How Spotify Effectively Onboards New Hires (And a Free Blueprint to Replicate It)

Katarina Berg, CHRO Spotify never says, ‘Welcome to Spotify.’ Instead, she states, “Welcome to controlled chaos!”. Does it sound weird?

In a blog, she explains what this controlled chaos means:

Onboarding new employees is nothing less than chaos with a laundry list of tasks. Let’s see how Spotify brings innovation (and control) into this chaos.

How does Spotify run its onboarding program?

Spotify executes one of the best onboarding programs in the business. It is a careful curation of many small tasks that bring together a wholesome experience. Here are nine main parts of their onboarding process.

1. Preboarding

Spotify has a preboarding process where new joiners get all the information and “get hyped for Spotify before day one.”

2. Onboarding buddy

New hires are not left alone to figure out the initial path. Instead, the manager assigns them an onboarding buddy. Buddy is like a first friend or peer coach to new hires who helps them settle into their new role.

Buddies assist in:

• Explaining expectations of the role
• Helping them settle into the culture
• Bridging social connections with the rest of the team
• Addressing queries
• And more

3. Team intro

There is a dedicated time for introduction within and across teams. These introductions are on Slack or a quick meeting where each team member tells a bit about themselves. Having these types of meetings makes acclimatization faster.

4. Onboarding sessions

Spotify ensures that new hires understand the company culture and get all the details they need to begin their careers in the company. So, there are onboarding sessions on company policies, culture, and benefits alongside role-related training.

These are self-paced training courses that new hires can complete in the internal employee experience platform Bounce. The platform also offers all the HR playbooks,m, making it a one-stop knowledge hub for new hires.

5. Bootcamp(s)

As part of Spotify onboarding, new hires go through one or more bootcamps. In bootcamps, they basically go through “golden paths.” These are lengthy tutorials of how something can be built at Spotify. They provide detailed technical steps for creating something new or changing the existing system.

Spotify has designed golden paths covering backend, data, machine learning, and more. New bandmates go through at least one of the golden paths based on the team they are joining.

6. The GreenHouse (Spotify's L&D team and learning platform)

Learning doesn’t stop at onboarding sessions. There is an internal learning portal by Spotify’s L&D team where new hires can:

• Explore courses
• Find mentors
• Engage in peer learning
• Look for more opportunities

The role of GreenHouse | Source: LinkedIn

7. One-on-one meetings

Managers regularly connect with new hires to answer queries, address concerns, and improve the process. (In fact, they do so with all team members.)

8. 360-degree feedback

At Spotify, employees may solicit feedback as often as they choose, and most employees say they receive feedback once a quarter or every month.

New hires use an internal tool to invite anyone (managers, peers, or direct reports) to get feedback.

Onboarding at Spotify | Source: LinkedIn

9. Intro days

This is one of the standout parts of Spotify onboarding. It’s not exactly part of the initial onboarding but a routine event scheduled several times every year—a networking event for new hires where they learn about the company mission, values, and culture and meet their colleagues. It’s a fantastic way to create a sense of community.

Intro days | Source: LinkedIn

How company culture is the soul of Spotify’s onboarding strategy

Spotify thinks of its team as a band that came together to provide the best audio experience to the customer. The audio/video platform asked its employees (aka band members) the following:

1. What values do they believe in?
2. What should be the mission and core of the company?

And the entire company came up with a band manifesto — a single document summarizing their culture. This document can be a corporate lesson on culture for many organizations. The entire onboarding strategy of Spotify reflects this document. Let’s see how.

Loosely coupled, tightly aligned squads

From the beginning, Spotify wanted teams that had good alignment but weren’t tightly coupled so they could work independently.

There is also a section in the manifesto which highlights this point:

With one-on-ones, 360 feedback, team intros, onboarding sessions, bootcamp, and courses, Spotify is trying to build alignment between employees early on to keep autonomy high and micro-management negligible.

Transparency

Transparency is another point highlighted in Spotify’s manifesto. In an interview with The Culture Lab podcast, Katarina Berg, Spotify’s CHRO, explained why transparency matters to them:

Spotify lays the foundation of transparency early on. They make new hires aware of the big picture early on from the onboarding phase itself via different sessions.

Culture add-on

Spotify doesn’t aim for culture fit but a culture add-on. Here are a few lines from their manifesto explaining what culture add-on means:

How do they aim for culture? At the interview stage, there are questions related to culture. Also, there are onboarding sessions on culture. Spotify strives to add members who bring something new to the table without disrupting the core.

Collaborative and playful process

Lastly, two of the core company values from the manifesto are:

• Collaborative: We recognize we are all in this together
• Playful: We don’t take ourselves too seriously

Spotify focuses on team bonding and ease of collaboration, emphasizing one-on-ones and team meetings. To add playfulness and make onboarding fun, they conduct intro days.

Spotifiers not only team up on projects, but they even jam together.

Reasons behind Spotify’s onboarding success

A Gallup report concludes that onboarding is a crucial step for improving the employee experience and retaining them. Of course, there are numerous benefits to onboarding. But Spotify onboarding is not just another onboarding.

Let’s see what peculiar benefits this well-thought-out onboarding strategy brings.

1. Preboarding keeps candidates engaged

50% of selected candidates have second thoughts after accepting a job offer. They keep looking for more options. Spotify keeps all potential hires engaged and excited for the role even before joining.

2. Training variety caters to all learning styles

Spotify does not limit its onboarding to just one format. Few onboarding tutorials are self-paced. They add a human element by assigning an onboarding buddy and conducting intro days. They also organize bootcamps where existing Spotifiers share their technical knowledge.

As a result, there is never a dull moment in Spotify’s onboarding process. They have something to cater to different learning styles.

Spotify onboarding review | Source: LinkedIn

3. Buddy helps to start on the right note

Creating a buddy system smoothens the transition period of new joiners. An onboarding buddy provides the immediate assistance they are looking for. Buddy shares knowledge and helps them to settle in faster.

Research by the University of Warwick has also found that employees who are part of a buddy system at work when they first join are happier and 12% more productive than their peers.

4. Networking increases retention

Internal networking (within a company) reduces the likelihood of voluntary turnover. Employees engaging more with their peers are more likely to settle in faster and stay. And Spotify prioritizes networking and engaging new hires with frequent one-on-ones and scheduled intro days.

5. Onboarding on culture gives a good start

As of January 2025, Spotify has a culture and values rating of 4.0 at Glassdoor, with numerous positive reviews of the culture. Spotify ensures new hires are starting on the right foot and adapting to the culture. It is reflected in their reviews.

6. Transparency increases satisfaction

According to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends, 86% of leaders agree transparency is essential to bring trust. Trust and transparency would have the greatest impact on an organization’s success. Transparency creates a sense of ownership and belonging among employees. They better understand the company’s goals and impact and invest their best efforts to achieve them.

Building trust and transparency from day one is key to new hire satisfaction. As Katarina said, Everybody needs a purpose.

7. A learning marketplace enables continuous learning

97% of HR leaders find a need for continuous upskilling in new hires. A single ongoing program is not enough to meet the skill requirements of a growing organization.

Spotify’s GreenHouse initiatives provide an open ground for new hires to continue learning. Based on their work requirements, they can take courses as and when required.

How can you onboard new hires like Spotify?

Would you like to replicate Spotify’s elaborate onboarding process in your organization?

We have the solution for you. Like Spotify, Deel Engage also believes in creating a wholesome onboarding experience for new hires, which helps them navigate the first few months.

Here is how you can replicate the entire Spotify onboarding using Deel Engage.

Setup preboarding for new hires

Deel Engage helps you create preboarding workflows for new hires. You can define the preboarding window, i.e., number of days prior to the start date and create a custom workflow with the required steps.

Common steps include sending welcome emails, completing the paperwork, device setup, etc.

Assign an onboarding buddy

With Deel Engage, you can easily integrate buddy programs into your onboarding process. Firstly, you can send surveys to identify volunteer buddies or have managers nominate the buddy as you prepare for onboarding the new hire.

Once you have identified buddies, you can customize onboarding or preboarding journeys to add an introduction to the buddy. You can also mention the steps for buddies in the journey, such as providing a walkthrough on the tool stack, giving a project overview, etc.

**Plan all the onboarding activities and sessions **

With the help of our L&D consultants, you can design the entire onboarding training as an on-demand course. You have the flexibility to create different training programs tailored to specific roles. This approach enables you to systemize and scale your onboarding process efficiently.

Schedule 1-on-1 calls

Deel Engage provides a Slack plug-in for setting up 1-on-1 calls. It has built-in reminders and a note-taking feature to encourage collaboration between managers and new hires.

Launch a learning portal for development and upskilling

Create a centralized learning portal for all employees by consolidating existing L&D courses in the platform. This platform can become a single, accessible marketplace where new hires can easily discover and enroll in relevant training programs based on their individual needs.

All the effort you put into bringing employees on the platform doesn’t go to waste once onboarding is over. Instead, Deel Engage becomes your partner for empowering employees with continuous feedback and learning opportunities.

Collect feedback from your new hires

Use the survey module to collect feedback from your new hires. You can automatically assign surveys at a specific time, such as after the first week or the first month on the job.

You can also add survey steps to your learning journeys to collect feedback on your learning resources and ensure learner satisfaction.

Share feedback for continuous improvement

Spotify acknowledges the role of feedback in continuous improvement. Once your people are fully onboarded, you can add them to recurring feedback and performance reviews. You can also collect feedback from multiple stakeholders and the workers themselves (via self-evaluations).

Still having doubts? Employees with a poor onboarding experience are twice as likely to quit. The job market is changing, and the new job seeker is unwilling to compromise. Use Deel Engage to retain them with an informative, engaging, and wholesome onboarding experience.