The Onboarding Gap: Why Schools Need to Take a Page from the Corporate Playbook

If there is one thing I’ve learned from transitioning between the commercial sector and the education system, it’s this: school onboarding is broken. Here at Tyfu Learning, we spend a lot of time analysing how people learn and adapt to new environments. Yet, when I look back at my own time entering the teaching profession, I can confidently say that the school onboarding was perhaps the worst induction experience I have ever been through.

Compared to the business world, schools need to make major, systemic improvements.

I experienced the exact same process across three different schools in different counties in Wales. The onboarding wasn’t just poor – it was virtually non-existent.

The Reality of ‘Day-One’

If you start in September, you are often gifted two INSET days. If you start mid-year, you are lucky to get one.

Instead of using this critical time to acclimatise new staff, these days are often consumed by whole-school team meetings focused on the yearly plan. While the macro-vision is important, the micro-support for new teachers is entirely ignored.

Here is what the standard school onboarding package (from my experience) typically looks like:

• The Tech: You are handed a laptop that is exceptionally slow and usually in desperate need of an upgrade or repair.

• The Setup: You are handed a timetable, pointed toward you classroom, and told you are ready to go.

That’s it. You are cast adrift.

The Missing Manual

Every school’s curriculum is slightly different, so what exactly are you supposed to teach? You’re just expected to know.

More importantly, where is the guidance on the school’s culture and rules? As a new teacher, I was never explicitly briefed on:

• Behaviour policies

• Mobile phone rules

• Safeguarding procedures

• Hallway etiquette

In staffroom conversations, veteran teachers would casually brush this off, saying: “Oh, it may take a year or two to know the full process.” But why? This foundational knowledge should be established from the very start. By withholding this information, schools are setting themselves up for failure and refusing to support their staff from day one.

The hidden Folder Trap

I vividly remember being reprimanded on my secondary day of term at a new school. I was supposed to be on break duty, but it wasn’t on my calendar. I had absolutely no idea I was required to do this – I was busy focusing on learning materials, hunting down enough workbooks for my classes.

It turned out the duties sheet was buried in a specific folder that required clicking through a maze of shared drives to find. Why wasn’t this simply emailed?

While this was just one incident, it perfectly encapsulates the overall state of onboarding in schools.

The result of this negligence? You feel lost. You feel helpless. You even feel the need to listen to students if you get a classroom rule wrong, only to double-check afterward (which, as any teacher knows, is always a risky move). Imposter syndrome runs deep until you have blindly fumbled your way through it.

The Corporate Contrast

In the commercial world, things move at a much more deliberate, supportive pace for new hires.

When you join a business:

• You are properly introduced to the team.

• You are provided with a dedicated workspace and working tech to conduct your job efficiently.

• You are given explicit training on what is expected of you.

I have never started a commercial job and thought “I can’t do this.” Yet, in a school environment, I had a very different experience – regardless of my actual teaching abilities or learner grades.

Teaching wasn’t the problem; understanding the school was.

What Can Schools Do Differently?

Schools need to stop treating new hires like an afterthought and start dedicating focused time to their new starters. Here is where the changes need to begin:

1. Re-evaluate INSET Day Priorities: Do new teachers really need to sit through full-day, whole-school meetings, especially when a summary email would suffice? Protect their time so they can actually prepare.

2. Dedicated SLT Support: A member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) should spend at least half a day directly with new starters.

3. Explicit Policy Training: Go over everything. Ensure new teachers are acutely aware of the behaviour, safeguarding, and operational policies. This ensures the school functions as a united team, rather than a building full of teachers enforcing their own unique policies that only roughly align with the school's vision.

Over to You

We want to hear from the educators out there.

• What was your onboarding experience like? * How do you feel schools can improve their induction process for new staff?

Let us know in the comments below, and let's start building a better way to welcome teachers into the classroom.