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Employee Onboarding
Bianca Wetter avatar
Written by Bianca Wetter
Updated over a week ago

“Sana has helped us go from manual, one-size-fits-all onboarding to a fully automated, yet still tailored experience.”

- Olivia Winkvist, Talent Manager at Foodora

Welcome to this guide on how to set up your company onboarding program on Sana. With the help of Sana, you can transition from simple enrollment to actual engagement. Remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression. Sana allows you to create beautiful hybrid onboarding programs in less time than ever. Once you are done creating, leverage Sana's smart automation features to make administration a breeze.

Value

Reduced Time to Productivity: A good onboarding program reduces time to productivity, and Sana's personalized learning approach helps speeds up the onboarding process.

Hybrid onboarding for everyone: Use your resources more effectively by allowing learners to part-take in true hybrid programs, blending self-paced, virtual live sessions, and in person-events. Make them feel part of your company from day 1.

User Engagement: Our interactive learning experience leads to high user engagement, allowing you to increase the eNPS in your new cohorts

Actionable Insights: Sana's rich content analytics allows you to identify where your learners struggle and where they excel.


Step-by-step

Before you start

  1. Make sure you are set to success

    Make Sana feel like an extension of your company - never forget the importance of the first impression. It's easy to do! Follow the instructions here

  2. Know your audience

    To leverage all the automation features of Sana, you will need to know a bit more about your users. Connect Sana to your HR system, which allows you to identify newcomers on their first day of work. This way you never have to assign onboarding programs manually again. Learn more here

  3. Don't reinvent the wheel

    You probably have a lot of knowledge that is specific to your company. Focus on that, and leverage Sana's extensive content library for the rest! Read more here

Setting up your onboarding program curriculum

  1. Automate Program Enrollment and Assignments
    Set up program enrollment rules and triggers to automatically assign content to your new joiners based on their role, department, or other attributes. For example, a new salesperson might be assigned a course on sales techniques. Adding a time-delay between courses allows you to make the new joiner feel less overwhelmed. If you haven't created a Program before, you can see how to do it here

  2. Incorporate Emails in Programs
    Use Sana's email feature to send valuable information and reminders to new joiners, learn more here. These could include:

    • Welcome Email: Send a warm welcome message to make them feel part of the team. This email could include an overview of the onboarding program and what they should expect in the coming weeks.

    • Resource Highlights: Share important resources or materials that could be helpful for new joiners. This could be a company handbook, guidelines, or a list of important contacts within the organization.

    • Check-in Emails: Periodically send check-in emails to ask how they are progressing, address any concerns, and provide support where needed.

  3. Create an Onboarding Teamspace
    Build a teamspace where new joiners can explore all available onboarding materials. Give access to experienced employees and subject matter experts to expand your knowledge base.

  4. Track Progress and Measure Impact
    Utilize Sana's dashboard Insights to easily follow up on the progress of your new joiners. This can help you measure the impact of the onboarding program on their initial performance and integration into the team.

Here is an example of a Program, and what it would look like in Sana. Notice the use of emails to welcome new-joiners, and also to follow them along the journey.

Set up the onboarding rules

Scroll down to Enrollment rules to set up who should be enrolled in the program. If you have set up your HR system integration, Sana automatically knows when your new joiner is starting. This allows Sana to assign the onboarding program based on the employee's start date, not the creation date of the user, ensuring timely and relevant onboarding.

Always use the start date from your HR system to schedule the enrollment. This ensures that onboarding begins precisely when the new hire officially starts, avoiding any premature access. Remember to set a "back-stop" rule to avoid assigning the onboarding program to current employees. Below is an example of a good setup:

Best-practice tips

  1. Implement Single Sign-On (SSO): To ensure new hires access Sana only when they officially start, implement Single Sign-On (SSO). To further secure the onboarding process, remove the option to log in using traditional email and password credentials. Read more here

  2. Remember the audience: New joiners can feel overwhelmed by new impressions the first couple of days. Use the staggering feature in programs to avoid overloading them with information on the first days.

  3. Timing is everything: Make sure that you cover topics in the right order. Perhaps it's better to start with a welcoming course or email than to assign the user the entire suite of Compliance courses on day one.

  4. Make your learnings inclusive: Use an active voice and make the learner feel truly welcome. How about asking someone in your executive team to record a short video welcoming the new joiner!

  5. Measure to improve: Don't forget to collect data. Use Sana's reflective features to collect data and create an Insights dashboard to analyze how your new joiners are doing.


FAQ

Can I have different onboarding for different audiences?

Yes, either use different programs with different enrollment rules or use placement tests to tailor the learner experience. Learn more about placement tests here

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