Onboarding at a new company can be overwhelming and disorganized, if not well structured. Staffbase believes that Human Resources teams need to be able to deliver automated, personalized messages to guide new hires from day one and beyond. With structured content timelines in Journeys, in addition to Staffbase’s rich media tools, you can ensure key moments are timely and engaging. By reducing uncertainty and fostering connection, Journeys sets new employees up for success from the start.

In this article:

Key Facts | Steps | Measure Success | Best Practices | How Onboarding Journeys Look for Users | Additional Resources 

Problem Statement: Generic onboarding programs deliver the same information to every employee, and new employees may struggle to find the information they actually need.

Business Objective: Provide a personalized onboarding experience that helps new hires quickly feel informed, supported, and connected, improving retention and time-to-productivity.

Staffbase Features: 

• Journeys: Guide new employees through a step-by-step digital onboarding experience with personalized content, tasks, and reminders.
• Journey Navigator: Activate this feature to provide employees with a clear overview of all their journeys in one place, helping them track progress and stay engaged.

Audience: New employees across all departments and locations, including office-based, remote, and frontline workers.

Outcome: New employees gain quick access to exactly the knowledge, tools, and resources they need at the right moment, leading to faster integration, improved engagement, and a stronger connection to the company culture.

You can use this step-by-step guide to set up this use case in Staffbase.

Create a Conditional Group for New Employees

1. In the Studio, navigate to Users > Groups.
2. Click Create Group.
3. Provide a name and description for the group, and select the groups or users you want to manage the group.
4. Under Type, select Internal.
5. Under Add Users, select Based on Conditions.
6. Under Include Condition, click Add Group Condition.
7. Select a profile field condition and a value that indicate the onboarding status, and click Create.

Learn more about creating conditional groups.

Create the Journey Navigator and Add it as a Mobile Quick Link

1. In the Studio, navigate to Content > Journeys > Journey Navigator.
2. Click Add.
3. Enter the name for the Journey Navigator, and click Add Journey Navigator.
4. Build a landing page and click Publish Page.
5. Click Copy Link.
6. Add the Journey Navigator as a mobile quick link.

Learn more about creating the Journey Navigator and adding it to your App or Intranet as a quick link, in the menu, or to a page.

Set up the Onboarding Journey

1. In the Studio, navigate to Content > Journeys > Add Journey.
2. Provide a name for the journey, select a space, and add contributors.
3. Click Add Journey.
4. Click Set a Starting Point.
5. Select Onboard Users to a Specific Group and click Next.
6. Under Visibility in the App, select the conditional group you just created.
7. Under Rejoining a Journey, select User continues the journey.
8. Under Group Members to Begin Journey, select New group members only.
9. Select the option Pending Users Start Journey to start the journey for pending users as they are added to the connected group.
10. Click Done.

Learn more about creating Journeys and setting the starting point.

Create the Onboarding Journey Steps

1. In the Studio, navigate to the onboarding journey you just created, click Create First Step, and provide a title.
2. Under Step Content, add the desired content.
3. Under Schedule, select Instant, and click Save.
4. Click the arrow to return to the journey page, click Add Step, and add the desired content.
5. Under Schedule, select Scheduled, and define on which day and time the step should be received.
6. Click Save.
7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 for all your onboarding journey steps.
8. Click Activate Journey.

Learn more about creating the first journey step.

Test, Monitor, and Adjust the Onboarding Journey

1. Perform a test to ensure that the onboarding journey works properly.
   Create a test user with the profile field value that matches the conditional group. Check if the test user was automatically added to the conditional group. Log in with the test user credentials to confirm that the onboarding journey starts automatically.
2. Gather and implement feedback from employees who have completed the onboarding journey to fill possible gaps. 
   Coordinate with your HR or IT department to ensure the profile field value that is used in the conditional group is kept accurate.
3. Ensure employee data is continuously accurate.
   Information such as start dates, roles, and other profile fields should be regularly synced between systems so groups and triggers work correctly.

These are different ways you can track the success of this use case.

Ask for Feedback

• Measure satisfaction with the onboarding process at the end or within journeys.
• Create a survey to gather feedback on the digital onboarding process.

Refine the Onboarding Journey

• Consistently review and refine onboarding Journeys with main stakeholders and employees.
• Ensure journey steps remain relevant and effective for future new hires.

Measure Changes in Onboarding KPIs

• Create a survey to collect feedback at the end of week 1 and month 1 to track people-focused metrics like retention, time to productivity, and satisfaction of new hires.
• Curate questions that evaluate the experiences of employees who received a digital onboarding or traditional approach to understand how the journey altered retention and performance.

Staffbase has a few recommendations to ensure the best experience for your users.

 

Plan and Structure the Journey

• Create a Journey Navigator landing page with general information around journeys that display to all employees, also those without assigned journeys.
• Define key milestones such as a week pre-start, day 1, week 1, and month 1, and map out the content you want new hires to receive at each stage.
• Use automated triggers (like start dates or app registrations) to ensure content is delivered at the right time.

 

Personalize Messages and Engage Your Audience

• Adapt journeys with small role- or department-specific adjustments to keep the experience relevant and targeted.
• Use the personalization widget (e.g., first name, team, location) to make messages more welcoming.
• Add playful touches with the animation widget (confetti, balloons, fireworks, etc.) to celebrate milestones in a fun way.

 

Improve Through Feedback and Collaboration

• Schedule surveys after key milestones to gather feedback and identify potential gaps.
• Collaborate with HR, IT, and managers to align onboarding with broader organizational goals.

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• 4 Employee Onboarding Checklist Templates for Today's Workforce

Additional Helpful Information

• Overview of Journeys
• Creating the Journey Navigator
• Creating the Journey Navigator Landing Page