Deep dive #9
Team rituals: Onboarding
A great start is half the journey: this is how you embed your Cultural DNA from the very first day.
Getting to know the organization and its Cultural DNA from day one
Welcoming a new colleague means more than ticking off a practical checklist. The first few weeks are crucial for how someone develops, connects, and contributes to the team. Especially during this phase, there's a powerful opportunity to make culture tangible, clarify expectations, and activate ownership from day one. Not just a series of loose encounters, but a deliberate process in which the mission and Cultural DNA of your organization take center stage. In this deep dive, you'll read why onboarding is much more than a starting point—and how to consistently use it to strengthen culture.
PART 1
Why onboarding is essential (and where Cultural DNA plays a key role)
Onboarding is the first real moment when culture isn't just talked about, but experienced. New employees take their first impressions as a reference for how the work, collaboration, and decision-making is done. During these first weeks, beliefs are formed: “What is valued here? Where do I have space? How do people treat one another here?”
Precisely because this phase is so formative, it’s also the perfect opportunity to consciously convey your Cultural DNA. Not through catchy slogans or PowerPoints, but through behavior, stories, and interaction. Those who quickly identify with the bigger picture—the mission, the values, the way of collaborating—will take initiative more quickly, feel a sense of responsibility, and actively contribute to culture.
In short: onboarding is not a one-off introduction. It's the first step in cultural development. And thereby, a crucial part of a strong, cohesive employee experience.
PART 2
How to set up a strong onboarding phase:
Effective onboarding requires more than good intentions. It’s about structure, rhythm, and clear choices. By consciously shaping onboarding, you make culture concrete and tangible. Not as an extra task on top of regular work, but as an integral part of how you welcome, activate, and connect people. In this section, you'll discover how to design onboarding step by step as a strategic means of anchoring your Cultural DNA.
STEP 1
Culture is your main course
Onboarding is about more than just a warm welcome. It’s the moment to make your mission and Cultural DNA palpable. Don’t let culture be hidden away in a PowerPoint or checklist, but make it the common thread in the first few weeks. Use your cultural manifesto as a starting point for conversations. Plan intentional coffee meetings with people from various roles, from direct colleagues to MT members, and engage in discussions: what do your values mean in practice? How do you see them reflected in teamwork, customer relations, or decision-making? Take the onboardee along in the company’s mission and vision, and show how these are lived in day-to-day reality. This is how you start building cultural ownership from the very beginning.
STEP 2
Put the onboardee in the driver’s seat
Give new colleagues the trust and responsibility to contribute from day one. Think of a small assignment or observation case that is meaningful for their role. Let them schedule a check-in themselves and clearly state what you expect: in content and in collaboration. Be realistic about the result you expect and what’s achievable, both substantively and behaviorally. In this way, you give space for ownership from the start, and make it clear: your contribution matters. It is precisely this trust that creates connection, motivation, and faster impact.
STEP 3
Build rhythm & repeat
Involve the team: introduce the onboardee to as many ambassadors of your culture as possible. Culture doesn’t stick after a single conversation or workshop. It requires rhythm and repetition, so new colleagues actively learn to recognize how values are reflected in behavior and collaboration. That’s why your onboarding should be a series of recurring contact moments, such as buddy conversations, reflections with the supervisor, and cultural check-ins with colleagues.
STEP 4
Not all at once: real understanding calls for repetition.
Hearing the story multiple times—preferably from different people—helps the new colleague really get what matters to your organization. Good onboarding isn’t about reading a manual in one afternoon, but a timed, step-by-step process that lasts several weeks.
STEP 5
Wrap up onboarding with a clear endpoint and formulating goals.
Good onboarding doesn’t end with a silent transition to 'just another work week'. Deliberately conclude the period with a moment of reflection. Have the new employee—together with their supervisor—formulate concrete development goals, both in terms of content and culture. Plan a review after six to eight weeks: what went well, what still needs attention, and where will the focus be for the coming months?
This is also the time to be clear about next steps. Has someone found their place and are they adding value? Then this is the starting point for further growth. If not, this is also the time to be honest about that. In this way, onboarding becomes a powerful selection and activation moment.
STEP 6
Make it a team effort
Onboarding isn’t an HR project. By actively involving colleagues—as a buddy, discussion partner, or reflective sparring partner—not only does the new hire's connection grow, but so does the team's ownership.
Sounds like a lot of work? Not at all. By choosing a fixed order of steps and having different people in your team handle different parts, you maximize impact and distribute the work. Especially if your core values are clear and you have the right tools to make it easy for yourself. Naturally, we’re happy to help with that.
Every good onboarding reinforces culture
Onboarding isn’t only about the newcomer. Done well, it reignites your entire team. By involving them as a buddy, coach, or cultural ambassador, you give team members the opportunity to take ownership of your shared mission and values. They are encouraged to consciously reflect on what makes your organization special—and what that means for their behavior.
This active involvement strengthens cohesion and the team’s Cultural DNA as a whole. So onboarding works both ways: it connects new people to your culture and makes the same culture come alive again for those who already work there. The result: a stronger foundation for collaboration, growth, and long-lasting engagement.
PART 4
Best practices by Cultural Archetype
Effective onboarding does not follow a single fixed format. What works in an organization where innovation is central, might not work in a culture where team alignment or customer focus is leading. By tailoring your onboarding to the dominant archetype of your organization, you increase the chance that new colleagues truly feel at home and contribute more quickly to your mission.
Below you'll find the key points for each archetype:
ARCHETYPE 1
The Achievement Culture
- Focus: Quickly provide direction, set goals, and encourage responsibility.
- Approach: Give new colleagues a clear assignment with measurable results from day one. Explain what you expect in terms of output and behavior. Assign a mentor who is sharp on performance and feedback, and conduct regular check-ins on progress.
- Tip: Be clear that success at your organization is always accompanied by learning. Make coaching and feedback as visible as results.
ARCHETYPE 2
The Customer-centric Culture
- Focus: Developing understanding of the customer and taking ownership for customer impact.
- Approach: Let new colleagues listen in on or join customer conversations. Discuss concrete customer cases and reflect on how values such as service and empathy are translated into behavior. Use feedback from customers as a regular part of onboarding.
- Tip: Be transparent: working customer-centric can sometimes be challenging. Also share the 'difficult' customer moments—including how you deal with them.
ARCHETYPE 3
The Innovation Culture
- Focus: Independent thinking, taking initiative, and experimenting from the very start.
- Approach: Let new colleagues tackle a mini-case or lead a brainstorm on an existing challenge. Encourage open discussions about what works and what could be improved. Ensure sufficient room to share their own ideas and to learn from mistakes.
- Tip: Combine freedom with clarity: specify how ideas are handled, how feedback is organized, and what scope there is for experimentation.
ARCHETYPE 4
The One Team Culture
- Focus: Connecting with the team and understanding collaboration across roles.
- Approach: Let new colleagues work collaboratively on a joint case with colleagues from different teams. Discuss what went well and what could be improved in the collaboration. Link reflection moments to team rituals and involve multiple people in the onboarding journey.
- Tip: Show that collaboration is not an end in itself: emphasize how shared goals are achieved and where there is room for initiative.
ARCHETYPE 5
The Greater Good Culture
- Focus: Connecting with the bigger purpose and understanding your own role in it.
- Approach: Take new colleagues along in the mission, let them participate in an impact project, or share experiences of colleagues who actively contribute to social topics. Reflect on what the mission personally means to them and how it is embedded in their work.
- Tip: Create space for dialogue: why did they choose to work here, what resonates for them in your mission, and how do they want to contribute?
Onboarding works best when it matches who you are as an organization.
WRAPPING UP
Onboarding is not a one-time introduction, but a strategic moment when culture comes to life. It’s the key starting point for activating your mission, strengthening your team, and building robust Cultural DNA. By introducing new colleagues to behavior, rhythm, and responsibilities from day one—and in a way that fits your archetype—you launch onboarding with a flying start. Not just for the new employee, but for the whole team. By intentionally incorporating the elements of your cultural archetype into your onboarding, you not only boost engagement among new colleagues, but also reinforce connectivity and your Cultural DNA as a whole.
In short: taking onboarding seriously is not just an investment in a good start, but in sustainable growth and strengthening your culture.