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- Speed Meets Strategy: Smarter Onboarding Starts Here
Speed Meets Strategy: Smarter Onboarding Starts Here
Handle HR onboarding, training, and tech, all in flow
Chasity Williams
April 15, 2025 • Read in about 8 minutes
Let’s be honest: onboarding is often a mess of emails, checklists, and “Did anyone set up their laptop?” When done manually, it’s easy to drop the ball. HR’s sending reminders, IT’s chasing tickets, and your new hire is left waiting for direction. It doesn’t just slow things down, it sets the wrong tone from day one. But with automation, you can build a smooth, repeatable system that sets new employees up for success without the scramble. Forms get filled, accounts get created, and training gets assigned, automatically. This week, we’re showing you how to turn onboarding from reactive to ready, one workflow at a time.
This Week’s Flow Lineup
//HEADLINE
From Offer to Onboarding: Success Starts Early
Image by Gerd Altmann
Onboarding doesn’t begin on day one, it starts the moment a candidate says “yes.” The most effective programs kick off with thoughtful preboarding, giving new hires early access to tools, info, and a sense of belonging before they even step through the door. Clarity around role expectations, workflows, and team culture sets the tone, turning that initial excitement into confident momentum.
According to SHRM, successful onboarding isn’t a week-long checklist, it’s a year-long journey. The strongest programs focus on connection, communication, and consistency, with structured first days, regular check-ins, and clear resource hubs. When new employees feel seen and supported from the jump, retention goes up, and performance follows. Done right, onboarding becomes a launchpad and not a scramble.
//INSIGHTS//UPDATES
How Automation Is Reshaping Work and Hiring
Robots aren’t replacing jobs, they’re reshaping how industries operate. Explore how automation is quietly scaling in warehouses, factories, and beyond. The focus isn’t on hype, but real-world implementation and missed momentum. 🤖
The adoption of AI in recruitment is enabling smarter, data-driven hiring decisions. Companies are utilizing AI tools to assess candidate fit, predict job performance, and enhance diversity in the workplace. These innovations contribute to building more effective and inclusive teams. ⚙️
Throwing the kitchen sink at new hires is out. Structured, bite-sized onboarding is in. HBR shows that drip-feeding the right info at the right time builds stronger, longer-lasting engagement. Bottom line: better flow, better retention. 💥
First-time managers don’t need to know everything, they just need a plan. Clear expectations, regular check-ins, and small wins early on help build trust fast. When you set the tone with structure and presence, you give new hires a real shot at success. 🫂
//VIDEOSPOTLIGHT
Efficient Onboarding: Automate with Airtable & Make
This isn’t just a tutorial—it’s a systems therapy session. Mitch used to lose contracts, forget who he hired, and make it up as he went. Now? He’s got Airtable automations doing the heavy lifting while he works one day a week. If “clean ops” and “free template” don’t get you to click, we don’t know what will.
//HACKS//TEMPLATES//TUTORIALS
Your Shortcut Starts Here
This tutorial shows how to level up HR feedback loops with Airtable, creating visual dashboards and instant escalations.
This tutorial shows how to build an automated onboarding tracker in Airtable with complete with forms, checklists, and progress views.
Learn how to set up automated workflows in Make that handle new hire data entry, contract generation, and meeting scheduling, enhancing efficiency in the onboarding process.
Build a plug-and-play client onboarding system using Make, Slack, Airtable, and Google Drive, all in under 30 minutes.
//PROBLEMSOLVED
We love it when a community comes together
See this weeks finds of solved questions in the Make and Airtable communities and tweak to fit your needs.
❓Community suggested tools beyond Microsoft for cleaner onboarding logic.
❓Sysadmin seeks to automate onboarding using Microsoft Lists and Power Automate.
❓Make community assists in automating recruiter assignments using arrays.
❓Earn SHRM credit while mastering international HR fundamentals online.
//APPS
Apps That Say ‘Welcome!’ Without You Lifting a Finger
Interactive bite-sized compliance training that actually works and people enjoy | Hire anyone, anywhere—Deel handles payroll, compliance, and contracts |
Empower teams with scalable onboarding microlearning | All-in-one HR software that makes growing teams feel effortless |
Payroll, HR, and IT/software provisioning—all handled in one smart platform | Design onboarding, mentoring, and employee engagement programs right inside Slack |
//COMMUNITY CORNER
Real Talk, From The Flow Fam
In this week’s Community Corner, we’re highlighting a smart breakdown of employee onboarding automation from Nicholas Accavallo at Simplified Marketing Systems. Instead of drowning in emails, manual reminders, and scattered documents, Nicholas walks through a full, step-by-step onboarding pipeline that transforms chaos into clarity and saves businesses 15–25 hours per new hire. From auto-sending forms to syncing calendars and alerting internal teams, the flow is designed to remove stress from everyone involved.
The real magic? It’s not just about efficiency, it’s about better experiences. New hires feel welcomed and confident from day one, while internal teams can focus on mentoring instead of micromanaging. If your onboarding still feels like a fire drill, this post might just be your new playbook.
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//Up Next ⏭️
Next week’s flow topics will be centered around using tech in a non-profit so stay tuned and remember to share this newsletter with other tech lovers.
Stay in the flow!
Chasity, Lili, & the MOHJU Team
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