department of Human Resources emphasizes empowerment, capability development, and organizational excellence. The next step is making sure those principles reach the individual moment: a new employee wondering who they can safely ask.

Looking back, what I needed was a buddy: an experienced colleague I could approach with everyday questions. Not someone evaluating my performance, just someone who could help me find my way.

In a 2024 Harvard Business Review article, Julia Phelan emphasizes the importance of connecting new hires with colleagues who possess valuable organizational knowledge. A buddy can explain informal processes, introduce key contacts, and help new employees navigate culture. A manager, meanwhile, ensures they have what they need to succeed.

HR may design the framework, but managers shape the day-to-day experience. Gallup found that employees were 3.4 times as likely to feel their onboarding was successful when managers took an active role.

That means going beyond "How are things going?" Consider asking:

•       What has been more challenging than you expected?

•       Who do you feel comfortable going to with questions?

•       What commitments have we made that we haven't fulfilled?

Then ask what happens to the answers. In their 2024 Harvard Business Review article, Turn Employee Feedback into Action, Ethan Burris and his coauthors examine how hard it is for organizations to translate employee feedback into meaningful improvements. If several new hires raise similar concerns, someone should take responsibility for addressing them.

Here's a thought I've been considering. Organizations have dedicated functions for recruitment, payroll, employee relations, and, in many UAE workplaces, visa processing. What if onboarding received that same level of attention?

What if larger organizations established a dedicated Employee Onboarding and Integration Unit responsible for the new-hire experience from offer acceptance through the first 120 days? Its job wouldn't be to run orientation, but to make sure every new employee has support, relationships, an understanding of the culture, and someone to go to. Had someone owned my integration, I might have known who to ask from the start.

Would every organization need a separate department? Probably not. A designated onboarding specialist or small team may be more practical. And this function should never remove accountability from managers. It should strengthen it.

When everyone is responsible for onboarding, there's a risk that no one is truly accountable for what happens afterward.

Organizations invest considerable resources in attracting talent. Shouldn't we be equally intentional about helping that talent feel connected, supported, and equipped to succeed?

Onboarding isn't just about introducing someone to an organization. It's about helping them become part of it.

Whether you're an HR professional, a manager, or a new employee, consider:

1.      When does onboarding really end in your organization?

2.      Who owns the employee's onboarding experience?

3.      Do new hires know who they can safely go to with questions?

4.      Are check-ins uncovering meaningful challenges, or simply following a process?

5.      What happens to the feedback new hires provide?

6.      Are we measuring completion rates or employee confidence, belonging, and readiness?

7.      If we asked employees six months after joining whether they felt supported, what would they say?

We've hired them. We've trained them. We've checked in with them. But have we truly set them up for success?

References

1.      Gallup. Employee Experience: Strategies for Improvement.

2.      Gallup. 8 Practical Tips for Leaders for a Better Onboarding Process.

3.      Hollister, R., & Watkins, M. D. (2019). How to Onboard New Hires at Every Level. Harvard Business Review.

4.      Phelan, J. (2024). Kickstart Your New Hire's Success by Connecting Them to the Right People. Harvard Business Review.

5.      Burris, E., et al. (2024). Turn Employee Feedback into Action. Harvard Business Review.

6.      Federal Authority for Government Human Resources. (2025). GOVReady: New Employee Journey Program.

7.      Ras Al Khaimah Department of Human Resources. Strategic Objectives and Values.