← Back to Team Tactics

← Back to Storyteller Tactics

Onboarding Retros

What is the Onboarding Retros card?

Monitor your onboarding process; improve it over time. Help people feel part of your team from day one.

According to LinkedIn, almost a quarter of people have decided they are going to leave their role within the first 45 days. The cost of employee turnover is generally a lot higher than people account for. It pays to give your onboarding process constant attention.

“It usually takes 8–12 weeks to replace a knowledgeable worker, and then another month or two before the replacement gets to full productivity mode.” – Stephen King, GrowthForce

How to use the Onboarding Retros card

It can be stressful starting a new job. You can go from knowing everybody and how everything works, to knowing one person and how nothing works.

1. Book a session with new folk 4 weeks after they start.

2. Write down ‘When you first heard about the job’ on the left of a piece of paper, and ‘today’ on the right.

3. Ask your new starter to talk you through each step from then to today.

4. Write down each step as they talk, along with any pain points or ideas to improve.

5. Once you have reached ‘today’, ask the participant to review the steps and add anything you missed.

6. Collate your onboarding retros on a digital board or document and combine into a master journey.

7. Review the onboarding retros and create an onboarding checklist for your team. Use Who, What, When to make sure it is followed.

Tip: consider doing a Lean Survey to form a data set around onboarding. For example: ask, “How long did it take before you knew what was expected from you? 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks”, or “I am not sure what is expected of me”. Use the data to show progress over time.

← Back to Team Tactics

← Back to Storyteller Tactics