Special Ops with Emma Rainville

Episode Summary: How to Build an Employee Onboarding System That Multiplies Performance

Date: October 1, 2025
Host: Emma Rainville
Guest: Thiago Sanginetti (COO, Shockwave)

Overview

In this episode, Emma Rainville sits down with her operations lead, Thiago Sanginetti, at the Growth Hacking Live event in San Diego, to discuss a critical but often overlooked business process: employee onboarding. The conversation dives deep into how a well-structured onboarding system can multiply the performance and value of new hires—whether they’re employees, contractors, or remote team members. Emma and Thiago break down their proven strategies, the pitfalls to avoid, and share a practical onboarding checklist available to listeners.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Purpose and Power of Effective Onboarding

• Multiplying Value: Onboarding isn’t just about introductions—it’s about giving new hires the context and resources to contribute at a high level, quickly.
  • “When you onboard someone, you’re providing a lot of context and a lot of history. Give them three days to just absorb the context and that’s going to be a big multiplier as well. You can three times what any person can contribute to your company just by having a good onboarding.” — Thiago [00:09, 03:29]

2. Foundations of a Great Onboarding System

• Think Like a Host: Imagine onboarding as welcoming a guest—show them around, make them comfortable, and provide clarity.
  • “The first part for onboarding is to think about it like being a host to a guest… you would show them around, and that’s what you need to do digitally as well.” — Thiago [03:29, 04:15]
• Remote Adaptation: For distributed teams, “digital halls” replace physical walkarounds. A screen-share walkthrough or a recorded orientation is essential.
  • “For remote teams, you can’t walk them through the halls, but you can show them digital halls—your systems, platforms, and processes.” — Thiago [04:20]

3. Critical Resources for New Hires

• SOPs Are Key: Having accessible Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is the backbone of effective onboarding.
  • “Only an operator would ever say the star of the show is the standard operating procedure file… But you know you’re an operator when…” — Emma [05:34]
  • “If you don’t give [designers] the link and access to the brand assets on the first day, it’s so basic.” — Thiago [06:21]
• Access and Tools: Provide logins, assets, brand kits, essential files, and clear instructions on where to find what’s needed.
  • “You need to assign the task to the person who’s going to add them to the meetings, to the Slack channels… it’s maybe 45 days until they actually get [the right resources] if you don’t do this.” — Thiago [09:00]

4. Structuring the Onboarding Sequence

• Checklist for Each Role: Design a department-specific checklist before hiring. List out what must be given, by whom, and when.
  • “Would you agree that a checklist… should be designed before you even think of hiring someone?” — Emma [07:39]
• Collect Personal Info, Share Company Policies: Automate HR steps like forms for ID, documents, and sign-offs (e.g., DocuSign for policies/SOPs).
  • “You also need to get them to know what the policies of the company are. And you need to get that in signing.” — Thiago [08:12]

5. Meetings and Human Connection

• Frequent Early Check-ins: One-on-ones and team meetings ensure clarity, accelerate integration, and foster accountability.
  • “I like two or three [one-on-ones] for the first week, for the first two, three weeks; then once a week…and if they’re doing great, it could be a message check, then once a month.” — Thiago [10:29]
• Full Team Introductions: Even with small teams, meet everyone to build relationships and reduce silos.
  • “I want them meeting with every single person… I want you to know who everybody is and… find them should you need to.” — Emma [11:37]
• Video-First Culture: All standups are “face-to-face”—cameras on.
  • “Videos on, period. We’re a reminder… That’s not what we call it. It’s the morning face to face for us.” — Emma and Thiago [12:21–12:46]
• Rapport and Culture: Building trust and loyalty requires more than texts/emails.
  • “There’s a part of building rapport with your people… If you’re going to build loyalty and trust, it can’t be a relationship of text messages.” — Emma [13:14]

6. Additional Wisdom and Resources

• Allow Study Time: New hires need dedicated time to read, absorb, and watch training content.

  • “Give the new hire go study time… Pause for the first three days. If you don’t get them just into action the first day, give them three days to absorb the context.” — Thiago [16:10, 16:37]

• Recommended Reading:
  • Multipliers by Liz Wiseman
  • Superbosses by Sydney Finkelstein
  “There’s such a truth to the stories in there of how someone can underperform under one boss and be the star of a company under another boss… It’s because that person didn’t act like a boss, they acted like a mentor.” — Emma [14:21]

• Think Long-Term Retention

  • “You’re also competing for talent… If you make the role at your company more exciting, more valuable… you’re actually competing to get the best talent and keep the best.” — Thiago [15:08]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Context & Multiplier Effect:
  • “You can three times what any person can contribute to your company just by having a good onboarding.” — Thiago [03:29]
• On Ownership of Mistakes:
  • “‘Why would the problem be me? Why would it be my fault?’ Because it’s harder to fix ourselves.” — Emma & Thiago [06:46]
• On the Value of Intentionally Designed Onboarding:
  • “You go into all that work just to get someone in and just set them up for failure. You’re wasting resources.” — Thiago [15:56]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:09] – The multiplying effect of great onboarding
• [04:15] – Digital walkthroughs: onboarding remote hires
• [05:34] – The role of SOPs and giving access to critical resources
• [07:39] – Why you need an onboarding checklist customized per department
• [10:29] – Ideal first-week meeting cadence & building relationships
• [12:21] – Importance of face-to-face (video) meetings for remote teams
• [14:21] – Book recommendations for managers transitioning to people leadership
• [16:10] – Give new hires time to study and absorb information

Actionable Takeaways

• Develop a role-specific onboarding checklist before hiring.
• Schedule a digital walkthrough (video call or screen-share) to introduce systems and company context.
• Share all essential resources (SOPs, brand assets, logins) on Day 1.
• Automate administrative onboarding (policies, Docusign, HR forms).
• Set clear expectations: have new hires confirm receipt and access of all resources.
• Build human connection early with team introductions and daily face-to-face meetings.
• Allow the first three days primarily for context-absorption and self-study.
• Reference recommended books to grow your management muscle: Multipliers, Superbosses.

For the full playbook and Hiago's onboarding checklist, visit specialopspodcast.com.