What Onboarding Says About Your Hiring Process

You’ve invested time, money, and energy into finding the right candidate. The offer is accepted, the contract signed. Job done? Not quite.

What happens after the hire is just as important as the hiring process itself. In the eyes of a new employee, onboarding isn’t a separate HR task. It’s the final and most revealing stage of your recruitment journey. Done well, it reinforces everything your organisation promised during interviews. Done poorly, it can lead to early disengagement, a loss of trust, and even early resignations.

Onboarding Is Your First Real Impression

Yes, interviews set the tone. But onboarding is when your organisation’s reality either matches or falls short of the image you’ve presented.

Imagine an employee walks into their first day to find no working IT, no clear agenda, and no real sense of welcome. They’ll immediately start to question their decision. On the other hand, a structured, thoughtful onboarding process signals that you’re organised, invested, and people-focused.

What you can do: Audit your Day 1 experience. Does it reflect the brand you sold in interviews?

What it says about your hiring process: We don’t just hire people to fill gaps. We integrate them into the business with intention and care.

It Shows How You Communicate Internally

Many new employees say the most frustrating part of onboarding is a lack of communication, both before and after their start date. Silence between offer and start date is a red flag. No clear point of contact or unclear expectations is even worse.

This is especially critical for senior hires, like Hospital Directors or Heads of Clinical Services, who often have long notice periods. If your only contact between offer acceptance and a single welcome call a week before they start is radio silence, you’re sending the wrong message.

These professionals are likely to have counteroffers on the table and ongoing interest from competitors. Don’t assume the job is sealed just because they’re serving notice. If your onboarding process fails to nurture them during this time, you risk losing them before day one.

What you can do: Create a pre-start checklist that includes regular touchpoints, welcome packs, and clear next steps.

What it says about your hiring process: We value transparency and open communication, not just during interviews but throughout the entire employee journey.

It Reflects the Quality of Your Employer Brand

Your employer brand isn’t just what’s written on your website, it’s what people experience. If you’ve talked about culture, collaboration, and support during interviews, onboarding is your opportunity to prove it. Introducing new hires to the wider team, assigning a buddy, and setting up structured check-ins aren’t optional extras. They’re essential to helping people feel seen, supported, and part of something bigger.

What you can do: Map out your onboarding touchpoints: what do new hires see, hear and feel in their first week?

What it says about your hiring process: We don’t just talk about culture. We live it from day one.

It Impacts Retention From the Start

Research shows most new hires decide within their first 90 days whether they see themselves staying long term. If the onboarding process is rushed, inconsistent, or unclear, it plants seeds of doubt early on, even among highly motivated professionals. In the healthcare sector, where the pressure is high and the margin for error is small, onboarding plays an essential role in helping new staff find their footing quickly and confidently.

What you can do: Review your 30-60-90-day plan. Is it structured enough to support performance, feedback and connection?

What it says about your hiring process: We hire for the long term, and we’re committed to giving new employees the tools to succeed and stay.

The Link Between Onboarding and Recruitment Success

Your onboarding process is a direct reflection of the strength of your recruitment function. A candidate who feels briefed, welcomed, and supported is far more likely to engage, perform, and advocate for your organisation.

Onboarding may technically be a handover between recruitment and HR, but it should feel like a seamless continuation. When that consistency is there, your new starters feel valued, not forgotten.

What can you do: Align your recruitment and HR teams on a shared onboarding workflow to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

What it says about your hiring process: We see recruitment as a relationship, not a transaction.

Final Thoughts

If your onboarding process feels like an afterthought, it’s time to rethink it. It’s not just about getting people through the door. It’s about helping them walk through it with confidence, clarity, and a genuine sense of belonging.

A well-designed onboarding process improves retention, reinforces your employer brand, and validates everything your recruitment promised. Most importantly, it tells your new hires that they’ve joined an organisation that respects their time, values their contribution, and wants them to thrive.

Next step: Ask yourself, what three changes could you make today to strengthen onboarding for your next hire?

If you're reviewing your onboarding process and want to align it more closely with your recruitment strategy, we’re here to help. We work with healthcare employers to build hiring journeys that don’t stop at the offer but support success long beyond day one.

For further Hiring Manager and Recruiter advice, consult Fertility Talent or simply call us on 01904 230002.