“Onboarding can sometimes feel like something businesses just need to get through. Someone joins, you get them set up with a laptop, introduce them to the team and hope they find their feet. But those first few weeks can have a huge impact on how someone feels about their new workplace.
“That’s particularly important when we talk about inclusion. You can have the best intentions around building an inclusive culture, but if a new employee’s first experience is confusing, inconsistent, or leaves them feeling like an outsider, it can undermine all of that work.
“The good news is that getting it right doesn’t have to mean adding layers of complexity. For small businesses, it’s often about being intentional, making sure every new starter gets the same strong foundation, while still leaving room to understand what they need as an individual.”
Ben also shares 5 ways small business owners can develop a robust onboarding process without a big HR team or budget:
1. Turn what’s in people’s heads into a proper onboarding playbook
Small businesses often rely on tribal knowledge, where everyone knows how things work because there are only five, ten, or twenty people in the company, and this works until someone new joins.
Instead of expecting new starters to piece things together themselves, capture the essentials in one place: how decisions get made, who to go to for what, unwritten norms, useful resources, and the things you wish someone had told you on day one. And it doesn't need to be a 50-page handbook, often a simple, living guide can make a huge difference.
2. Show new starters how your business really works
A lot of the onboarding process can be full of information without actually explaining how to operate within a company. The goal for any business onboarding a new starter should be to make the invisible stuff visible.
Who makes the final call? How do people challenge an idea? Is it OK to message the CEO directly? How are disagreements handled? What does “working flexibly” actually mean? Making these cultural norms explicit can be particularly valuable for people who haven't worked in a small business before.
3. Give everyone the same foundation, not the exact same experience
Small businesses often don't have the resources to create completely bespoke onboarding plans, but they can make small adjustments that have a big impact, especially when we consider that Inclusive onboarding doesn't mean treating every employee identically.
Ask new starters before they arrive how they like to learn, what helps them settle into a new environment, and whether there's anything they need to feel comfortable and effective. Keep the core onboarding process consistent, but leave enough flexibility to adapt it around the individual. That's often where inclusion happens in practice
4. Build onboarding around the questions people are too nervous to ask
New starters often don't want to ask what they think are “stupid” questions, particularly when they're joining a small, established team where everyone else seems to know how things work. Create a simple space for those questions, like a weekly “ask me anything”, anonymous form or dedicated onboarding channel, and proactively cover the things people might otherwise be embarrassed to ask. It’s a low-cost way of making the experience more accessible and reducing the pressure to immediately fit in.
5 Keep onboarding going beyond week one
One of the biggest onboarding mistakes is treating it as a single event rather than an ongoing process. The first day is only the beginning, and regular check-ins during the first few weeks and months can help new employees feel supported as they settle in. It’s also a valuable opportunity to understand how they prefer to work, communicate and receive feedback, such as whether they like regular check-ins, prefer feedback in writing, or need more time to process new information.
Asking what’s working, what isn’t and what would make their experience easier gives new employees a safe opportunity to raise concerns and helps managers adapt their approach. Like onboarding, Inclusion is an ongoing experience, not something you can tick off on someone’s first day.
Ben adds: “You don't need a huge HR team or an enormous budget to get this right. In fact, it’s often the smaller organisations who know their people best and care deeply about giving them a great experience. We see it time and time again, with a strong onboarding system, good communication, and a genuine effort to understand what each person needs, small teams can do a lot with very little budget.”
