Onboarding Quest
New hires learn the company by playing it.
New hires who take months to settle in
Sound familiar?
- “Our new people only know their own team for months.”
- “Onboarding is a stack of slides that nobody remembers.”
- “Good people leave before they ever feel part of the company.”
The Experience
Onboarding Quest turns a new hire’s first week into a game. New colleagues play in mixed teams, and every mission introduces a person, a place or a product they need to know. Instead of reading a handbook alone, they learn the company by moving through it and talking to the people who make it work.
Missions run on GoQuest, our own team game app, and we write them with your HR team. Teams interview a colleague from another department, photograph the places that matter, find the answer to a real customer question and record a short welcome video for the next group of new hires.
The quest finishes with a short quiz, so you can see what stuck. It runs in about ninety minutes at your office, hotel or conference venue in any of our regions, and remote hires can join by video call. Once written, the quest can be reused for every new group.
Missions can include your values, products and office traditions, so every quest feels like your company.
The Takeaways
New hires build in one afternoon a network that usually takes months, because every mission sends them to talk to someone new. They leave knowing names, faces and who to ask, which makes the first real tasks far less daunting and helps people feel part of the company sooner.
The missions turn company facts into experiences. People remember the customer question they solved and the colleague who explained it, not the slide. The final quiz shows HR what new hires actually know, and which topics need more time in the weeks that follow.
Managers get natural starting points for their first one-to-one conversations, based on what each new hire discovered. In the short debrief, new hires share one thing that surprised them and one question they still have, so nobody leaves the first week with unspoken doubts.
Because the quest is reusable, every new group gets the same quality of welcome, whatever the season or the office. HR saves preparation time, and new hires across locations share the same first experience of the company.
Program flow
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Welcome · 0–10 min
A leader welcomes the new hires and explains why the quest exists. Teams are formed, mixing departments and offices, and everyone opens the quest on their phone.
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Meet the people · 10–35 min
Teams interview colleagues from other departments using prepared questions, and record a short answer from each. Every interview earns points and a clue about how the company works.
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Find the places · 35–55 min
Teams explore the office or venue, photographing the places that matter: where support sits, where products are tested, where people go for help. Remote hires complete the same missions by video call.
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Solve a real question · 55–75 min
Teams receive a real customer question and must find the right answer by asking the right people. They record a short welcome video for the next group of new hires.
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Quiz and debrief · 75–90 min
A short quiz shows what stuck. In the debrief, new hires share one thing that surprised them and one question they still have, and managers note topics for their first one-to-one meetings.
The game ends. The learning starts.
Every Phoenix program closes with a guided debrief. These are the questions for Onboarding Quest:
- What surprised you most about how the company works?
- Who did you meet today that you will need in your first month?
- Which question are you still unsure about?
- What helped your team find answers fastest?
- What would you add to this quest for the next group of new hires?
What we bring, what you provide
We bring
- A quest written with your HR team
- GoQuest app access for every new hire
- A facilitator for the session
- A short quiz with results for HR
- The welcome videos recorded by each team
- A reusable quest for future new-hire groups
You provide
- A room for the welcome and the debrief
- Access to the office areas used in the missions
- Colleagues available for short interviews
- One smartphone per participant
- Coffee and refreshments
Frequently asked questions
Who writes the missions?
We write them with your HR team in a one-hour call, using your own people, places and products. You approve every mission before the first group plays.
Can we run it every month?
Yes. Once written, the quest can be reused for every new group, with small updates when teams or products change.
Does it work for remote hires?
Yes. Remote players complete the same missions by video call and online, and score on the same leaderboard.
How long does it take?
About ninety minutes, including the welcome and the debrief. A shorter sixty-minute version is possible.
What does HR receive?
Quiz results for the group, the welcome videos and a short note of the questions new hires still had.
Can it support existing onboarding?
Yes. Most clients run it in the first week, alongside their usual training and paperwork.
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Request a quote for Onboarding Quest
Tell us your group size, date and goals. We will reply with a tailored proposal.