Designed to Delight: How We Automated Onboarding Operations To Show Up For New Hires

Introduction

It used to happen quietly. A signed offer letter would arrive, and the onboarding process would begin.

Except, not always in the same way.

The timing of a welcome email, the arrival of a welcome kit, and the first engagements with the team depended on one thing: how much else was on the plate of the person managing it. Some new hires felt engaged before Day 1. Others, during their first week, once they'd started. A few only after.

The intention was always to create the same experience for everyone. But intentions didn't always convert to action. 

The Hidden Cost Of “Almost Consistent” Onboarding

When your onboarding relies on manual follow-ups, no matter how dedicated your people are, timelines shift. And while those shifts might seem small, a day late here, a kit sent early there, they add up to a not-so-ideal experience.

For a new hire, those early touches are the first proof points of what your company is really like. And the cost of these inconsistencies is bigger than it appears: 

• Inconsistent onboarding contributes to turnover of about 16% within the first three months. This means that, on average, one out of every six new hires is lost to companies within the first three months.
• Employees with a better onboarding experience are 2.6x more likely to feel satisfied at work. Yet, only 12% of new hires report that their organization has a good onboarding process.  -Gallup
• 78% of organizations that invested in onboarding reported increases in revenue in the last fiscal year.
  
  

We wanted our new hires to feel not just welcomed, but expected. From the moment they signed their offer. 

Why Automation Became The Answer

The goal wasn’t to replace people with processes. It was to make sure our people could show up for new hires in the moments that mattered most without being buried in repetitive tasks. 

The moments that matter:

• A conversation to get to know them and walk them through the steps coming their way. 

• Building rapport early on to establish comfort in approaching bigger issues later on.

• An introduction to a local team representative, since we are a remote organization, so they’re included in meet-ups even before they join. 

• A coach meet-n-greet that opens up the benefit of performance coaching early on.

• And yes, the essentials, their welcome kit, and laptop arriving in time for Day 1.

And so, we mapped the entire onboarding journey, step by step. Then we built in the right automation to carry those steps forward reliably. Consistency doesn’t mean complexity. Even simple workflows make onboarding more reliable.

What We Automated And Why It Matters

We automated the most crucial touchpoints of the onboarding process to ensure a smooth and measurable impact.

1. Instant Welcome Emails

As soon as the offer is signed, a personalized welcome email goes out through HubSpot workflows. No delay. No missed step.

2. Pre-Onboarding Community Invites

Before Day 1, new hires are invited to join our pre-onboarding community spaces—giving them an early sense of belonging.

3. Tool Access Communication

Automated workflows, built with N8N by our automation team, trigger timely emails about tool access so there’s no scramble on Day 1.

4. Internal Reminders For Operational Tasks

From welcome kit dispatch to account setup, internal teams get automated nudges, ensuring nothing slips through. We align timelines to each person’s notice period. While some steps may shift in the case of short-notice periods, the overall flow still remains consistent and reliable.

Internal reminders we automated:

• Reminder to the Recruitment team to update hiring targets

• Reminder to the Engagement team to begin welcome activities once the offer is signed. 

  • A call 
  • Shipping the welcome kit 
  • An introduction to different team members, such as peers, onboarding buddies, local team representatives, since we are a remote and multi-city organization, and managers. 

• Reminder to engage the person in the pre-onboarding community
• Reminder to create account access
  

   

The Results We See And Feel

• 4.1/5 pre-onboarding feedback score
• 9.6/10 onboarding feedback score
• Zero offer rejections over two years 
• Faster settling-in time — people feel settled for their day 1

And perhaps most importantly: our Engagement team now spends more time on conversations, not checklists. From the moment one signs their offer, they’re not just on our list, they’re in our care.

What This Changed For Me

As an Engagement Manager, I now have the space to focus on actual connections with people. To ask how their first week felt instead of whether they got their access credentials.

Automation didn’t take away the human part of onboarding. It gave us the time and headspace to make it more human.

See who we are: https://www.axelerant.com/about