Welcome plan: what it is, practical examples and the 4 phases to implement it

What is a welcome plan?

A welcome plan is a structured program that organizes how a company receives, orients and integrates a new hire during their first weeks or months. It’s not just about the first day: it’s the set of planned actions that help the new employee understand the company culture, get to know their team, master their tools and achieve operational autonomy as quickly as possible.

In the HR and L&D context, a well-designed welcome plan is the first investment in talent retention. According to Brandon Hall Group, organizations with a structured onboarding process improve retention by 82% and productivity by more than 70% compared to those that improvise.

Welcome plan and onboarding plan: are they the same thing?

Although they are often used as synonyms, a welcome plan and an onboarding plan are not exactly the same thing.

Onboarding is the complete process through which a company incorporates and integrates a new employee, from before their arrival until they achieve full autonomy in their role. It can include pre-boarding, the welcome, initial training, mentoring, progress evaluation and follow-up.

The welcome plan is a specific part of that process. It focuses primarily on organizing the reception, initial orientation, introducing the company and team, providing access to necessary resources and actions that facilitate adaptation during the first weeks or months.

Therefore, every onboarding plan should include a welcome plan, but onboarding can cover more stages and actions. To explore the full process, check out our guide on how to design an onboarding plan for companies.

Structure of a welcome plan: the 3 dimensions

Every effective welcome plan is organized around three complementary dimensions:

• General dimension: information valid for any onboarding, regardless of role. Includes company history and values, org chart, communication channels, internal policies and HR guidelines.
• Role-specific dimension: content tailored to the specific position and department. Role objectives, working methodology, tools and expected KPIs.
• Learning dimension: the initial learning journey. What training the employee must complete, within what timeframe, and how progress will be assessed.

This structure ensures the new employee receives coherent information, without overload, and with a clear path from day 1 to full autonomy.

Essential components of a welcome plan

For the plan to work, it must include at least these elements:

• Official welcome: message from the CEO or direct manager, team introductions and a tour of the facilities (or virtual equivalent).
• Onboarding kit: access to tools, credentials, manuals and, if applicable, a welcome box with corporate materials.
• Buddy or mentor: a designated team member to accompany the new employee during their first weeks and answer day-to-day questions.
• Learning journey: a stepped learning plan with clear milestones (week 1, month 1, month 3).
• Follow-up meetings: scheduled check-ins with the manager at 30, 60 and 90 days.
• Evaluation and feedback: a survey or meeting at the end of the process to measure employee satisfaction and identify improvements.

The 4 phases of a successful welcome plan

A structured welcome plan always goes through four sequential phases. Each one has a different purpose and requires specific actions from HR, the manager and the employee themselves.

Phase 1: Preparation (before the first day)

Onboarding starts before the employee arrives. HR must prepare the workspace, digital access, tools and notify the team. It is also recommended to send a welcome email with practical information (schedule, parking, what to expect on the first day) several days before the start date.

Phase 2: Welcome and onboarding (day 1 and first week)

The first day has a disproportionate impact on the employee’s perception. It should include a warm welcome, team introductions, a facilities tour and delivery of the onboarding kit. The first week focuses on basic training, without demanding maximum performance: the goal is clarity, not speed.

Phase 3: Integration and training (month 1 to month 3)

During this period the employee begins to contribute actively. This is the time to complete the role-specific learning journey, participate in real projects and receive regular feedback from the manager. The 90-day milestone marks the point at which the employee should be able to operate autonomously.

Phase 4: Follow-up and evaluation (month 3 to month 12)

Follow-up doesn’t end at day 90. Between the sixth month and the first year, the employee should consolidate skills, increase autonomy in decision-making and receive a formal performance review. This phase also includes an assessment of the welcome plan itself: what worked? What should be improved for the next hire?

Only 37% of companies maintain welcome plans that last more than 30 days. Those that do report significantly higher retention in the first year (Brandon Hall Group, 2023).

How long should a welcome plan last?

Although onboarding processes are unique to each company, one thing is clear: developing an effective onboarding strategy takes time and effort. However, only 37% of companies say their welcome plans last more than 30 days (Brandon Hall Group, 2023). And this raises the key question: how long should the onboarding process really last?

The answer is that there is no single timeframe, but there are minimum milestones every company should cover:

First week

This is the period in which the new employee goes through initial training to prepare them to start working. Regardless of the training method you use, make sure the right support and communication is provided so they feel comfortable. Avoid information overload and offer frequent feedback. The goal is not for the employee to perform at their peak: it’s for them to reach the end of the week with clarity about their role and what is expected of them.

First month

During this period, the new employee should have completed the general dimension of the welcome plan (culture, values, processes) and be starting to work on the role-specific dimension. A check-in at 30 days allows early detection of gaps, adjustment of expectations and reinforcement of motivation before they become problems.

First three months (90 days)

At the 90-day milestone, the employee should be able to operate with full autonomy in their role. This is the most critical milestone: companies that reach it with a structured process show up to 50% lower early turnover (Brandon Hall Group).

30/60/90-day template: what each stakeholder should do at each stage

The 30/60/90 framework divides integration into three progressive phases and assigns clear responsibilities to HR, the manager and the employee themselves. This template can be used as a base for any onboarding process.

The employee at each stage: in the first 30 days, listen, ask questions and get oriented. From day 31 to 60, contribute actively and align expectations with the manager. From day 61 to 90, demonstrate autonomy and propose improvements in their area. This structure turns the welcome plan into a measurable process, not just a series of disconnected activities.

9 welcome plan examples you can implement in your company

There is no single welcome plan that works for every organization. The best one is the one that fits your culture, your working model and the profile of the new employee. Here are the most effective formats, with guidance on when to use each one.

1. Personalized welcome box

A physical or digital package the new employee receives before or on their first day. It includes key information (welcome manual, org chart, tool guide), corporate materials and a personalized letter from the manager. It conveys care and professionalism from the very first contact.

2. Buddy Program

Each new hire is assigned an experienced team member (the “buddy”) who acts as an informal guide during the first few weeks. It facilitates cultural integration, resolves day-to-day questions and accelerates the adaptation curve without overloading the manager.

3. Team welcome video

Ideal for remote or distributed teams: each team member records a short introduction video explaining their role and experience at the company. The new employee can watch them before their first day and arrive with real context about who they’ll be working with.

4. Interactive welcome manual

A modern version of the classic employee handbook, built as an interactive e-learning course with isEazy Author. Instead of a static PDF, the new hire completes a self-guided course with multimedia content, quizzes and gamified activities.

5. 30/60/90-day template

The most structured and measurable format. Assign learning paths, tasks and check-ins at each milestone using isEazy LMS, with automated progress tracking and reports for managers and HR.

6. CEO welcome video

A short video message from the CEO or leadership team welcoming the new employee and sharing the company vision. It has a powerful impact on cultural identification and belonging, especially in large organizations.

7. Onboarding treasure hunt

A gamified activity that guides the new employee through key areas of the company, virtual tools or internal processes, using challenges and rewards. It boosts engagement on the first day and helps retain key information in a memorable way.

8. 100-day celebration

A formal recognition of the new employee’s first 100 days. It can be as simple as a team acknowledgement or a small celebratory event. It reinforces belonging and sends a clear message: the company values its people from day one.

9. Feedback and improvement survey

An anonymous survey sent to the new employee at 30 and 90 days to assess their experience during the onboarding process. It provides L&D and HR teams with actionable data to continuously improve the welcome plan.

How to digitize and scale a welcome plan

When onboarding must be applied across different roles, departments, countries or start dates, managing it through documents, spreadsheets and individual emails can generate errors and a high administrative burden.

An LMS makes it possible to centralize welcome content, create different learning paths by role or group, automatically assign training, schedule reminders and monitor the progress of each new hire from a single environment.

With isEazy LMS, HR and L&D teams can manage each phase of the welcome plan, distribute initial training and track compliance. This way, onboarding becomes a structured, scalable and measurable process, rather than depending on isolated manual actions.

However, when the welcome plan targets frontline teams — such as retail staff, hospitality, logistics, factory workers or sales networks — a traditional LMS may not be enough. These employees often don’t have corporate email or regular computer access. In those cases, isEazy Engage enables companies to deliver training, initial tasks, corporate knowledge and internal communication directly to each employee’s mobile device, without requiring email or computer access.

With isEazy Engage, welcome content, initial micro-tasks and key corporate knowledge reach new employees where they actually are: on their phones. isEazy Skills can complement this with a ready-to-use training catalog to accelerate the learning dimension of the welcome plan.

KPIs to measure the success of your welcome plan

If you don’t measure these indicators, you don’t know whether your plan is helping or just taking up time. A welcome plan without metrics is a list of good intentions. These are the most relevant KPIs:

• 90-day retention rate: percentage of new hires still at the company after the first quarter. Healthy benchmark: above 90%.
• Time to full productivity: how many days it takes the new employee to reach the expected performance level for their role.
• Learning journey completion rate: percentage of onboarding modules or content completed within the first 30 days.
• Onboarding NPS: survey sent to the employee at 30 and 90 days asking whether they would recommend the company to other candidates. Detects systemic problems before they turn into turnover.
• First-year turnover rate: percentage of new hires who leave the company before completing their first twelve months. Allows detection of structural patterns in the welcome plan.

How to implement a welcome plan from scratch: a step-by-step framework

If your company doesn’t have a structured welcome plan, here are the steps to build one:

1. Define the problem you want to solve: high turnover in the first 6 months? Low initial productivity? Cultural disconnection? The starting point determines the design.
2. Set the 30/60/90 structure: use the template in this guide as a base and adapt the milestones and objectives to your company.
3. Assign responsibilities: HR, manager and buddy must have clear, non-overlapping roles.
4. Design the training content: what the employee needs to know in week 1, month 1 and month 3. Prioritize the general dimension (culture and values) before the role-specific one (technical processes).
5. Build in follow-up and feedback: scheduled check-ins and an experience survey at the end of the process.
6. Measure and improve: review the KPIs after each onboarding cycle and adjust the plan at least once a year.

Conclusion

A welcome plan is not an administrative formality or an HR procedure. It is the starting point for every new hire to understand their role, get to know the organization, acquire the necessary knowledge and achieve autonomy progressively.

The right technology solution will depend on each company’s characteristics and onboarding needs. With isEazy’s All-in-One offering, it is possible to centralize training management and tracking with isEazy LMS, create interactive welcome content with isEazy Author and complement learning paths with ready-to-use courses from isEazy Skills.

Additionally, when the welcome plan targets frontline teams, isEazy Engage enables companies to deliver training, communication, initial tasks and corporate knowledge directly to each employee’s mobile device.

This way, each organization can configure a welcome process tailored to their workforce, channels and objectives, combining the tools that best fit their reality. Request a demo and discover how isEazy can help you design and scale your welcome plan.