Belonging by Design: Innovating the Onboarding Playbook with Heart + Data
As featured on SHRM’s Honest HR Podcast
Starting a new job is one of the most vulnerable, exciting, and formative moments in a person’s career. It sets the tone for how employees will experience their work, their colleagues, and their organization’s culture. That’s why I was thrilled to join SHRM’s Honest HR podcast with Nicole Belyna, alongside my colleague Joanna Echols, to talk about how my experiences leading onboarding redesigns have highlighted proven practices that organizations can adopt to create experiences centered on belonging, clarity, and connection.
Case Study Insight: These reflections draw on my onboarding redesign work as a case study, highlighting methods any organization can adapt for stronger connection, belonging, and clarity.
From Checklists to Memorable First Impressions
For too long, onboarding has been treated as a checklist: paperwork, compliance tasks, and a quick overview of policies — what I like to call the “DMV tasks.” Just like a trip to the DMV, these are the things no one really wants to do but has to. In my work, I’ve challenged myself and my teams to reimagine orientation not as a list of tasks but as an experience that reaffirms an employee’s choice to join a community.
We asked: What do employees remember from their first day? What moments create lasting impact?
The answers weren’t about forms or logins. They were about connection — meeting colleagues, hearing stories, walking the campus or workplace, and seeing themselves reflected in the culture. Those became the memorable first impressions we needed to intentionally design for.
Designing for Belonging and Accessibility
I also asked, what could unintentionally exclude someone on their first day? That led to designing with accessibility and intentional belonging in mind:
Translation services and real-time captions for those who prefer or need another language.
Tours mapped with mobility access in mind.
Dining or gathering options that accommodate allergies and dietary needs.
Structured opportunities to build relationships — such as roundtable breakfasts, peer mentors, or small group campus walks.
Guest speakers from across levels and functions to show that every role has value.
Physical space design that feels welcoming — natural light, communal tables, visible signage that affirms belonging.
Symbolic touches like personalized welcome notes or gifts that connect to organizational values.
When I say belonging is a belief, not a perk, this is what it looks like in practice: anticipating needs and curating moments so every new colleague feels they truly belong from day one — in both the logistics and the lived experience.
The Four Pillars of Onboarding Success
From these lessons, I distilled a framework that I now share with clients — what I call the Four Pillars of Onboarding Success:
Automate the “must-do” tasks. Free up time on day one for connection and culture. Look for every policy form, compliance step, or "DMV" task that can be automated or completed in advance. When managers and new hires show up on day one, they should already have system access, tools, and logins ready so the focus is on people, not paperwork.
Map the memorable moments. Ask employees what they actually remember — and design around that. Start from the moment they click apply and put yourself in their shoes through the end of their first day, week, or quarter. Think about the excitement of receiving an offer letter, the nerves of walking into a new building, or the relief of finding a friendly face in the lunchroom. These small but powerful touchpoints are the difference between a routine start and an inspiring beginning.
Measure what you build. Data doesn’t diminish the human side; it validates and strengthens it. Track satisfaction scores, retention rates, and manager feedback. Pair the numbers with stories — for example, employees exchanging phone numbers at the end of day one — to capture both the quantitative and qualitative impact.
Design for belonging. Accessibility and inclusion should be baked in, not bolted on. Consider dietary needs at welcome lunches, translation services for presentations, or mobility-friendly space planning. Belonging shows up in both big design choices and small details that signal: you are welcome here.
Balancing Heart & Data
In my work with Vanderbilt University, we were able to measure the real impact of this framework. Compared to the old style of onboarding, the difference was striking. Tracking the data over the course of a year after implementation of the new model, we saw:
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): climb from 60% to 94%
Net Promoter Score (NPS): rise from 26 to 87 — a level often cited in industry benchmarks (generally anything above 70) as indicative of exceptional, best-in-class performance
First-year attrition: reduce from 55% to 24%
Of course, we know correlation is not causation when it comes to attrition. But we also know the impact of a strong first impression. This innovation in onboarding not only improved the employee experience, it also led to external recognition — Vanderbilt was honored with a GOLD STEVIE® Award for Achievement in New Employee Onboarding for the Vanderbilt Voyage program.
When onboarding sets the right tone, it shapes how employees engage, commit, and contribute.
The lesson: you don’t have to choose between heart and data. In fact, the two fuel each other.
Upon Reflection
Joining SHRM’s Honest HR podcast gave me the chance to reflect on a truth I hold close: belonging, connection, and growth aren’t perks. They’re the foundation of meaningful work.
If you’re curious, I invite you to listen to the full conversation below.
As we all remember our best days at work, your first day should be one of them. Onboarding done right sets that tone. Imagine the ripple effect if every organization treated day one this way — the culture shift would be profound.
And of course, onboarding doesn’t end at the conclusion of the first day. It’s a journey that continues for weeks and even months. Being intentional and forward-thinking throughout that journey is just as important as what happens on day one.
If your organization is ready to transform onboarding into a strategic advantage, let’s connect and explore how I can help organizations design people-powered systems that stick.