Employee Onboarding & Experience Design

Design and implement employee onboarding programs and experience journeys

Startup Cost
$10,000-$50,000
Difficulty
Intermediate
Time to Profit
8-18 months
Profit Potential
$15,000-$100,000/month

Overview

Onboarding consultants charge $125-$300 hourly or $20,000-$150,000 per program.

Serving 10-30 clients generates $180,000-$1,200,000 annually with 70-85% margins.

In 2025, great onboarding improves retention and engagement.

Revenue from onboarding program design ($25,000-$150,000), employee experience journey mapping, onboarding technology implementation, manager onboarding training ($5,000-$25,000), onboarding content and materials development, and ongoing onboarding optimization.

Successful consultants design structured 30-60-90 day onboarding, create engaging onboarding experiences, leverage onboarding technology and automation, train managers on onboarding responsibilities, and measure time-to-productivity and retention.

Companies with retention challenges as clients.

Marketing through HR and talent conferences, onboarding expertise and thought leadership, employee experience design, onboarding technology partnerships, and retention improvement case studies.

Required Skills

  • Onboarding Design
  • Employee Experience
  • Instructional Design
  • Change Management
  • HR Technology
  • Measurement & Analytics

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Growing focus on onboarding and employee experience
  • Clear impact on retention and engagement
  • Multiple revenue streams (design, tech, training)
  • Long-term onboarding optimization partnerships
  • Help new employees succeed

Cons

  • Need employee experience and OD expertise
  • Onboarding design time-intensive
  • Manager adoption and behavior change required
  • Technology implementation complexity
  • Competitive employee experience consulting

How to Get Started

  1. Build employee onboarding and experience expertise
  2. Develop onboarding design methodologies
  3. Partner with onboarding technology platforms
  4. Market to HR and talent acquisition leaders
  5. Design onboarding programs and employee journeys
  6. Implement onboarding technology and content
  7. Train managers and measure onboarding impact

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