What is onboarding, and why does it still matter in today’s workplace environment?
Onboarding is a HR process that all organizations undertake, and is a critical step in the employee lifecycle, often being a key driver of employee retention. While onboarding has existed for a long time, the process has changed over time to suit different needs.
In today’s workplace environment it may seem that any new hire with digital literacy could simply slot into a new organization without much resistance.
In reality, with so many digital tools and processes, onboarding has become even more important to retain and engage modern talent.
In this blog we will explore what onboarding is, how it’s changed, and why it’s still important for today’s modern employees – keep reading to learn more with Unit4.
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What is onboarding?
Employee onboarding is the process of integrating a new hire into an organization and equipping them with the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to succeed in their role. It typically involves activities like orientation, training, introductions to team members, and familiarization with company policies, culture, and systems.
Onboarding is important because it can be a lot to expect of a new hire to bed into a new company culture instantly – they need support, demonstration, and an environment where they can ask questions.
What are the 4 steps of the onboarding process?
We can break the onboarding process down into 4 general steps that remains evergreen even as workplace trends lead the details of onboarding to change – for instance, what used to be paper-based is now mostly digital, but the steps still apply.
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Pre-Onboarding: This step happens before the new hire's first day. It involves sending welcome emails, establishing the company culture, and sharing information about the company, role, and first-day expectations. It sets the tone and helps the new hire feel prepared and excited.
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Orientation: This is the new hire's introduction to the company. It includes activities like potential office tours, introductions to team members, and presentations on company culture, policies, and values. The goal is to make the employee feel welcomed and informed.
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Training and Development: This step focuses on equipping the new hire with the skills and knowledge needed for their role. It may include job-specific training, shadowing colleagues, and learning about tools and systems. Continuous development opportunities are often introduced here.
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Integration: The final step involves helping the new hire become a fully integrated member of the team. This includes setting clear goals, creating a culture of regular feedback, and monitoring engagement over their employment. This step ensures long-term support.
How has onboarding changed?
Historically, onboarding was largely an in-person process, with a focus on face-to-face interactions, office tours, and team introductions. It relied heavily on physical presence to build connections and integrate new hires into the company culture.
After the pandemic, when everything went remote, onboarding had to change to match these new conditions, which became fully remote. As a result, SaaS HR adoption nearly doubled as organizations used HCM platforms to bridge this gap.
Modern software solutions utilize centralized hubs for training and resources, address the complexity of modern workplaces where employees use an average of 11 applications, highlighting the benefits of a single integrated suite for the employee experience.
Today, many organizations are returning to the office, and many chose to stay fully remote, but even those aiming for a hybrid or flexible working balance still recognize the value of modern HR tools for onboarding processes, and more.
Importantly, employee expectations have changed, those who worked through these changes may now expect a digital experience, even in-person, and organizations need to match this or risk losing out on top talent.
Why onboarding still matters in 2025
Onboarding sets the tone for the entire employee experience and remains a key focus for HR teams. A good initial onboarding will result in retention rather than turnover, the latter being a costly process. Importantly, many employees will decide if they want to continue their employment in this initial period.
Managing the reality of remote work
One aspect of remote work is a lack of performance monitoring. In the office, managers could gauge an employee much more easily, whether they were engaged, happy in their role, as well as other aspects like performance.
In the modern HR environment digital tools can help monitor key KPIs like engagement through feedback surveys, interaction with company materials and more. When managers gain this insight, many would argue they can actually provide a better employee experience and more insight into performance, vital for workforce planning and role allocation.
Importantly, when employees and employes have this shared visibility of HR data they can build a data-driven culture that drives engagement and breeds more open conversations.
Self-service in a digital age
When the workplace was wholly in-office, it was potentially easier for employees to ask for help, seek out the information they need, and learn by observing and interacting. This isn’t so easy in the world of remote work, thus there is greater impetus for employees to take initiative and find resources themselves, and lead themselves through a pre-formed onboarding journey
Naturally, employers may look for tools that provide a comprehensive and employee-led onboarding program, particularly for roles that are expected to adopt new tools and processes in their new role. They must endeavour to make it easy for employees to use and access HR resources and do other HR admin, to ensure engagement.
Driving digital investments home
Those who invest in digital systems and tools naturally want to get the most out of them and the greatest return on investment. For this to be realized, organizations need a proper onboarding program so that all employees, including new hires, can pick up the new tools and processes easily and not have a poor training program hamper the tools value.
How can Unit4’s HCM suite can help
As organizations navigate the complexities of remote work, talent retention, and employee engagement, having the right tools in place can make all the difference.
Unit4’s Human Capital Management (HCM) solution is designed to empower organizations to streamline their HR processes, enhance talent development, and align workforce capabilities with business goals.
With features like integrated payroll, advanced analytics, and compensation planning, to create seamless collaboration between HR and finance, Unit4’s HCM suite is built to meet the demands of modern, people-centric organizations. To learn more, visit our webpage, read our eBook, or talk to sales today.
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