The first ninety days decide whether a new joiner becomes one of your best people or one of your first leavers.
Most induction and graduate programmes tell people about the culture. We put them inside it. For HSBC's Global Graduate Programme, we recreate real management dilemmas through role play rather than a slide about company values, take graduates to visit best-practice organisations for inspiration, and build teamwork and resilience through wilderness trails and outward-bound adventures, so people arrive at their desk already tested rather than untested.
The format changes with the client but the principle does not. For Microsoft, using theatre-inspired techniques and serious play, we built an onboarding experience that helped graduates embrace their own strengths and find their voice, including the quietest in the room. For Ford, when the pandemic made a room impossible, we rebuilt their China induction programme entirely virtually, and it worked just as well: genuine connection to Ford’s purpose and a real network of colleagues, built through storytelling and collaborative challenge rather than a stage.
Who this is for
- Organisations who want new joiners contributing in weeks, not months
- Graduate schemes that want to build real capability and confidence, not deliver a week of orientation slides
- Companies onboarding at scale, in person, virtually, or across multiple countries at once
How it works
- Immersion. New joiners are placed inside real dilemmas and scenarios from day one, not told about them.
- Practice. Role play, simulation and dynamic activity replace the slide deck as the main teaching tool.
- Connection. We build genuine relationships between new joiners and their peers, not just a seating chart.
- Confidence. Every experience is designed so people leave able to apply what they learned immediately, not just recall it.
What is included
- Bespoke induction and graduate programme design, tailored to your culture and real-world challenges
- Role-playing scenarios, interactive simulations and dynamic activities in place of lecture-style onboarding
- Wilderness trails, outward-bound adventures and other experiential formats for resilience and teamwork
- Theatre-inspired techniques and serious play, for organisations wanting people to find their own voice early
- Virtual and hybrid delivery at scale, proven to work as well as in person when designed properly
For HSBC's Global Graduate Programme, we recreate real management dilemmas through role play, visit best-practice organisations, and build teamwork and resilience through wilderness trails and outward-bound adventures, so each participant hits the ground running with confidence and clarity.
During the pandemic, we successfully adapted our approach to deliver the Ford China Induction Programme virtually, creating a deep connection to Ford’s purpose and a strong network of colleagues across the organisation, through immersive storytelling, collaborative challenges and virtual networking activities, despite the remote format.
For Microsoft, we designed and delivered Start Strong, a transformative onboarding graduate programme focused on authenticity, diversity and sustainable growth, using theatre-inspired techniques and serious play to help participants embrace their unique strengths and empower all voices, including the quietest.
A new joiner's first ninety days are the cheapest leadership development you will ever buy, if you use them properly.
Design an onboarding journey