Onboarding Coaching: The Importance of Getting Pre-boarding and Onboarding Right

For HR leaders, the success of new hires is often seen as the hallmark of effective recruitment strategies. But recruitment is only the beginning. Ensuring that your new hires are fully supported as they transition into your organisation is equally crucial. This is where onboarding coaching comes in—a targeted approach that goes beyond standard onboarding practices to help new employees integrate smoothly and quickly become valuable contributors.

What is Onboarding Coaching?

Onboarding coaching is a personalised approach that supports new hires as they navigate the critical first few months in a new role. It provides one-to-one coaching, typically delivered by an external professional, to help new employees settle into their roles, understand the company culture, and build key relationships. Unlike traditional onboarding, which often focuses on orientation and administrative processes, onboarding coaching addresses the personal and professional aspects of the transition.

A BOLDLY coach, for example, can work directly with your new hire to sync up with peers, direct reports, and stakeholders. This tailored support helps the individual acclimatise quickly, gain clarity on expectations, and align with the team’s dynamics. The result? A significant reduction in the time it takes for a new hire to reach full productivity, thereby increasing their contribution to the business early on.

We spoke with Sean McCartan, CEO of Onset, a leading recruitment agency in Australia. He shared the following:

The Importance of Getting Onboarding Right

Why is it essential to focus on onboarding coaching? The answer lies in the impact that successful onboarding has on employee engagement, retention, and productivity. According to several research sources, up to 20% of employee turnover happens within the first 45 days of employment (Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM); Human Capital Institute (HCI); Glassdoor). A poor onboarding experience can lead to disengagement, frustration, and ultimately, early exits. Conversely, effective onboarding can set the tone for long-term success.

For high-value hires, the stakes are even higher. When you've invested significant resources in recruiting top talent, it’s vital to ensure they are supported in their transition. Onboarding coaching helps these key individuals navigate the complexities of their new role, adapt to the organisational culture, and build the necessary internal networks to thrive. This personalised support is essential for empowering your new hires to excel and deliver on the promise they bring to the organisation.

What Does Pre-boarding Mean?

Pre-boarding refers to the phase between a candidate accepting a job offer and their official start date. It’s a crucial, yet often overlooked, period in which HR teams can begin the process of engaging the new hire and setting them up for success. Pre-boarding involves sending welcome materials, introducing the new hire to the team, and providing access to any necessary resources or platforms. Essentially, it’s about preparing the new hire to hit the ground running.

Onboarding coaching can also begin during this pre-boarding phase. A coach can engage with the new hire to understand their concerns, answer questions, and help them mentally prepare for their new role. This early support can ease the transition, reduce first-day anxieties, and foster a sense of belonging before the new hire even steps through the door.

Accelerating Success with Onboarding Coaching

The ultimate goal of onboarding coaching is to accelerate the integration of new hires, enabling them to contribute value to the organisation sooner. By focusing on both the professional and interpersonal aspects of the transition, onboarding coaching helps new hires build confidence, clarify their role, and form strong connections with their colleagues.

HR leaders who invest in onboarding coaching are essentially ensuring that their recruitment efforts pay off in the long term. By providing high-value hires with the support they need during the critical early months, you can significantly enhance their engagement, productivity, and likelihood of staying with the organisation. In turn, this leads to stronger teams, better performance, and a more cohesive company culture.

Here's some practical ways an HR team can bring a coaching approach to pre-boarding and onboarding to impact retention and performance for new hires.

1:1 Executive Coaching Sessions

• Provide individual coaching to senior hires during pre-boarding to align personal goals with organisational expectations.
• Focus on role clarity, leadership style, and early impact strategies to set them up for success.

Group Coaching for Mid-Managers

• Organise small group coaching sessions for middle managers, focusing on team management and alignment with company culture.
• Use these sessions to strengthen collaboration among managers across departments and foster shared learning experiences.

Onboarding Buddy Programs with Coaching Touchpoints

• Match new employees with internal mentors or buddies trained in coaching conversations to guide them through the onboarding process.
• Encourage buddies to facilitate goal-setting discussions and offer constructive feedback during the first 90 days.

Pre-Boarding Career Visioning Conversations

• Use career coaching techniques to help new hires reflect on their long-term career ambitions and how their role fits into the bigger picture.
• Help them articulate personal development goals they can start working on from day one.

Coaching-Style Feedback During Check-ins

• Train HR and managers to use open-ended coaching questions (e.g., “What has gone well so far? What do you need more of to succeed?”) during onboarding check-ins.
• Focus on exploring challenges and co-creating solutions, rather than just giving instructions.

Learning Circles for New Hires

• Facilitate peer coaching groups where new employees can discuss their experiences, share learnings, and offer support to one another.
• Use these sessions to surface common onboarding challenges and proactively address them.

Strengths-Based Assessments and Coaching Conversations

• Incorporate tools like Gallup’s CliftonStrengths or VIA assessments in onboarding to identify new hires' strengths and align them with role expectations.
• Offer coaching to help employees leverage their strengths from the start.

Manager Involvement in Onboarding Coaching Plans

• Involve line managers in co-creating onboarding goals with new employees and hold coaching-style accountability conversations during progress reviews.
• Equip managers with coaching frameworks (such as GROW) to guide these conversations.

Tracking Engagement and Development Progress

• Use a coaching platform to monitor onboarding milestones and provide visibility into the progress of individual and group coaching engagements.
• Ensure data is shared with stakeholders to align development efforts with business objectives.

Celebrate Early Wins and Build Momentum

• Use coaching conversations to reflect on early achievements, reinforcing positive behaviours and building momentum toward long-term success.

Incorporating these coaching elements into pre-boarding and onboarding processes will create a more engaging, supportive, and developmental experience for new employees. This approach helps accelerate integration, reduces turnover, and promotes personal and professional growth right from the start.

At BOLDLY, we understand the importance of onboarding done right. Our coaches work with your new hires to ensure they integrate seamlessly into your organisation, build key relationships, and achieve productivity quickly. Whether you’re looking to support a senior leader or a key specialist, our onboarding coaching solutions can make all the difference in their success and yours.

Are you looking for a trusted career coach to facilitate your staff development? Find them at BOLDLY, where we feature vetted and highly proficient coaches who can meet your organisation's specific needs through first-class professional coaching services. Explore our platform and get to know our coaches today.

About the Author:

Alexandra Lamb is an accomplished organisational development practitioner, with experience across APAC, North America, and MENA. With 20+ years in professional practice, conglomerates, and startups, she has collaborated with rapid-growth companies and industry innovators to develop leaders and high-performance teams. She is particularly experienced in talent strategy as a driver for business growth. Drawing from her experience in the fields of talent management, psychology, coaching, product development, and human-centred design, Alex prides herself on using commercial acumen to design talent solutions with true impact.