How our onboarding platform gives new colleagues a flying start. (And saves HR a lot of time)

If you want to get your onboarding right, you have to invest a lot of time and effort. Your HR department needs to keep track of all ongoing employee journeys. Monitor the quality of each individual onboarding. And on top of that: make that journey as engaging as possible. To tackle all these challenges, we developed our very own onboarding platform: N-ACA.

Challenge: multiple locations + different tools = fragmented onboarding

In the past, our onboarding process consisted of separate documents, emails, lists, and a standard project management tool.

However, this approach did not adequately address the challenges we faced: 

• Colleagues who work at our office, but also on-site with clients,
• business units with slightly  different ways of working,
• a lot of information to share, 
• and multiple offices.

That approach felt fragmented for our new colleagues. 

At the same time, it took our HR department a lot of time to keep all that information up to date and to follow up on all those different processes.

How can we improve our onboarding process?

Our HR team was faced with several challenges:

• How can we centralize all this information for new colleagues?
• How can we keep this information up to date as easily as possible?
• How do we keep track of where each colleague is in their onboarding process?
• How can we be sure that every onboarding is carried out in the same way? 

And, of course, the most important question: how do we give new colleagues the best possible onboarding experience?  So that they receive all important information without being overwhelmed.

An overview screen for new colleagues. The entire platform is designed in a space theme, a nod to NASA.

Solution: customized onboarding platform

The solution? Our own onboarding platform: N-ACA. And yes, that’s pronounced like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 🚀. 

What is the role of our new onboarding platform?

For new colleagues...

N-ACA is a digital guide that brings together all relevant onboarding information in one place. Colleagues can go through the process at their own pace.

Each step symbolizes an important part of their start here at ACA:

📥 Activating tools and accounts
🤝 Getting to know the team and colleagues
💡 Understanding our culture and values
🔧 Practical information to get started independently

For our HR team...

N-ACA is the platform where they can manage all onboarding information. No more documents spreak over different locations.

In addition, they can also follow up on all the individual employee journeys:

• Who is where in the process? 
• What steps have already been taken?
• Where do we need to make adjustments?

A personal profile page. On this page, every colleague can track their progress and write a short bio.

Approach: the advantages of customization, but without the price tag. Thanks to Low-code.

The tech

With OutSystems, we opted for Low-Code.

Low-Code enabled us to develop a customized platform while keeping development hours to a minimum. This way, we combined the best of two worlds: 

• the lower price tag of a standard solution 
• and all the advantages of customization.

Low-Code offering lead Gregory Van Dorpe: “N-ACA proves that with Low-Code you can create a top-notch front end and a great user experience. There is a preconception that Low-Code equals basic user interfaces and limited possibilities. That's not true! N-ACA simply looks great.”

Another advantage of customization with OutSystems: it provides all hosting and operations. In other words, it hardly requires any maintenance for security and hosting.

The wink

N-ACA, inspired by NASA. 

The space theme gives our onboarding platform its own touch. It also adds an element of fun. 

To make the employee journey even more fun, we added a touch of gamification. We integrated several quizzes, for example. And colleagues can only unlock the next level of their onboarding once they have completed all assignments.

A personal mission page. Here, every colleague can track their onboarding quests and follow their progress through the entire journey.

Result: a better onboarding experience for our new colleagues

The result of this onboarding platform? A lot of positive feedback from our new colleagues.

Raf: “A beautiful and simple interface, very similar to a video game. The platform is intuitive and easy to use.”

Greet: “It is logically structured and provides guidance, especially in the first few weeks when you have a lot to process.”