How to Implement a Successful Onboarding Program in Your Law Firm

A strong onboarding program leads to better retention and higher employee satisfaction, and with proper time and effort, it benefits both the company and the new hire.

By Molly McGrath

May 2025

After working with law firm owners and the team members who support them, I realized there is a missing connection between an entrepreneur and key employees, despite them sharing the same goals. Both are committed to the business, they want the company to succeed and they buy into the vision, but there’s a very real gap in the ability to communicate day to day and produce the best results possible.

The disconnect between employees and employers often starts at the beginning during the onboarding process. According to Gallup research, employees with a better onboarding experience are 2.6 times more likely to feel satisfied at work.

So, what does a successful onboarding process look like in a law firm?

A Successful Onboarding Process Takes Time, Energy and Clarity

A new employee will not be completely up to speed in a week, and if they think they are, I would double-check their timesheets. Many law firms have a 90-day trial period, but it’s better to invest a full year into a new employee's growth so they can be onboarded properly, understand the ins and outs of your business, fully respect the organization and gain confidence to undertake all their job responsibilities.

You may not need a year to communicate your company's culture and ensure that a new hire understands what success looks like in their particular role. Well-crafted onboarding materials paired with short-term goals and regular reviews can help accomplish faster acclimation.

Nonetheless, give yourself a year to ensure they feel comfortable, cared for and fulfilled. On day one, new talent should meet with their direct manager, and they should continue to meet on a regular basis for the new hire’s first 12 months and beyond.

Onboarding Doesn’t Mean Just Training

I've heard from many individuals over the years who believe onboarding is training. Onboarding an employee needs to be more than simply training. Rather, it's creating a brand-new space for them within your organization. According to a Gallup report, only 12% of U.S. employees say their company does a good job at onboarding, and 70% of employees who had an exceptional onboarding experience say they have the best possible job. An effective onboarding experience can make a world of difference regarding accomplishing tasks, getting results and seeing success.

Let's say your kid has to go to a brand-new school. He or she eats lunch alone, but at recess, a friendly, outgoing kid comes and says, “Hey! Let's play tag!” The friendly kid introduces your kid to more kids, and, before long, your child doesn't feel so new anymore because of this one kind gesture. New staff members crave human connection as well. They want to know the people around them — where they live, if they have families nearby and so on. Cultural values play a role as well.

You’re Working with Human Beings, Not Human Doings

Acting with understanding and compassion creates a better onboarding process as new employees learn what employers value and why. Cultural immersion is a cornerstone of successful onboarding. New hires need to understand the company's vision, mission and core values to determine how they can best contribute.

Onboarding an employee needs to be more than simply training. Rather, it's creating a brand-new space for them within your organization.

Each boss and employee should have a clear, succinct idea of what success looks like for themselves and each other. This is why performance reviews and meeting KPIs are critical. Feeling a sense of accomplishment is second only to a sense of belonging in terms of basic human needs in the workplace.

Courageous Conversations

A successful relationship at work requires difficult conversations whether you’re a boss or an employee. You can always find a solution to every problem when you have courageous conversations with your team members.

When you set aside your ego and uplift others, your team will trust your decisions and actions. We can best reach excellence when we create a solid, supportive environment where everyone can thrive — not simply survive.

We have the power to choose how we talk with those in our space and if we talk at all, and silence may be even more detrimental than thoughtless conversation. Silence causes us to falter in our collective company goals. Either you don’t trust yourself or you don’t trust your boss, coworker or employee.

We need to overcome our fear of debate and realize that respectful debate is healthy. Miscommunication is the failure to clearly state needs, and it happens most frequently when trust dissipates. The key to making these difficult conversations impactful is asking empowering questions.

Examples of empowering questions from boss to employee are:

What hasn’t happened that you had hoped to see by this point?
What opportunities do you believe we built barriers in front of?
Why can’t we make these opportunities real?
From your perspective, what things are currently working?
From your perspective, what things need to change?
If we had a magic wand, what would make you wholly satisfied 90 days from now?
What do you need from me right now to feel valued and supported?

Every team member is hired for a reason. They are more than capable of getting their tasks done, whether they work remotely, in a hybrid model or in-person. Simply invest time and energy in the onboarding process, and you will see the results.

About the Author

Molly McGrath

Molly McGrath is the Founder of Hiring & Empowering Solutions and the author of Amazon's #1 Best Seller, Fix My Boss: The Simple Plan to Cultivate Respect, Risk Courageous Conversations, and Increase the Bottom Line. She is also the host of the Top 10% podcast, Hire and Empower with Molly McGrath.

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