Imagine this: it’s your first day at a new job.
You walk in, unsure of what to expect.
Do you feel welcomed? Do you know what to do first? Or do you spend the day lost in your inbox, waiting for someone to notice you?
The difference between excitement and confusion is what separates a great onboarding experience from the rest.
For growing companies, onboarding is the first chapter of an employee’s story with you. Get it right, and you set the tone for loyalty, engagement, and productivity. Get it wrong, and you risk losing people before they even find their rhythm.
Why a Great Onboarding Experience Matters
Onboarding is a powerful predictor of long-term employee retention. In fact, if a company has a proven strong onboarding experience, new hire retention improves by 82 percent, and productivity improves by 70 percent.
But the truth is grim. Only 12 percent of employees strongly agree their organization does a great job of onboarding.
That shortfall leaves most companies vulnerable during the critical first weeks, when impressions harden, and commitment is tested.
So, companies that invest in a great onboarding experience reduce costly early turnover and retain talent longer, putting them a step ahead of the competition.
What Makes an Exceptional Employee Onboarding Experience
So, you know a great onboarding experience is important, but what actually makes it outstanding?
Think about your own first days at past jobs.
The ones that stand out probably had a mix of clarity, connection, and even a touch of fun. Exceptional onboarding experiences create momentum for both the employee and the company.
A few characteristics consistently set the best onboarding programs apart:
- Personalization — tailoring the experience to a role, location, or even individual interests shows new hires they’re seen as more than a number.
- Culture alignment — weaving company values into stories, sessions, and even artifacts helps employees understand what the organization stands for.
- Clarity of expectations — role outcomes, team norms, and career pathways should be clear from the start.
- Feedback loops — surveys, manager check-ins, and two-way conversations ensure the program evolves and employees feel heard.
- Scalability — exceptional onboarding can be delivered consistently across geographies, but still makes room for local and personal touches.
- 1:1 support to answer questions — a great onboarding experience makes employees feel safe to ask any question, big or small.
The best onboarding programs consider the employee’s needs, while also aligning the experience with the company’s values and goals.
The Best Onboarding Experiences Start With Swag
Swag isn’t just “free stuff” given away when an employee starts work. Done right, company swag sends a signal to new hires that says you belong here.
Why?
Because swag is physical and memorable. A hoodie that fits just right, a mug with your name on it, or even a curated kit shipped to your home makes culture tangible in a way presentations can’t.
Swag also taps into the simple human joy of surprise and delight. When something unexpected shows up (especially during a time filled with new information and uncertainty), it creates a positive emotional anchor.
Psychologists call these moments “micro-affirmations”—small gestures that signal someone is valued and seen. Thoughtfully chosen swag does exactly that. It transforms onboarding from a series of tasks into a thoughtful welcome experience. These emotional cues build belonging faster than any slide deck or policy document ever could.
This is why many companies weave swag into the new employee journey.
When swag is used at key touchpoints, whether it’s hiring, onboarding,or retention, it has a large impact on engagement and culture, especially when employees get to choose the items that feel most useful.
Swag Ideas for Employee Onboarding
Here’s a short, practical list of swag ideas that fit naturally into onboarding and feel like culture-building, not clutter:
- Apparel — quality hoodies, soft T-shirts, or hats in neutral colors employees actually want to wear.
- Desk essentials — notebooks, pens, mugs, or water bottles that make the first day feel set up and ready.
- Tech accessories — branded laptop sleeves, wireless chargers, or earbuds for remote/hybrid workers.
- Self care items — insulated water bottles, yoga mats, or cozy blankets that show you care about your new hire beyond the desk.
- Experience add-ons — coffee gift cards for a virtual chat with their manager, snack boxes for kickoff week, or gift codes to build their own kit from a company swag store.
12 Companies With the Best Employee Onboarding Experiences
Great companies know that having a great onboarding program tells a bigger story. It says — this is who we are, this is how you fit in, and this is why you’ll thrive here.
The following 12 companies set the gold standard for best onboarding programs.
1. Zapier
Zapier is an automation platform that connects thousands of apps so teams can eliminate repetitive work and focus on what matters. Their entire business is built around simplifying workflows — and their onboarding experience reflects that philosophy perfectly.
Zapier treats onboarding like a product. They design the flow, automate the handoffs, and remove friction for a fully remote, global team.
Just like their platform does for business operations, their onboarding system seamlessly runs in the background to make work easier.
A new hire’s first morning feels smooth because access, intros, and FAQs are already orchestrated in the background.
Zapier onboarding practices include:
- A centralized new-hire hub with self-serve resources, FAQs, and checklists.
- Automated setup and task scheduling (accounts, groups, training).
- Guides and templated workflows for managers.
- Buddy and manager prompts that cue human connections at the right moments — for example, Slack reminders for managers to schedule a welcome coffee chat or buddies to check in at 30 days.
As Zapier’s onboarding manager Ashley Priebe Brown put it, she turned “hundreds of just mindless clicks” into two clicks, using automation to create more space for human connection.
What works in Zapier’s Automated Onboarding Process
Standardized, automation-driven onboarding saves hours per hire, reduces mistakes, and helps remote employees feel supported immediately. It also helps build trust and structure from day one.
TIP: In a world where businesses use onboarding like a product, some even use corporate swag to generate leads.
2. Buffer
Buffer is fully remote and famously transparent about it. This includes being open about their early onboarding mistakes and how they learned from them, such as having laptops arrive damaged at new employees’ homes.
In the last few years, Buffer has doubled down on relationships with a “two buddy” system and provided a clear 30, 60, and 90-day roadmap so new teammates know exactly where they stand.
Buffer onboarding practices include:
- Pairing each new hire with both a “role buddy” (for job-specific guidance) and a “culture buddy” (to answer questions and model Buffer’s values).
- A structured 30, 60, and 90-day plan that lays out goals, expectations, and learning milestones.
- Early introductions to Buffer’s internal transparency practices, like open salaries and decision-making logs.
- Weekly check-ins to ensure clarity and feedback.
Why the 30/60/90 Day Onboarding Plan Makes Buffer’s Onboarding a Success
New hires integrate faster and feel connected despite being remote, lowering early turnover and strengthening Buffer’s reputation as one of the best onboarding experiences in tech.
3. Google
Google is famous for taking a data-driven approach to people operations, and onboarding is no exception. They’ve run experiments to identify which manager actions matter most in those fragile early weeks, and then systematized those actions.
Google onboarding practices include:
- A simple five-point manager checklist (role discussion, peer buddy, social network building, monthly check-ins, and open dialogue).
- Automated reminders that nudge managers to follow through on these basics.
- Early delivery of hardware and access so Nooglers (new hires) can hit the ground running.
When managers follow the Google onboarding checklist — delivered in a single email before day one even begins — new hires reached productivity 25 percent faster than their peers.
ROI of their approach: By keeping onboarding deceptively simple and backing it with reminders, Google accelerates the time it takes a new hire to reach their full capacity, improves retention, and proves that small, structured actions can yield major business impact.
4. Zappos
Zappos has long been known for turning culture into its competitive advantage. Their onboarding helps employees decide whether they want to be part of the company. Their program is deliberately immersive, designed to expose new hires to values, customer obsession, and team energy before they’re asked to fully commit.
Zappos onboarding practices include:
- A multi-week immersion program where every new hire, regardless of role, spends time answering phones and serving customers.
- A strong focus on culture education, including storytelling and real-time exposure to Zappos’ “Deliver WOW” philosophy, which focuses on wowing customers and employees with great products and experiences.
- The famous “Pay to Quit” offer. After training, employees are offered a cash bonus to leave if they feel the culture isn’t a fit.
ROI of their approach: By investing in culture-first, onboarding, and filtering for true believers, Zappos reduces costly mismatches and ensures its workforce is united by choice.
TIP: Create a beautiful, branded swag box that tells folks what your business is all about.
5. HubSpot
HubSpot treats onboarding as the first step in living its values, not just learning its tools. Every new hire goes through “HubSpotting,” a multi-day orientation that blends training with deep dives into company culture.
A cornerstone of the experience is HubSpot’s public Culture Code — a 128-slide manifesto that lays out expectations and strengthens the company’s evolving identity.
HubSpot onboarding practices include:
- Early immersion in the Culture Code, which sets expectations for transparency and autonomy.
- A digital onboarding portal that makes training resources and FAQs easy to access.
- Structured check-ins and mentoring that reinforce connections between managers, peers, and culture.
As their Culture Code explains, “We have to not just build culture, but iterate on it over time.”
Why this works: By teaching values from day one, HubSpot creates alignment and attracts talent that thrives in a culture of transparency.
6. Meta
Meta approaches onboarding like a bootcamp — intensive, immersive, and designed to get engineers productive fast while building a shared group identity.
Instead of simply dropping new hires into teams, Meta uses rotations, peer networks, and choice to ensure people land where they’ll thrive.
Meta onboarding practices include:
- New hires start in groups, attend orientation sessions together, and build a ready-made peer network that lasts well beyond the first weeks.
- Dedicated onboarding managers and technical mentors help each new engineer navigate tools, expectations, and culture.
- Founders and leaders share Meta’s mission and values directly, reinforcing alignment early.
ROI of their approach: Giving new hires autonomy in team selection leads to higher satisfaction and longer tenure. Meta builds engagement by empowering employees to shape their own career path from the start.
7. Airbnb
Airbnb’s onboarding is all about belonging. From day one, new hires are immersed in the company’s founding story, hear directly from leaders, and participate in value workshops that translate the company’s mission statements into daily behaviors.
Airbnb onboarding practices include:
- Welcome sessions with leadership and founders.
- Values-based workshops tied to daily work.
- Tech bootcamps for engineers to learn systems fast.
- Cross-functional introductions to encourage collaboration.
The company’s slogan “Belong Anywhere” is a perfect example of how to incorporate branding into corporate gifting for new hires.
ROI of their approach: Focusing on belonging drives higher engagement and cultural alignment. Airbnb ensures employees connect emotionally to its mission, boosting both morale and retention.
8. Microsoft
At Microsoft, onboarding has to scale across tens of thousands of employees, locations, and roles.
To meet that challenge, the company built its New Employee Onboarding (NEO) Solution Accelerator, a digital framework that standardizes the onboarding journey while leaving room for personalization.
The benefit of this approach is twofold:
- Consistency at scale: Every new hire receives the same high-quality baseline experience, ensuring important steps aren’t missed.
- Personalization where it matters: Managers can add team-specific content, personalized welcome messages, or role-based training modules to make the process feel tailored, not cookie-cutter.
ROI of their approach: By turning onboarding into a digital product, Microsoft improves consistency across a complex global workforce. Standardized templates boost productivity and structured onboarding can improve new-hire performance by 50 percent.
9. Spotify
Spotify’s onboarding reflects its culture of squads, community, and creativity. Rather than treating onboarding as a simple to-do, the company designs early experiences that make hires feel safe, connected, and part of something bigger.
Spotify onboarding practices include:
- A global orientation day that introduces company history, culture, and ways of working.
- Peer guides who help new hires navigate tools, norms, and connections.
- Community-building practices like fika (a Swedish tradition that encourages coffee and tea breaks) to encourage casual connection and psychological safety.
ROI of their approach: Emphasizing culture and collaboration creates loyalty. Spotify maintains a startup-like energy while still growing, leading to higher retention and faster integration.
10. Atlassian
Atlassian treats onboarding like a shared project. The company publishes its onboarding playbooks openly, so both managers and employees know what success looks like. By making the process visible and repeatable, Atlassian reduces the guesswork and ensures consistency.
Their own content often points back to Gallup’s finding that only 12 percent of employees agree their organization does a good job of onboarding — a gap Atlassian aims to close with a standardized experience.
ROI of their approach: By automating onboarding with templates and checklists, Atlassian reduces inconsistency and raises new-hire confidence. Making resources public also reinforces their brand as a company committed to openness and collaboration.
11. Salesforce
Salesforce builds onboarding around its “Ohana” philosophy, which treats employees, customers, and partners as part of one extended family.
Salesforce onboarding practices include:
- A group-style orientation week that immerses employees in the company’s mission, culture, and customer focus.
- Gamified, self-paced modules that let employees explore tools and processes while earning badges.
- Values and social responsibility are reinforced through storytelling and volunteering opportunities.
- Regular check-ins and mentoring that ensure support extends beyond the first week.
ROI of their approach: This approach turns onboarding into both a personal and professional journey. Gamification makes learning sticky, while the group model fosters relationships from day one.
12. Netflix
Netflix has always made its culture memo the centerpiece of onboarding. What started as a 125-slide deck in 2009 has evolved into a living document that defines how the company operates.
Their 2024 Culture Memo keeps freedom & responsibility at the core, reminding every new hire that Netflix thrives on autonomy, accountability, and constant reinvention.
As Chief Talent Officer Sergio Ezama explained when publishing the 2024 update, over 1,500 employees weighed in during the document’s 12-month rewrite, which shows new hires that every voice has weight in shaping culture.
ROI of their approach: By empowering employees with trust from day one, Netflix fosters accountability and innovation. Culture-first onboarding helps attract and retain talent that thrives on autonomy.
Lessons From the Best Onboarding Programs
Across these 12 companies, a clear pattern emerges — onboarding should never be a formality; it should really mean something.
The best onboarding programs share several themes worth noting:
- Use structure and automation. Checklists, reminders, and hubs reduce errors and speed up ramp time.
- Prioritize human connection. Buddies and rituals give new hires support networks from day one.
- Teach culture clearly. Storytelling, values workshops, and culture documents align employees with the company’s mission and values.
- Provide clarity. 30-, 60-, and 90-day plans and digital roadmaps remove guesswork and build confidence.
- Build community. Group orientations and shared experiences foster belonging that lasts.
- Make culture tangible. Swag and employee gifts reinforce identity and strengthen emotional connection.
How To Improve Your Company’s Onboarding Experience
The right onboarding experience can transform a first day into a moment of belonging, reinforce company values, and remind employees why they chose you long after orientation ends.
You can improve your company’s onboarding experience with a little swag.
A thoughtful welcome kit or a company swag store voucher takes culture off the page and puts it in employees’ hands. It also shows new hires that they belong and keeps that feeling alive well beyond day one.
Ready to create onboarding that inspires loyalty from the start?
