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Why is "fun" considered a best practice for employee onboarding? 🤔
“Onboarding” is a word that has come to be associated with SOPs, training, and maybe the occasional small talk over lunch.
Consider this the onboarding program revolution. We are nobly standing up against run-of-the-mill onboarding programs with onboarding tools that make being the new employee exciting and (dare we say it) fun.
Case Study 👉 Check out how Confetti helped Lemonade revamp their onboarding initiatives!
Creating a positive onboarding experience for your new team members is not only a great way to immediately help them feel at home in their new position, but it’s also a great way to create and uphold your company culture from day one.
Plus, it:
- Maximizes productivity for both new and existing employees in their roles. 💪
- Helps people feel more connected to their job and fosters a sense of belonging in the company that they work for. 💙
- Boosts a new employee’s confidence and comfort level in their new role. 🙌
You don’t just want your new hires to sign papers and get acquainted with their job. You want to provide them with an immediate sense of excitement, belonging, and camaraderie. Let’s talk about how to make that happen.
8 best employee onboarding experiences for new employees ✨
If you’re feeling lost on where to start with your onboarding overhaul, you’re in luck. Fun team experiences are kind of our thing. Here are some onboarding activities that your new hires and current team alike are sure to love:
TL;DR - Top 3 onboarding experiences 🏆
Want to skip to the fun stuff? Here are our top three favorite onboarding experiences:
- Water Cooler - Best "getting to know you" game 🤝
- Coworker Feud - Best way to mix new hires & current team members 👯
- Think Faster - Best way to gauge new hire strengths & challenges 📊
1. Water Cooler 💧
If you think you’re sick of talking about the weather, imagine how dull it is for your new hires. Water Cooler gives your team something to bond over.
This is a quick and easy icebreaker game! Participants are presented with an icebreaker question and then randomly separated into breakout rooms to discuss. No more frantically trying to come up with your most interesting “fun fact” for “two truths and a lie.” This game does it for you.
At the end of the activity, the entire team is brought together to discuss the most interesting thing they learned during the game. The only rule is that they’re not allowed to talk about themselves!
Water Cooler is a simple, easy, and engaging way to get to know the other employees that you rely on in the workplace beyond their weekend plans.
How to get started 👉 Introduce new hires to your current employees in Water Cooler!
2. Think Faster
Teach your team to think on their feet with these quick, easy, and fun improv exercises.
You may have shuddered when you read the word “improv,” flashing back to days of stage fright and school plays, but your entire team will be spotlight-ready by the end of this exercise.
Think Faster teaches the basics of improvisation, and gets your team involved by acting out hilarious and work-appropriate scenarios in real time.
More than just a fun time with team members and senior leaders, it teaches employees the skill of thinking on their feet—something that always comes in handy in the workplace.
How to get started 👉 Think Faster and say “bye bye” to stage fright for good!
3. Coworker Clash
Got a team that likes a little friendly competition? Look no further than Coworker Clash!
This game is a battle of the brains, rapid-fire game where two teams face off head-to-head to guess the five most popular answers in a given category.
You might not think that getting competitive is a good way to welcome in a new team member, but you’d be surprised how quickly some friendly competition can bring a team together!
How to get started 👉 Encourage friendly competition in Coworker Clash!
4. Guess Who…?
Match facts and photos to the people on your team with this fast, casual get-to-know-you game.
Prior to game time, players are asked to submit facts and photos of/about themselves. During the game, the host will take turns presenting these facts and photos, and players get to guess which one belongs to which coworker.
If your team is tired of small talk, this is a quick, fun, and visual way to learn more about the people you work with every day.
How to get started 👉 Think you know your coworkers? Guess Who!
5. Mash-Up
Mash-up is a sampler plate of our most popular employee engagement and team building games.
Start off with icebreakers to get everyone warmed up, move on to trivia to get the gears turning, and end your time with everyone’s favorite Mini Games. Why settle on just one game when you can play them all? Your new remote employees will certainly appreciate the extra fun.
How to get started 👉 Three games are better than one with Mash-Up!
6. Vision Board Workshop
Bring all your new hires together to discuss their goals and expectations in their new roles.
This doesn’t have to be a formal conversation. Rather, give your employees the floor to open up about what they hope to get from their new position.
You want your new hires to feel as valuable as they are to you (AKA very), and allowing them the space to talk openly about their career goals is a great way to set the standard of open and honest communication in the workplace.
How to get started 👉 Help your new employees manifest their dreams in our Vision Board Workshop!
7. Receiving welcome gifts 🎁
Don’t let your employee experience slip just because the team building games are done. Everyone loves presents, and one of the best ways to make new hires feel like a part of the team is through swag!
We like branded gifts, plants, and maybe even a “welcome to the team” bottle of wine for your new hire to share with their family and friends. (For recipients 21+ only.)
How to get started 👉 Check out our Guide to Corporate Gift Giving for more tips!
8. Lunch and Learn 🍽️
Instead of lengthy videos outlining company values, standards, and policies, try a more casual lunch ‘n learn option with your new employees.
Bring the whole crew together for a company-sponsored lunch and have your HR teams plan for some fun speakers and education.
If you’re feeling up for it, you can even invite staff members from different departments to briefly speak about their role in the company history and what they’re currently working on. That way, your new team members won’t be struggling to match faces with names later down the line.
How to get started 👉 Here are 5 Ideas for Your Office's Next Lunch and Learn!
The employee onboarding process is always fun with Confetti 🥳
At Confetti, fun is an integral part of our workplace culture. Would you expect anything different?
From the moment we send a job offer, we encourage our new hires to have fun in their new role, explore their career goals, and connect with their team. We want to help you do the same, as well as improve the employee experience throughout the entire employee lifecycle.
If you’re ready to infuse fun into your employee onboarding process, there’s no better place to start than our Employee Onboarding collection. Book your event in just a few clicks!
Frequently Asked Questions ❓
What makes a great onboarding experience for employees? 🤔
A great onboarding experience and employee onboarding program gives your new hires the chance to really relish in the fact that they made a great career decision.
Not only should your onboarding checklist include giving your employees the rundown of their new position and expectations, but the best employee onboarding experiences are engaging and fun.
When all the paperwork is signed, your new hire shouldn't just spend the rest of their first week shadowing their onboarding buddies and making small talk over their lunch breaks. Make them feel welcome into your company with team building exercises and welcome gifts that are curated especially for them.
Learn more about onboarding best practices.
What are the 4 C's of onboarding? 🧐
The 4 C’s of onboarding stand for:
- Compliance – making sure that you are onboarding new employees ethically and lawfully.
- Clarification – curating a training program that ensures that all questions are answered and new employees are set up for success in their role.
- Culture – introducing new team members to your workplace culture as a part of new hire onboarding, allowing them to feel excited and included in their new workplace.
- Connection – making sure that team leaders, HR managers, and coworkers welcome new hires onto the team and giving them the chance to feel connected with their workplace from day one.
Why is onboarding important for new employees? 🤨
Short answer: because you want them to succeed and have the best employee experience possible.
Excellent employee onboarding practices help to ensure that your employees are happy, comfortable, well-equipped and connected with your company from their very first day.
