{"id":144239,"date":"2026-02-19T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/?post_type=articles&p=144239"},"modified":"2026-03-05T13:26:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T18:26:37","slug":"designing-onboarding-programs-that-create-belonging","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/articles\/onboarding\/designing-onboarding-programs-that-create-belonging\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing Onboarding Programs That Create Belonging"},"author":52,"featured_media":144241,"template":"","tags":[36623,3765,31797,36696,34455],"class_list":["post-144239","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-belonging-at-work","tag-employee-onboarding","tag-new-hire-experience","tag-trending-articles-february-2026","tag-trending-content","global_topic_tax-diversity-equity-and-inclusion","global_topic_tax-onboarding"],"acf":{"sponsored":false,"gated":false,"gated_content_type":"","file_attachment":null,"gated_content":"","form_instruction_header":"To access the full article, please fill out the form below:","pardot_html_embed":"","author_override":true,"author_name":"Kate Feeney","author_image":"","author_bio":"Kate Feeney<\/a> is a behavioral scientist and stand-up comedian who leads conversations about the employee experience that are equally attention grabbing and actionable. She brings 15+ years of experience as a people scientist and employee experience expert, having worked with Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Deloitte.","excerpt":"Onboarding should do more than deliver information; it should intentionally build belonging so new hires feel connected and ready to perform.","main_content":"When we start a new job, we have two types of questions. Questions that we ask our new colleagues, and ones we silently answer alone. Chief among the latter is the question: \u201cDo I belong here?\u201d\r\n\r\nCultivating an onboarding<\/a> experience where the answer to that question is an emphatic \u201cyes\u201d should be on the radar of anyone who owns onboarding \u2014 and for many organizations, that responsibility sits with learning and development (L&D).\r\n\r\nNew employees are typically bombarded with handbooks, eLearnings and company presentations as they navigate their first days and weeks at \u201cNew Job Inc.\u201d And yet, many companies, in my experience, struggle to build belonging into the experience in a meaningful way.\r\n\r\nWe cannot be told that we belong, of course. We need to feel <\/em>that we belong \u2014 by feeling connected to others while also feeling connected to ourselves. The tension between attachment and authenticity is named beautifully by psychiatrist Gabor Mate, in his book \u201cThe Myth of Normal.\u201d He explains that belonging is experienced when we\u2019re both attached and authentic. <\/em>\r\n\r\nOnboarding is a key moment when, consciously or unconsciously, new hires are quietly assessing whether they fit the culture they\u2019ve signed on to join.\r\n