Why Onboarding Should Be a Shared Responsibility Between HR and Managers?

Beyond HR: The Case for Collaborative Onboarding

When a new hire joins an organization, who ensures they feel welcomed, prepared, and integrated? Traditionally, many companies place this burden squarely on the Human Resources (HR) department. But consider a common scenario: A promising new employee quits just weeks into the job, citing a disorganized onboarding experience and feeling “left alone.” In an exit interview, the hiring manager shrugs and says, “Onboarding is HR’s job.” This real-world example underscores a widespread misconception that onboarding is solely HR’s responsibility. In reality, effective onboarding is a team effort. Both HR professionals and direct managers (along with other stakeholders) must work in tandem to set up new hires for success. This article explores why onboarding should be a shared responsibility between HR and managers, the roles each party plays, and how a collaborative approach benefits employees and the organization as a whole.

Table of Contents

• The High Stakes of Onboarding Success
• Why Onboarding Isn’t HR’s Job Alone
• Roles and Responsibilities: HR vs. Managers
• Benefits of a Collaborative Onboarding Approach
• Best Practices for HR-Manager Collaboration
• Final Thoughts: Creating a Partnership for New-Hire Success

Employee onboarding is more than just paperwork and orientation; it’s a pivotal process that can make or break a new hire’s experience. Research consistently shows a strong onboarding program has tangible business benefits. For instance, one study found that effective onboarding boosts new-hire retention by up to 82% and productivity by over 70%. On the flip side, poor onboarding is costly: about 20% of employees quit within their first 45 days on the job, often due to negative onboarding experiences. Such early turnover wastes recruitment costs and can hurt team morale.

Why does onboarding have such impact? A well-structured onboarding helps new employees feel engaged and competent in their roles quickly. It provides role clarity, social integration, and alignment with company culture from day one. In fact, employees who felt they had a “great” onboarding experience are 69% more likely to remain at a company for three years or more. By contrast, when onboarding is rushed or fragmented, new hires can feel confused, isolated, or skeptical about their decision to join. This is especially true at the executive level or in specialized roles (for example, CISOs or other enterprise leaders) where understanding organizational processes and culture is crucial to effective leadership.

For businesses, the message is clear: onboarding is a critical moment to invest in new talent. It’s an opportunity to elevate engagement, impart essential knowledge (including cybersecurity and compliance practices important to CISOs), and ultimately reduce the risk of quick turnover. Given these high stakes, companies need to approach onboarding deliberately, and that means involving more than just HR.

It’s a common misconception that “HR will handle onboarding.” Certainly, HR plays a lead role in designing and coordinating onboarding programs, but they shouldn’t be the only ones involved. When HR is left to manage onboarding in isolation, new hires may receive plenty of forms and policies, yet still lack direction on how to succeed in their specific role or team. The hiring manager’s absence in onboarding can leave a void in technical guidance, expectation-setting, and personal connection.

Consider the earlier scenario of the new employee who resigned during probation because of a poor onboarding. The supervisor believed everything beyond basic orientation was HR’s duty. This “hands-off” attitude by managers is unfortunately not rare. In many organizations, nearly 65% of leaders polled said HR “owns” the process and success of onboarding. While HR can organize orientation sessions and ensure paperwork is complete, only a manager can truly integrate a newcomer into the day-to-day realities of their job and team.

Ultimately, onboarding is most effective as a shared responsibility. Think of it like a relay race: HR gives the new hire a strong start by covering general company information, compliance, and culture, then hands off the baton to the manager to finish the race by equipping the person for their individual role. If the handoff doesn’t happen, or if the manager drops the baton, the new hire’s experience suffers. In short, onboarding cannot be an “HR-only” checklist, it requires active participation from managers to be successful.

HR’s Role: HR departments are the architects of the onboarding framework. They handle the conceptual and strategic aspects of the process, ensuring consistency and quality across the organization. Key HR responsibilities typically include:

• Preparation and Logistics: HR manages the administrative side, offer letters, payroll setup, benefits enrollment, workspace setup, and ensuring new hires have access to necessary systems on Day 1. This often involves coordination with IT and facilities (critical for enterprise security and access control from a CISO’s perspective).
  
• Orientation & Information: HR introduces company policies, procedures, and benefits. They provide the employee handbook, explain workplace policies (e.g. leave, dress code, data security), and ensure compliance training (such as safety or cybersecurity awareness) is completed.
  
• Cultural Introduction: A crucial HR duty is to convey the company culture and values. HR often hosts orientation sessions on company history, mission, and core values. First impressions here are vital, as an employee’s early connection with organizational culture can influence their long-term engagement and retention.
  
• Process Oversight & Support: HR acts as a guide throughout the onboarding period, checking in with new hires and managers at intervals. They might provide checklists or an onboarding schedule, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. HR also gathers feedback to improve the process and remains available as a go-to “service partner” for any questions or issues.
  

In essence, HR sets the stage and provides the tools for onboarding. They ensure compliance and consistency, and create a welcoming, informative environment for the newcomer’s first days.

Manager’s Role: The direct manager (or team supervisor) has an equally, if not more, influential part to play. While HR lays the foundation, the manager builds upon it with role-specific and personalized guidance. A manager’s onboarding responsibilities include:

• Welcoming and Integrating the New Hire: From day one, the manager should personally welcome the newcomer and introduce them to the team. Being the “first point of reference” for the new hire, the manager must ensure the employee feels seen and supported. This includes organizing the first days/weeks with a plan: scheduling team meet-and-greets, one-on-one check-ins, and ensuring the new hire has a go-to person for everyday questions.
  
• Setting Clear Expectations: Managers need to communicate job responsibilities, performance goals, and expectations clearly and early. The sooner a new employee understands what is expected and how their work contributes to larger objectives, the faster they become productive. Managers are best positioned to clarify these role-specific expectations and connect the new hire’s tasks to the company’s mission.
  
• Training and Knowledge Transfer: Often, the manager creates a tailored training or induction plan for the new hire. They identify what knowledge and skills the newcomer must learn, whether it’s using internal tools, understanding departmental processes, or technical training, and either provide that training or delegate it to experienced team members. The manager ensures the new hire isn’t just left with generic training, but gains the specific know-how to perform their job.
  
• Feedback and Coaching: A great manager doesn’t wait until the first performance review to give feedback. During onboarding, they should offer regular constructive feedback and invite questions and dialogue. New hires crave feedback, a recent study found many new employees want more frequent check-ins and clearer guidance from their supervisors than they currently receive. Managers who actively coach their new team members help build confidence and adjust any issues early. This could involve weekly one-on-ones to discuss progress, challenges, and answer questions.
  
• Social and Cultural Integration: Beyond tasks and duties, managers help integrate the new hire socially. This means fostering connections with colleagues (perhaps assigning a buddy or mentor, which 56% of new hires find very helpful) and promoting inclusion. A manager can facilitate team lunches or virtual meetups, explain unspoken team norms, and ensure the new person feels like part of the group. They should also regularly check that the newcomer is acclimating well to the team’s culture and address any concerns.
  

Notably, managers have the “main role” in the success of onboarding because they are closest to the employee’s daily experience. They can personalize the journey in ways HR cannot, tailoring it to the individual’s role and personality. When a manager steps up in onboarding, employees feel supported on the ground level, which is critical to their early confidence and long-term engagement.

When HR and managers partner effectively in onboarding, the results can be powerful. Here are some key benefits of a shared-responsibility approach:

• Faster Time to Productivity: Collaboration ensures that while HR handles mandatory processes efficiently, managers simultaneously get the new hire up to speed on actual job tasks. This one-two punch means new employees are not left idle or waiting; they start contributing sooner. Studies show proactive onboarding can make employees fully productive two months faster than traditional methods. Every day a new hire is waiting for guidance is lost productivity, a joint approach minimizes those lags.
  
• Higher New Hire Engagement and Retention: When new hires have both HR and their manager actively supporting them, they feel valued by the entire organization. Gallup data reveals that employees rate their onboarding experience 3.5 times better when their manager takes an active role. This leads to higher engagement from day one. Engaged employees are far more likely to stay; in fact, providing an excellent onboarding makes new hires dramatically more committed, one survey noted an 18× increase in commitment when onboarding was very effective. By sharing responsibility, HR and managers together create that exceptional experience that encourages long-term retention.
  
• Better Cultural Alignment: HR introduces broad culture and values, but managers reinforce how those values manifest in the daily work context. This dual input helps new hires not only hear about the company culture, but also see it in action on their team. Enterprise leaders and CISOs will especially appreciate that this can include imparting the “culture” of security, quality, or other priorities from day one. A collaborative onboarding makes it more likely that employees internalize organizational values and norms, because they receive consistent messaging from HR and managers. Culturally aligned employees are more engaged and make decisions that fit the company’s ethos.
  
• Improved Accountability and Completion of Onboarding Tasks: Shared responsibility means checks and balances. HR ensures compliance requirements are met (e.g. all documents signed, mandatory trainings done), while managers ensure job-specific onboarding tasks (like shadowing sessions, client introductions, or system access setup) are completed. Each party holds the other accountable, HR can remind managers to finish certain onboarding steps, and managers can feedback to HR if corporate orientation topics were unclear. This teamwork prevents the common issue of onboarding “falling through the cracks” when everyone assumes someone else is handling it. The outcome is a more comprehensive onboarding process where nothing important is skipped.
  
• Personalized Support Leads to Confidence: HR provides general support and is a friendly face outside the chain of command, which is great for a new hire to feel comfortable asking general questions. Meanwhile, the manager provides job-specific mentorship. With multiple sources of support, newcomers are more comfortable seeking help. They build confidence faster knowing that both HR and their manager are invested in their success. They are less likely to feel overwhelmed or wonder if they made the right choice in joining the company.
  

In short, a shared approach covers all the bases, the corporate and the departmental, the formal and the informal aspects of bringing a new employee into the fold. This holistic onboarding experience is far more likely to turn a new hire into a productive, engaged, and loyal team member.

Making onboarding a shared responsibility requires coordination and communication. Here are some best practices and strategies to ensure HR and managers work hand-in-hand:

• Define Clear Onboarding Roles: Organizations should spell out who does what in the onboarding process. HR and hiring managers need a mutual understanding of their duties. For example, HR might own the “Day 1 orientation” agenda while managers own the “Week 1 work plan.” Document the division of tasks, from pre-boarding (sending welcome packets, IT setup) to training and first assignments, so nothing is overlooked. When roles are clear, there’s less chance of each side assuming the other handled something.
  
• Train and Empower Managers: Not every manager inherently knows how to onboard effectively, it’s a skill that can be developed. HR can support managers by providing onboarding checklists, templates, and even brief training on how to welcome new hires. For instance, HR might share a checklist including: schedule team introductions, set 30-60-90 day goals, pair the new hire with a buddy, etc. Encourage managers to treat onboarding as part of their leadership duties (which it is). As one HR expert put it, managers should view onboarding as a “fixed task” that they allocate time for, rather than an afterthought. Recognizing and even rewarding managers who excel at onboarding can reinforce its importance.
  
• Start Before Day One (Pre-boarding): HR and managers should collaborate even before the new hire’s first day. HR can send a welcome email with first-day logistics, company information, and required forms. The manager can reach out as well, expressing excitement and perhaps assigning a peer “buddy” to greet the newcomer. A coordinated pre-boarding ensures the new hire feels welcome and informed from the get-go, reducing first-day jitters.
  
• Use a Buddy or Mentor System: As part of the shared approach, many companies assign an onboarding buddy (not necessarily the manager or HR, but a colleague) to help the newcomer acclimate socially and answer everyday questions. This doesn’t replace the manager or HR, but complements them. Buddies can introduce the new hire to others and explain informal norms (e.g., which meetings are key, lunch routines, or how to navigate unwritten rules). HR often coordinates the buddy program, while managers select a suitable buddy from the team. The buddy system has proven benefits in making new employees feel connected and comfortable faster.
  
• Maintain Regular Check-Ins: HR and managers should both conduct check-ins with the new hire, but on different facets. A best practice is for the manager to have structured check-ins (say, weekly for the first month) focusing on role clarity, workload, and team integration. Meanwhile, HR can schedule check-ins at 30, 60, or 90 days to gather feedback on the overall onboarding experience and address any HR-related questions (benefits, payroll, etc.). Importantly, HR and the manager should also communicate with each other about the new hire’s progress. For example, if a new employee expresses concerns to HR about their role, HR should loop in the manager so they can jointly support the employee.
  
• Leverage Technology and Resources: In today’s digital workplace, using onboarding software or checklists can facilitate the shared process. An onboarding portal accessible to both HR and managers can outline tasks and track completion (e.g., HR can see if the manager has completed their steps and vice versa). Automation can handle repetitive paperwork, freeing HR’s time to focus on the human side of onboarding. Some organizations even provide managers with automated reminders of onboarding milestones (e.g., “Week 2: discuss short-term goals with your new hire”). Utilizing these tools helps ensure coordination and consistency across departments.
  
• Include Cross-Functional Welcome: Beyond HR and the direct manager, consider involving other departments like IT, security, or even senior leadership for brief introductions. For example, IT can give an overview of tech tools and data security best practices (a focus area for CISOs), or a senior executive might welcome the new cohort of hires, reinforcing that leadership cares. This cross-functional element, orchestrated by HR, shows the new hire that the whole organization is invested in their success. It’s truly a “village” effort, as one commentator likened it.
  
• Solicit Feedback and Continuously Improve: Finally, treat onboarding as an evolving program. HR should gather feedback from new hires (and managers) about what worked and what didn’t. Perhaps new employees felt overwhelmed with information on Day 1 but craved more job-specific training, that’s a signal for HR and managers to adjust the balance. By continuously refining the process and sharing lessons learned, HR and managers can strengthen their partnership and make onboarding even more effective over time.
  

By implementing these practices, organizations create a seamless onboarding experience that leverages the strengths of both HR and managers. The end goal is a well-integrated employee who feels supported both organizationally and within their immediate team.

Onboarding is not a one-person show, it’s a team sport. HR and managers each bring essential pieces to the puzzle of successful onboarding. HR offers structure, resources, and a company-wide perspective; managers provide personal guidance, job-specific training, and integration into the team’s daily rhythm. When these efforts converge, new employees get the best of both worlds: a thorough, compliant introduction to the company and practical support in their role.

For HR professionals, this means actively engaging managers as allies in the onboarding process, rather than carrying the entire load alone. For managers (and higher-level leaders like CISOs or department heads), it means embracing onboarding as a core management responsibility, one that pays dividends in team performance and retention. New hires who experience a collaborative onboarding are more likely to become confident, competent, and committed employees. They quickly understand not only what their job is, but how it connects to the organization’s mission and who to turn to for help, a powerful recipe for long-term success.

In today’s competitive talent landscape, companies can’t afford to have new employees floundering in their first weeks. By treating onboarding as a shared responsibility, organizations create a supportive launchpad for talent. The partnership between HR and managers essentially builds a bridge for the new hire, spanning from the broader company culture down to the nuances of the job. When that bridge is strong, new team members can cross into their roles with confidence and enthusiasm. And that is exactly what sets the stage for high engagement, better performance, and employees who choose to stay and grow with the company for years to come.

FAQ

What is collaborative onboarding?

Collaborative onboarding is a shared approach where both HR and managers work together to welcome, train, and integrate new hires. HR handles the overall structure, compliance, and culture, while managers provide role-specific guidance, expectations, and daily support.

Why shouldn’t onboarding be HR’s job alone?

When onboarding is handled only by HR, new hires may receive general company information but lack role-specific direction. Involving managers ensures new employees get both organizational context and the tools they need to succeed in their specific role.

What roles do HR and managers play in onboarding?

HR manages preparation, policies, culture introduction, and compliance. Managers focus on welcoming the hire, setting expectations, providing training, offering feedback, and integrating them into the team’s culture and workflow.

How does a shared onboarding approach benefit companies?

A collaborative onboarding process speeds up productivity, improves retention, strengthens cultural alignment, ensures tasks are completed, and provides new hires with personalized support from both HR and their manager.

What are some best practices for HR-manager collaboration in onboarding?

Clear role definitions, pre-boarding communication, buddy systems, regular check-ins, onboarding training for managers, and the use of shared onboarding tools help HR and managers work together effectively.