Good onboarding is becoming more and more important for you and your future employees. But how can this onboarding period be made even more successful? We'll show you how to liven up the onboarding process with the storytelling method and integrate new employees into your company even faster!
Tell stories!
That describes the core of storytelling very aptly: it's about how you can convey information even better with the help of emotions. Even dry numbers and facts become a lively and captivating topic for the other person through a good story. That helps you persuade more quickly, because good stories are simply easier to sell!
You can use the method in any life situation in which you want to pass on information in a relaxed and humorous way. That's exactly why it's especially well suited to the onboarding phase of new employees. But how does storytelling actually work?
Good stories are the foundation of storytelling
The Storyteller Thomas Pyczak developed a short formula for good stories from this. It is as follows:
Story = character + predicament + desired resolution
Now only the ingredients for a good story are missing:
Your mission: What goal are you pursuing with this story? What do you want to convey to your employee?
Your agent: Every story needs a hero with whom your employee can identify – a person with a name and recognition value.
Your problem: Your hero gets into a conflict that prevents him or her from achieving the set goal.
Your solution: At the end of every story comes a resolution showing how your hero overcame the conflict.
This results in a rough structure for every good story, which you can also use for onboarding your employees.
Tip: The most important factor for convincing storytelling is authenticity – your stories must therefore be real. Only then can you convey emotions and truly captivate the other person!
The concept: A good story for your onboarding consists of idea, relevance and emotions
And how can storytelling be implemented in onboarding?
In principle, onboarding ensures that your new employees gradually familiarize themselves with your company's processes and get to know the other employees. Some storytelling formats are particularly well suited to this process – we have three ideas for you that we at blink.it have already tested in our onboarding:
1. Let your employees create welcome videos.
In particular, personal greetings from future colleagues are very motivating at the beginning. As a short video, they make it easier to get started in the new work environment. They also give new employees the opportunity to get to know the whole team more quickly.
In keeping with the storytelling rule, a colleague can also talk about challenges from their own early days, for example. This also takes the pressure off the new employee to have to be “perfect” during onboarding.
2. Introduce the company history.
Background knowledge about the company's founding and development helps new employees better understand and internalize processes and rules within the company. Anyone who knows the story understands the dynamics of your company – you should not withhold this knowledge from new employees!
For good storytelling, this company history can, for example, be told directly from the perspective of a manager or even directly by one of the founders. Challenges or small setbacks can also make for an exciting story for new employees.
3. Show the previous success stories.
Successes already achieved motivate new employees to orient themselves by them and make progress themselves. These stories also show what opportunities are available in your company and spur people on to top performance!
Here too, you can use a hero and obstacles in line with the storytelling formula: What was the goal? What did “the hero” do to achieve it? What problems did the hero have and how did he solve them?
Onboarding with stories – a report from experience:
Finally, in the spirit of storytelling, a personal story: At blink.it, storytelling is an integral part of onboarding. During my onboarding period, I repeatedly received personal video messages from my colleagues, which helped me settle into the team very quickly. The company history was also introduced to me in a small group. Small anecdotes made it especially exciting!
In the first few weeks, I also kept a video diary, which my colleagues could watch and use to get to know me better – including all the successes and little problems of the early days. In this way, I myself became the hero in a story.
From my point of view, storytelling is a wonderful method for welcoming new employees to the team. It also makes it easier for new employees to discover their own place in the company – and the little personal stories are fun too! 🙂
Onboarding with storytelling in an online course, sessions with the new colleagues, and a video diary: all of these are possible aspects of your "Blended Onboarding" concept. You can find out exactly how this works in the free guide.
Frequently asked questions and answers
Why is storytelling particularly well suited to onboarding?
Storytelling makes information more personal, easier to understand, and emotionally tangible. New employees not only learn facts about the company, but also understand the background, values, and typical challenges. This makes it easier for them to connect with the team and the company culture.
Which stories are suitable for good onboarding?
Welcome stories from colleagues, the company's history, and concrete success stories from the company are particularly suitable. Small anecdotes from the early days of existing employees also help new colleagues reduce uncertainty and find their bearings more quickly.
How can storytelling be implemented digitally in onboarding?
Digital storytelling works, for example, through welcome videos, short personal messages, recorded company stories, or video diaries from new employees. These formats can be easily integrated into an onboarding course and can be watched again at any time.
What makes an onboarding story effective?
A good onboarding story needs a clear goal, a relatable main character, a challenge, and a solution. It is also important that the story remains authentic. Real experiences are more credible than perfectly staged content.
Updated on 04/29/2026
