The Secret to Great Onboarding? A Smarter Slack Setup

Your first days at a new job should feel exciting, but too often, they can feel like drinking from the proverbial fire hose. New hires are flooded with documents, dropped into unfamiliar tools, and left to sink or swim. The problem isn’t a lack of information; it’s a lack of clarity. Who should you talk to? How does work really get done around here?

As a user researcher at Slack, I spend a lot of time listening to customers talk about what’s working, what’s not, and where we can help. Recently, I dug into how teams are using Slack to onboard new employees. My goal was to uncover what new hires need to ramp up faster, and how Slack can connect them to the people, information, and context they need to hit the ground running. 

To explore this, I surveyed recent hires about their onboarding experience and followed up with in-depth interviews to better understand their pain points and success stories. Slack can’t replace a good manager, helpful colleagues, or a thoughtful onboarding plan, but it can amplify them all. With intentional onboarding setup in Slack, you can help new hires fast-track key relationships, get clear on priorities, and start contributing from day one.

People and context are the two keys to onboarding success

Effective onboarding goes way beyond a stack of paperwork. It should reduce friction, bring people up to speed, and build their confidence. 

In my interviews, new hires shared that the most overwhelming part of their first days on the job is not knowing who to connect with or how work gets done. Without clear introductions or guidance, people hesitate. They aren’t sure who to message, or whether their question has already been answered in a channel they just haven’t discovered yet. That uncertainty slows them down and makes it harder to contribute.

As one interviewee put it, “When I first joined, my manager and HR sent me a ton of presentations. A lot was thrown my way digitally, lots of pre-recorded content. I was expected to go through it at my own pace. There were no guidelines or deadlines, no concrete expectations. It can get really overwhelming even with a good onboarding plan, because there was so much I felt I needed to accomplish.”

Slack can be your secret weapon to counter this overwhelm. With a little intentional setup, you can help new hires in the two areas they repeatedly told me were most critical:

1. Key relationships: letting new hires know who to talk to
2. Organizational context: clearly explaining how things work

Step 1: Give new hires the lay of the land 

Start with people. Who does your new hire need to know to be successful and what are your norms for how you communicate on Slack?

• Give them a warm welcome. On day one, greet them in the team channel with their direct team plus any key channels with cross-functional collaborators and stakeholders.
• Create a #new-hires channel to give them an instant cohort. When new folks join, give them a place to find answers to FAQs, access important documents, and meet other recent joiners. If you’re hiring on a large scale, create multiple channels to bring together all new hires from specific time periods.
• Provide them with a list of VIP contacts. Include their manager, onboarding buddy, key teammates, and go-to people for things like IT or payroll. Remind them that they can customize their Slack notifications to make VIP messages stand out with a custom sound or set them to bypass Do Not Disturb. 
• Make implicit expectations explicit by clearly outlining team norms. Does your company default to channels instead of DMs? Are you expected to update your status when you’re away from your desk? What’s your typical response time for messages? Is after-hours messaging common, and if so, are replies expected, or is it ok to wait until the workday resumes? Don’t leave new team members guessing — spell it out so they can show up on Slack with confidence.

Step 2: Help them curate their Slack and prioritize their focus

The most well-organized Slack can feel like white noise to a new hire, even for employees who have used Slack in past roles. 

As one interviewee told me: “I was added to a channel for our team, but I couldn’t tell if I should join that and watch and see what happens, or was this one I should be inputting to regularly? It would help a lot if my manager could have said, ‘Just watch these,’ or ‘You’ll want to actively participate in these ones.’”

Instead of tossing new arrivals into the deep end of your Slack, give them a more curated introduction.

• Automate onboarding messages over their first 30–45 days. Week one could include compliance or benefits info, week two might highlight upcoming stakeholder intros, and so on. This approach provides structure without adding pressure.
• Create an onboarding canvas. Be sure to include core institutional and team knowledge that can be used as a basis and adapted for all new hires across your group. 
• Curate a running list of channels. This should include commonly used team channels with a short explanation of what each is for, how to engage, and which are optional. Don’t forget to add social channels or employee resource groups!
• Add them to essential workflows and give them a checklist of must-have integrations. Now they can start navigating the basics without having to hunt things down.

Step 3: Layer in AI-powered support

Slack is a backronym for “Searchable Log of All Communication and Knowledge,” but for brand-new arrivals, it’s not always easy to know where to begin. As one interviewee told me: “I was like ‘Oh my god’, I have so much to get caught up on!’ Theoretically I know I can’t be responsible for knowing everything that happened before my hire. But I took it upon myself to scroll back in history and read everything.”

That’s where Slack’s new AI features can make all the difference. Instead of digging through old messages, new hires can get context in a single click — no endless scrolling or cramming required. It’s like a built-in super power, helping recent arrivals ramp faster and operate with the confidence and clarity of a seasoned team member. 

• Enterprise search lets them ask questions like, “Who owns this project?” or “What’s our Q3 goal?” and get answers pulled from across Slack and connected enterprise applications.
• Huddle and channel summaries bring them quickly up to speed on conversations they missed or are joining mid-stream.
• Recap lets them curate a daily digest of selected channels that they can stay informed on without needing to monitor every message in real time. Get them started with a list of suggested channels to include.
• AI-generated profile summaries give them the TL;DR on who’s who, pulling key details from each person’s footprint in Slack. 

From onboard to springboard 

Great onboarding can create the foundation for long-term engagement, performance, and belonging. The habits and connections new hires build early on shape how they show up months down the line. 

By combining thoughtful planning with the power of Slack, you’re not only handing someone the keys to a new job, you’re helping them find their place on your team so they can thrive and improve your business for years to come.

Ready to go deeper? Check out our templates for onboarding new hires.