How Google Onboards New Hires (And How You Can Easily Replicate It)

After facing a series of rejections for ten years, Advin Roy Netto, a UX designer, finally landed his dream job at Google in 2022. Joining Google was his dream.

Like Advin, Google is a dream company for many. And Google ensures they onboard these candidates positively when they finally make it. 76% of new hires at Google report a positive onboarding experience, which is much higher than industry standards.

This case study will discuss the onboarding process at Google and how you can replicate it.

How does Google run their onboarding process?

Remember Advin, who spent ten years trying until landing his dream job at Google? There are thousands of Advins worldwide.

This means that all the hours Google spent short-listing profiles, interviewing, and generating offers may go to waste if their new hires are unsuccessful. Onboarding is one of the best ways to ensure that.

Google’s onboarding strategy is simple yet extensive. There are nine core elements to Google’s new hire experience.

1. Preboarding

Google takes its preboarding step seriously to avoid bad new hire experiences.

Candidates get access to a company portal that provides a task list, including reviewing contracts, setting up accounts, understanding the compliance policies, benefits, and other Google culture benefits. Their background check is finished before joining, and the necessary tech setup is also delivered around this time.

Similar to new hires, managers of new hires also get a just-in-time onboarding checklist with five action items:

1. Have a role and responsibilities discussion
2. Match the new hire with a peer buddy
3. Help the new hire build a network inside the company
4. Set up onboarding check-ins once a month for the new hire’s first six months
5. Encourage open dialogue.

This checklist is sent one day before the joining for immediate attention.

Onboarding at Google reviews | Source: Comparably

2. Onboarding buddy

Google also has a cool name for its new hires, Noogler. The managers at Google pair new hires (aka Nooglers) with onboarding or a peer buddy. So, Nooglers have a friend even before they join the company.

The buddy meets the Noogler on day one, shows them around, and helps them slowly get comfortable in the new place and culture.

3. Orientation

A Noogler orientation lasts up to one or two weeks where new hires:

• Complete the tech setup

• Attend sessions on company culture, organization structure, policies, etc.

• Get the famous Noogler cap and Noogler kit

Noogler Cap | Source: Instagram

Noogler kit | Source: LinkedIn

Also, a cherry on the top is a hat ceremony at the end, where Nooglers wear their caps and get ready for a photoshoot.

The hat ceremony, an onboarding ritual at Google | Source: Facebook

4. Office tour

How many companies think of giving an office tour? It’s a special touch included in Google’s onboarding, where Nooglers are given a tour of the office by one of the existing Google employees. This tour is often gamified using a theme like a treasure hunt.

And the best part? Apart from lifts and stairs, there are slides in most of the Google offices for going from one floor to another. Sliding brings back those happy childhood memories, and it is a reminder for Nooglers that this is not just another office. It’s Google.

Slide in Google Switzerland office | Source: Insider

5. Role-specific training

Google maintains a healthy balance of general company-level onboarding (like policies, culture, and organizational structure) and role-specific training.

Nooglers have access to both in-person and self-paced courses related to their role.

Role-specific training at Google | Source: LinkedIn

For instance, Cherie Lim, a Communications Associate at Google, completed a 5-hour coding-related training session in the first week of orientation.

Onboarding experience at Google | Source: LinkedIn

6. One-on-one meetings

Google ensures new hires have a clear understanding of their job and expectations. The manager checks in with Nooglers to explain their roles and responsibilities within the first week.

Nooglers also get to know about:

• Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) expected in the first quarter. The objective is the goal to be accomplished, and key results are the measurable outcomes—for instance, the goal for a newly joined software engineer could be to become fully productive in 3 months. For this goal, a measurable key result can be that they complete at least one project independently
• Business goals and their role in it
• Team goals
• When the first performance management conversation will take place

And it doesn’t end with one meeting. From there on, there will be monthly check-ins till each Noogler gets up to speed.

7. Starter project

Nooglers get a simple starter project first to begin with, which is usually around two weeks long. A starter project is a low-risk project without any business impact.

The starter project is their chance to implement all they learned in orientation and further job-level training. So, it’s an excellent start to getting into the groove.

8. Building connections

Open communication is a significant part of Google’s culture.

Omid Scheybani, a former Google employee, says everyone is just one coffee away at Google. Managers and buddies help in ice-breaking. Additionally, employees are encouraged to show each other their houses during the first video calls.

Seeing someone’s house tells a lot about them: hobbies, surroundings, interests, and more. This way, people can understand their team members better.

9. Meaningful nudges

To keep the communication and feedback rolling in, Noogler gets a nudge after two weeks to:

1. Ask questions, lots of questions
2. Schedule regular 1:1s with their manager
3. Get to know their team
4. Actively solicit feedback
5. Accept the challenge (i.e., take risks and don’t be afraid to fail. Other Googlers will support you)

That completes all the nine core elements.

Google does not take any shortcuts when onboarding new hires. Instead, there is a continuous learning, feedback, and communication cycle to help a Noogler. There is no fixed window for a Noogler to graduate. But it usually takes at least 6+ months.

Noogler graduation | Source: LinkedIn

Key reasons behind Google’s current onboarding strategy

1. The experiment with nudges

Laszlo Bock, Former SVP of People Operations at Google, speaks in his book, Work Rules, about Google coming up with the just-in-time onboarding checklist.

They initially did a pilot test by sending managers of Nooglers a checklist a night before the joining. The results were astonishing: Nooglers whose managers took action on the checklist became fully effective 25% faster than their peers. Now, this process is a permanent part of Google onboarding.

2. Focus on casual and creative energy

Google is not a conventional company, and it never tried to be. Below are a few impactful lines from Google’s philosophy:‍

Google keeps the workplace casual and even onboarding fun to create an atmosphere of creativity and challenge.

3. Open doors and family-like team

At Google, it is easy to approach seniors. And the management sees the company as a family. So small steps are taken from the onboarding stage to achieve this atmosphere.

Onboarding review | Source: LinkedIn

Nooglers are encouraged to build connections and have frequent one-on-ones. And there are fun activities throughout the orientation for team bonding.

A Noogler attending a pizza workshop with their team | Source: Google Blog

Why Google’s onboarding is a hit: Vital elements

There are many benefits to proper onboarding. Here are the top five reasons Google’s onboarding process works so well.

1. Simplified and timely nudges

Nudges, when executed with care, are highly effective. Two things that Google does right with nudges are:

• They keep it simple and easy to act upon
• They send it just in time for immediate attention

The short time frame between a nudge and a new hire’s starting date keeps the tasks fresh in the manager’s mind.

2. Gamification

Google onboarding is not all work and no fun. Games spice up orientation week. The fun hat ceremony with a great photo session adds to the fun. All of these add up to an engaging employee experience.

Employee onboarding gamification increases new hire engagement and reduces time to productivity.

3. Relationship-building

Google sees its employees as a family, and their onboarding reflects it. There are many activities for teams to catch up and talk casually. Also, one-on-ones are a fixed process to initiate conversations.

So, how does it all benefit? 77.63% of employees consider having workplace connections important or very important in achieving a great company culture. Having friends at work helps new hires (and the company).

Collaborative culture and community at Google | Source: LinkedIn

4. Encouraging feedback

Managers set clear expectations with Nooglers at the beginning itself by setting OKRs. Apart from that, frequent check-ins and getting feedback at the right time ensure that Nooglers are walking on the right path.

And we don’t need to go far to prove it. Google did an internal study that shows that Nooglers who asked for feedback were more productive than Nooglers who didn’t.

5. Well-structured process

The onboarding process of Google may look all fun and games.

But in the end, there is a core structure that ties everything together and ensures employees get all the input they need. New hires get both onboarding on culture and role in a phased way.

Google onboarding review | Source: LinkedIn

How can you onboard new hires like Google?

Google’s onboarding is a wholesome experience, similar to our philosophy on onboarding.

At Deel, we also believe an onboarding experience should be a mix of culture, learning, fun, and connections rather than a dry process. This section will show you how to create Google-style onboarding using Deel Engage.

Assign an onboarding buddy

With Deel Engage, you can easily integrate buddy programs into your onboarding process. You can send surveys to identify volunteer buddies or have managers nominate the buddy as you prepare to onboard the new hire.

Conduct preboarding

Using Deel Engage, you can set up a preboarding workflow with detailed tasks for managers:

1. Inform them on the new hire start date
2. Brief them on the IT onboarding procedures
3. Share an overview of their onboarding responsibilities, such as assigning the onboarding buddy and conducting the roles and responsibilities discussion

Plan all the onboarding activities and sessions

Our onboarding plug-in also allows you to plan onboarding activities where employees are most active: Slack.
On the training front, our L&D consultants will help you design the entire onboarding training with our LMS module. You can create different training programs tailored to specific roles.

By having these training sessions as recorded courses, you can scale the onboarding effectively across locations and manage a large number of hires.

Schedule 1-on-1 calls

Deel Engage provides a Slack plug-in for setting up 1-on-1 calls. It has built-in reminders and a note-taking feature to encourage collaboration between managers and new hires.

Launch a learning portal for development and upskilling

You can create a centralized learning portal for all employees by consolidating existing L&D courses in the platform. This platform can become a single, accessible marketplace where new hires can easily discover and enroll in relevant training programs based on their individual needs.

All the effort you put into bringing employees on the platform doesn’t go to waste once onboarding is over. Instead, Deel Engage becomes your partner for empowering employees with continuous feedback and learning opportunities.

Human connections

Google focuses strongly on team building and initiating conversations. But you can also do it (that too automatically).

Deel’s connection programs automatically match up employees for coffee conversations. It’s a great way to break the ice and make some friends.

Share feedback for continuous improvement

Last but not least is Google’s emphasis on feedback. Feedback plays a crucial role in new hire productivity. A new hire can get well-rounded input from peers, the onboarding buddy, and the manager using our 360 feedback software.

Once onboarding concludes, new hires don’t just log off from the platform forever. Instead, a new experience is waiting for them:

• Set them up for regular feedback and performance review cycles using feedback automation
• Create detailed career progression paths for increased role clarity and transparency on role progression
• Conduct regular training and create a strong learning culture
• Define development plans to help your people expand their skillsets and roles in the organization

Create a meaningful and wholesome onboarding experience for your new hires with Deel Engage. Book a demo to see how our solutions will help you foster a continuous learning culture in your workforce.