Guide To New Employee Onboarding: The 30-60-90 Framework

Positive onboarding is critical. Gallup finds that 70% of employees who had exceptional onboarding experiences say they have “the best possible job.” These employees are also 2.6 times as likely to be extremely satisfied with their workplace—making them far more likely to stay.

How to create a best-in-class onboarding experience.

A simple 30-60-90 plan can help set expectations around learning milestones so a new hire feels supported. It also lets everyone on the team know what the new hire will learn, when they’ll learn it and who will support them during their first few months. 

Each month-long segment of a 30-60-90 plan has a specific focus.

• Days 1-30 center on learning.
• Days 31-60 build on that learning.
• Days 61-90 focus on execution and letting the new hire shine.

Here’s a basic description of each learning phase, with examples of how a hiring manager might tailor the plan for a junior marketer.

Days 1-30.

A new employee is getting used to everything from how to log in to the system to where the bathroom is located. The hiring manager should help them understand the organization’s mission, work tools and ongoing projects, all while setting small, manageable goals for each key focus area.

In the junior marketer’s case, 30-day goals might look something like:

• Learn company tools: Get familiar with the content management system. 
• Get comfortable with our culture: Attend company values and history training, join an employee resource group, and attend a team lunch.
• Learn our product/services: Attend two product demos. 
• Complete a small project: Learn our social media platforms and begin monitoring online conversations.
• Achieve a small goal: Adopt our brand voice in written communications.

Manager pro-tip: Mark time on the calendar to formally congratulate the new employee for getting through their first month! This could be a lunch out, coffee chat or small token of appreciation.

Days 31-60.

Month two should involve more collaboration and greater responsibilities. Managers can start to transition from training to more learning-by-doing, establishing bigger, more impactful objectives.

A junior marketer’s 60-day targets could include:

• Complete a larger project: Finalize conference-planning activities. 
• Take on longer-term responsibilities: Learn our metrics tracking methods and begin weekly analytics. 
• Work with other teams: Collaborate with PR to pitch speaking opportunities. 
• Get used to routine processes: Schedule weekly 1:1s and track metrics and daily tasks.

Manager pro-tip: Introduce the new hire to a senior leader who can speak about the organization’s mission and vision and how their role contributes to success.

Days 61-90.

By the third month, the new hire is getting more acclimated to their role. They’re able to accomplish tasks with less guidance—or at least know who to reach out to when they need help. It’s time for the manager to begin holding the new hire accountable for established goals and metrics.

The junior marketer should now be able to:

• Take on bigger responsibilities: Continue previously assigned tasks and meetings and take over case study development.
• Complete a project independently: Create a monthly webinar calendar and coordinate a webinar development and execution plan independently.
• Manage ongoing tasks and responsibilities: Schedule and update assigned projects via the marketing calendar. 

Manager pro-tip: Assign a mentor to the new hire to begin laying the groundwork for future growth and development.

30-60-90 day onboarding checklist template.

Encourage managers to use this template to create their new hire’s 30-60-90 day plan.

Ask managers to reflect on the following:

• What is the new hire’s specific role and purpose within the organization?
• What key contributions will they make to our team?
• How should their responsibilities be structured so learning segments are logical, manageable and align with organizational goals?

Then, have the manager fill in the below template. Learning targets should be reasonable and managers should resist the urge to overload the new hire.

---

Role: ________________

GOALS

Days 1-30: Learn

• Learn company tools:
• Get comfortable with our culture:
• Learn our product/service:
• Complete a small project:
• Achieve a small goal:

Days 30-60: Build

• Complete a larger project:
• Take on longer-term responsibilities:
• Work with other teams:
• Get used to routine processes:

Days 60-90: Execute

• Take on bigger responsibilities:
• Complete a project independently:
• Manage ongoing tasks and responsibilities:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Beyond 90 days…

While most of the onboarding experience falls to the manager, HR still has a role to play.

• Check in with the hiring manager and employee regularly.
• Use onboarding surveys at key milestones to establish a consistent cadence for collecting feedback on both the employee’s onboarding experience and the manager’s onboarding plan.
• Congratulate the employee and manager when milestones are achieved.

These steps have an added benefit of reinforcing the idea that open communication at all levels helps everyone perform at their best.

Ensure your employees feel valued and heard.

TINYpulse by WebMD Health Services is an innovative employee feedback and engagement software solution that can help you create an exceptional onboarding experience. We empower companies globally to not only measure but also enhance company culture, boost employee retention and elevate performance by ensuring you are listening to your people.

To learn more about how TINYpulse can help your organization increase engagement and prioritize the well-being and success of every individual in your organization, check out these resources or request a demo.