Why Do the Best People Leave? Onboarding Part II

Onboarding That Sticks, Part 2 — The Culture Connection

Onboarding That Sticks, Part 2 — The Culture Connection

Every school leader knows the heartbreak: you hire a great educator, full of energy and ideas, and by the end of the year — or sometimes even sooner — they’re gone.

I once worked with a school that felt like it was always starting over. Every fall, the halls were full of new faces — not just students, but teachers, counselors, and even administrators. By mid-year, more changes would come. Staff would leave, new hires would arrive, and the cycle would start again.

It wasn’t that the people they hired weren’t talented — many were. But the constant churn made it nearly impossible to build momentum. Just as teams were starting to gel, they’d have to reintroduce themselves, reset expectations, and re-explain “how we do things here.” The leadership team lived in a perpetual state of onboarding, as if the first day of school never really ended.

Workload, pay, and “fit” matter — no question. They’re often part of why people choose to leave. But just as important is what happens in those critical first weeks. That’s when new hires are asking themselves, “Do I belong here?” — and those early impressions are shaped as much by the culture they encounter as by the logistics of the job.

Onboarding is the first moment new hires experience your culture, not just hear about it. They see it in how they’re welcomed, in whether people know their name, in the way leaders speak about students and families. Every conversation, every meeting, every “this is how we do things here” is a message about what matters.

Strong onboarding weaves your school or district’s core values into every interaction. It’s not just sharing a vision statement; it’s showing how that vision lives in classrooms, team meetings, and the daily rhythm of the building.

For example:

· If collaboration is a value, invite new hires into planning conversations on Day 1.

· If equity is a value, share the ways you’ve tackled barriers for students — and be honest about the work still to do.

· If joy is a value, make sure there are moments in onboarding where people laugh and connect.

Culture isn’t built in a single welcome meeting. It’s reinforced in the stories you tell, the norms you model, and the commitments you keep — especially in the first weeks when new hires are forming their understanding of “how things work here.”

If you want your best people to stay, culture has to come first.

Before your staff arrive, try this:

1. Plan a Day 1 culture moment. Create an experience that lets new hires see your values in action — not just hear about them.

2. Assign a connector. Pair each new hire with someone outside their immediate team who will help them feel known and welcomed.

3. Curate your stories. Be intentional about the first stories they hear about your school — choose ones that reflect the culture you want to build.

Start here, and you’ll send a clear message from the very beginning: You belong here.

Next week, we’ll get into the nuts and bolts — practical tools and structures you can use to map out onboarding and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Written by Nina Mauceri, PhD — with AI editing assistance.