The Complete & Perfected Employee Onboarding Process for Creative Agencies
💼 The Feeling You Can't Shake
The incredible feeling of having someone join your team is unique.
Whether you're the person who founded this business and feeling like you're getting to the next level with this new hire, or you are the person who is going to train them, like the business or operations manager who feels trusted to be a mentor, there's something special about that moment.
But it's very disheartening when things don't head forward smoothly.
Sometimes we get frustrated with the new hire, and that relationship with them never finds a strong footing. Sometimes we keep apologizing for not having the perfect system and lose credibility and confidence. Sometimes we get annoyed because we feel like we are answering the same questions over and over.
Whatever your experience may have been, or it will be, I have been there. I had a lot more frustrating moments than I can count. Positive and memorable ones? I only started truly experiencing those after I implemented this system.
Here's the thing: onboarding is starting a new relationship with someone and creating that first impression.
And the minute they see you through a certain lens, it is so very hard to change.
🔍 The Week I Was About to Lose
I don't have to look elsewhere to feel and see the pain of not having a solid onboarding system.
My realization came when we were about to hire an employee a few years ago, and I was looking down the barrel of losing a week on one-on-one training to make sure our new team member captured all the nuances. This training would then be followed by who knows how long invested by our senior technician and the operations manager doing about the same.
I quickly realized I had to think of a way to create a system now and capture as much as I could this time around so the hire after this one would take a lot less time from our team members.
But then I thought I only needed a training system.
Just documentation. Just the "how to do the work" stuff.
Shortly after our new member joined our team, the chaos hit.
She didn't have the right access when required to get things done. She had a million questions along the way, all of which should've been answered by us before she had to ask.
That's when I realized: I didn't just need a training system. I needed a complete onboarding blueprint from top to bottom.
💡 If I Do This Once, I'll Never Have to Do It Again
Here's what I realized: I have a passion for sitting across from someone and truly communicating a number of things to them in person.
I wanted them to see, not just read, where we are passionate, how we deliver on this passion, and what is that “why” that drives us behind everything.
It always felt like all of these things would be easier spoken versus written, because I knew deep inside not only would somebody somewhere quickly disconnect from a lot of reading, but they would also lose focus and interest because it would be dry, no matter how passionately it's written.
So I had an idea: What if I could record myself talking about the things that matter?
Then share my screen. Walk the person through it they need to learn.
The beauty of this? If I do a good job of this once, I would never have to do it again.
🎬 What Every New Hire Needs to Know
Now let's think about it.
One of the most important things that every person you hire needs to know about is: What is your product?
What do you bring to the marketplace? Because, you're doing it slightly differently than others, and that's your signature. How do you bring in revenue? That is something that every person that joins your team needs to know about.
Then let's look at another thing.
For example, one of my favorite videos I recorded was literally a five-minute video of its own, with a few examples and a deep dive into why details in what we do matter.
You would think this is very obvious, and you're hiring someone quality, so you shouldn't have to go through this. But people need to know your business and what you mean by details. People need to know what details you're seeing that you want them to see.
Just like the other video earlier that I mentioned on your product, this too should be something that every person joining your team should learn about.
If you sit down and list it all, you will end up with a long list of things to talk about with this new hire, which is what I had before all this. Just keep filling up your cup with a cup of coffee and going back at it and trying to relay the message perfectly without forgetting something. Hoping they capture it all.
Or you can do what I did.
📹 Loom, a Checklist, and 5 to 10 Minutes
Here's the training process:
Pick one topic you can cover in 5 to 10 minutes then make a quick list of things that you want to mention in this one training. Now, understandably, there might be some things that take a lot longer, but when possible, break them up.
Record yourself, talking into your webcam, just like that person is right there, looking back at you with as much passion and drive you want to bring into the conversation. Make sure you take a peek at that checklist from time to time and that you cover all the details you want this video to have.
Then, with your next hire, you can just tell them: "Now that we sat together for 30 minutes, here's a video I want you to watch, and then come back to me and share with me what you learned from it and what you found the most interesting."
Now I admit I went a step further than that.
I realized recording myself and having a person watch it is a great idea, but I wouldn't be able to read their faces or give them a chance to ask questions to make sure training lands.
I had to come up with a good way to make sure my video recording delivered just as well as I would have in person.
So I built a quick form with four questions that the person has to answer after they have seen the training video:
Any questions about this content, or a part you'd like to learn more about?
What's one thing you learned or found very useful to know?
Please summarize the main points and takeaways in your own words.
Star rating (1 to 10 stars): How clear and helpful did you find this content?
I have found that, as long as I have made a good hire and only ask these four questions after they have watched the video, I can quickly have a follow-up conversation with them when necessary to make sure the training is a success.
Plus their response gave me an opportunity to improve my training videos. Sometimes I didn't rerecord the whole thing. I just added more to it or deducted from it.
Now I hear you saying this sounds too advanced.
Well, guess what? It was perfectly low tech, and that's how it had to be so I could build the system quickly.
When it came to recording, I simply used Loom. It has very easy editing features online. Right after recording your video, you can simply stitch things together or take things apart within seconds. Best of all, it automatically transcribes and gives you subtitles.
Then I used an online form builder for them to submit these questions once they've seen the video, but you know what? You don't even have to do that. You can just tell them, "Email me answers to these four questions once you've seen the video."
With this one step, I was able to solve an incredible amount of time savings.
But it wasn't enough.
🖥️ The Software Training Library: Where Loom Really Shines
I also had to show the trainee our workflows on the computer screen.
That's actually where Loom shined even better as I could simply record my screen.
Now, whatever your industry is, whether you're an interior designer, architecture firm, or another creative agency, you are using software as part of delivering your work.
That software has various options on how you do things in it. You've taken the time, more than likely, to set certain standards on how specific things get done your way.
Now you can just use Loom to record them and create a library of standards that will eliminate common questions or missteps.
In fact, when the questions do come in, if you feel like this is not a one- to two-sentence answer and it requires context, don't answer it.
Record a Loom video and share it, because your very next hire will likely have that question. Now you won't have to answer it personally. Now you have a library. A reference guide. A resource that grows with every question.
🎁 The Secret Ingredient: Let the New Hire Build the System
Now you would think this is it. This right here is the whole plan.
But it was still missing something.
And in the third week of our new hire, I realized: while I tried to put myself in the shoes of someone who was just getting to know us, and that is how I should deliver training and provide access, it’s easier said than done.
I realized the system needed improvement early on, so I turned around and told our new hire:
"Your very first project will be taking the training, access, and the answers you're getting from me and organizing it in a way that the person we hire after you can go through this training and not be anywhere near as challenged as you're being right now."
This worked out great because I immediately started getting value out of the new hire's time before they even learned and were trusted with the job.
Their first project was low risk, and I could easily check on it to catch any gaps.
But needless to say, it was a great way to start a relationship with someone by telling them you trust them to build a critical system for the business.
I'd say this was the most magical piece to the puzzle.
Once she was done, I was amazed at some really simple things that I was shocked I missed. As well as some really interesting ideas that sounded fantastic but I knew deep down I would have never thought of.
Just to give you one simple example:
Every training document had the same template. There was the video, an AI summary of the topic which I extracted from the transcription, and the questions they had to answer.
But when my new hire was going through the training, her immediate idea was: "There is a wealth of information here, but it's not easy to refer to. Why don’t we add a checklist or a bullet point to cover key concepts? In essence, something that is action-based and available right on top of the training guide that people can quickly look at to see and get a refresh?”
An idea I would have likely never thought of myself and it was genius.
📋 The Foundation: Checklists
Now let's move on to the proper onboarding system, which I promised you and have yet to deliver details on.
I'm afraid you may be disappointed to find out: it's a lot easier than you think.
First, let me get this out of the way. True business is built on systems and processes and you can't do any of these if you're not using checklists.
If you don't know what I'm talking about or you don't agree with it, please pause and read The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande.
Now back to talking about the rest of this system.
Training has to be a checklist of items that happen in an order.
There's a checklist item for each training material. In fact I recommend creating a standard to break each training into sub-checklists, which include:
Gaining necessary access to the tools & materials
Watching the training
Practicing
Providing feedback
Taking personal notes
So overall, everything that needs to happen, when it needs to happen, and how, needs to become a checklist item.
Good news, no need to sweat it yourself. Building this checklist could be the job of your very next hire.
Know that things will go wrong, and they'll realize you've given them something late, and they'll move it to where it needs to go. Or if you're by mistake giving them access to something early, they will question it because they won’t know what to do with it yet.
When it comes to technology and setup, I’m happy to get into essentials, and I do with each new client as part of our onboarding. We go over things like computer setup, mailbox access, email signature, and so on.
But the bottom line is, do the best you can, and just like the rest, let your new hire build the essentials into the checklist. As they go through onboarding themselves, they will be the best judge on the foundation of your comprehensive onboarding process.
Yes, it won't be perfect, and you may need to look things up sometimes. But guess what? It will be perfectly yours, and it will be your starting point to improve on.
✅ Low Tech, High Impact
Most likely, right now you don't have an onboarding process you feel proud of.
Here's what you need:
Loom subscription costs less than a couple hundred dollars a year. It will save you a ton of time.
ChatGPT (or your favorite AI tool) to turn transcripts into summaries or checklists.
A form builder (or just ask them to email you).
A checklist It could be a template in your task and project manager or a Word document.
Prep a little. Have a checklist of things to mention on a given topic. Record yourself. Get the transcription directly from Loom and use your favorite AI subscription to turn it into a summary or even a checklist that your new hire has to test.
Ask them questions along the way and make it their first high priority project to build an onboarding system.
🎯 What Happens When You Get This Right
You wear your best outfit. You carry confidence.
The new hire feels supported, not lost. They know what you bring to the marketplace. They know why details matter. They know how you do things. They have a library to refer to. They have a checklist to follow.
The relationship starts on solid ground.
You don't keep apologizing. You don't lose credibility. You don't answer the same questions over and over.
You start experiencing positive, memorable onboarding moments. The kind where the new hire says, "Wow, this is so organized. I've never experienced this before."
And you realize: this is what it feels like to get it right.
🤝 What Happens When You Don't
You keep apologizing. You lose credibility. You answer the same questions over and over.
The relationship starts on shaky ground, and it's hard to recover.
The new hire feels lost. They get overwhelmed with random pieces of information thrown at them. You question whether they're the right fit.
And the road ahead looks rough.
If you're getting stuck anywhere or feeling like before you start, you have to flush out some thoughts, I'm always happy to chat.
Looking for the other half of the employee lifecycle?
Check out The Exit Protocol: The Complete Employee Offboarding Checklist.