One thing I’ve learned from onboarding experiences is that watching someone else do the job is not the same as actually doing it yourself. I’ve gone through trainings where I spent a lot of time observing experienced employees complete tasks and walk through systems. While that helped me understand the general flow of the role, I didn’t truly feel confident until I was given the opportunity to try it on my own.
The article Your New Hires Won’t Succeed Unless You Onboard Them Properly emphasizes that onboarding is more than just delivering information. Ellis et al. (2017) explains that effective onboarding requires support, check-ins, and social integration. Simply exposing new hires to information is not enough to ensure success. The research cited in the article shows that feeling supported by supervisors and socially connected in the workplace significantly impacts role clarity, job satisfaction, and long-term success.
From my experience, shadowing without hands-on practice feels similar to reading policies without applying them. It builds awareness, but not mastery. What has been most beneficial is when managers provide opportunities to practice tasks independently while still offering support and feedback. The article highlights that managers play a critical role in this process, and that proactive engagement from both the employee and supervisor improves outcomes.
Overall, onboarding is most effective when it combines guidance with real application. Watching can introduce the task, but doing it with support is what truly builds confidence and competence.
References
Ellis, A. M., Nifadkar, S. S., Bauer, T. N., & Erdogan, B. (2017, June 20). Your new hires won’t succeed unless you onboard them properly. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/06/your-new-hires-wont-succeed-unless-you-onboard-them-properly
