onboard
on-BORD
/ˌɒnˈbɔːrd/
The process of integrating a new employee into an organization.
Onboarding is more than just 'orientation'; it includes training, culture immersion, and setting up tools over several weeks or months.
The story behind the word. A nautical metaphor. To 'come on board' meant to join the crew of a ship. In a business context, the company is the 'ship' and the new hire is a new crew member.
Word relationships
- orient: Orientation is usually a one-day event; onboarding is a long-term process.
- integrate: Integrate is a general term for becoming part of a whole.
- offboard: The process of managing an employee's departure from a company.
Commonly confused with
- training: Training is about skills; onboarding is about the whole environment and culture.
Word family
- onboarding (noun): The system of welcoming and training new employees.
Collocations
- onboard new hires
- onboarding process
- onboarding program
Example sentences
- "It takes about ninety days to fully onboard a new executive and get them up to speed on our strategy." HR Management
- "The app has a great tutorial to onboard new users quickly." Software
Memory hook
Imagine walking onto a large ship. You need to know where your cabin is, who the captain is, and how the ship works. That is onboarding. Onboard = Join the ship.
When not to use
Don't use it for the hiring process itself; it only begins once the person has accepted the offer.
Fun facts
- The term 'onboarding' only became popular in the corporate world in the 1970s; before that, it was just 'socialization'.
Related words
Explore more words
onboarding, Integration, induct, integrate, socialize, socialization
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