The Role of Company Culture in Onboarding: How to Perfect Yours

Whilst obviously new employees will be drawn to a particular job role, without a strong company culture behind it, you’ll really struggle to attract the best talent that the industry has to offer. 

So, incorporating a strong culture not only helps you to bring in top talent and keep them, but also improve customer relationships and inspire your team to believe in the business.

Onboarding is changing, and we’re here to look at why company culture is so important in onboarding and some examples of how you can incorporate this into your business model. 

Why Is Company Culture So Important in Onboarding? 

Company culture is all about the beliefs, values, standards and environment that a workplace holds. Essentially, if your business were a person, it’s what their personality would be. 

Setting yourself apart from competitors is vital to help you bring customers or clients through the door, however the best employees are also drawn to a company culture that is well established, so they have something to believe in. 

With this often comes harder work, as people feel like they have a shared goal that they’re working towards, motivated to get there as a team. Without this sense of purpose, people may not feel driven to choose you as a workplace. 

When you embed your company culture from the very beginning of the onboarding process, including in the way you present your business in job adverts and then right through to final interviews and job offers, you need to clearly demonstrate who you are and why employees should believe in you. 

How To Perfect Your Company Culture

1. Have a Strong Brand Story and Values

Firstly, you need to have a strong brand story and values as a business. A clear sense of who you are, and where you’re wanting to head both short term and long term, shows potential new employees that there are no doubts about where the business is moving towards. 

So, if you haven’t already, you need to create a culture handbook that outlines your brand history, story, and your core values as a business. It should also define success to you as a business and how you’re going to move towards your future goals.

2. Focus on Your Branding

A core part of showcasing who you are as a business clearly and effectively across channels is to work with a branding agency for the best talent in the country. There is so much more to branding than a color palette and a logo, as you need to ensure that your values as a business are truly embedded into every element of your visual brand and also your tone of voice. 

From stakeholder alignment to your visual identity (including color palette, logo design, typography, photography, iconography), verbal identity, motion design, packaging, web design, web development and UX, this is something that can’t be properly managed in house, unless you have an experienced team within your business. 

You can work with a branding agency as a one-off project or on an ongoing basis, however either way, it’s definitely an investment worth making for your brand.

3. Plan Immersion Activities 

When someone new starts, it’s important that you plan some immersion activities to help them get settled in and to get a feel for the business. It can be more formal activities like job orientation and structured plans for the first week, two weeks, month and 90 days so the employee knows what they’re working towards. 

However, it’s also important to incorporate social activities, like a team lunch out or an after-work activity, like drinks or a work quiz in the office. We’d recommend that you do the more social activities perhaps at the end of their first week to ensure they’ve had time to settle in a bit and feel more comfortable! 

When someone feels like they’re being made an important part of the team, it can make all the difference to their first few months at the company, plus it gives you a chance to show what your company culture is all about.

4. Mentorship Programmes

Lastly, mentorship programmes are important when it comes to company culture and onboarding. If you want your company culture to reflect welcoming people and ensuring they feel supported in their new role, then mentorship programmes are key. It would involve assigning someone to mentor the new employee, not necessarily from a management point of view, but as someone entering at a similar level of seniority to show them the ropes. 

Often it can feel daunting to approach a manager with everyday questions, like how the coffee machine works or technical questions, so having a “buddy” there can really help them to feel more settled.

Plus, you should be able to get a gauge of the kind of person they are in the interview and then choose someone you think they would get on with, which will also give them someone they will know slightly better at the initial social activities. This is simple but really effective to help establish a strong and supportive company culture.