“The first week at a new job stays with you.” It’s a sentiment we often share with new joiners—and for good reason. Whether it’s the people you meet, the tools you fumble through, or the feedback you weren’t quite expecting, those early moments shape not just your experience but your performance trajectory.
For organizations, onboarding isn’t just a milestone—it’s a launchpad. At McKinsey, we’ve learned to treat the first week at the firm and the first week on a real client study as two pivotal moments. That insight led us to rethink what it really means to prepare someone for success on their very first client engagement. Success isn’t about checking boxes—it’s about readiness: the confidence and capability to contribute meaningfully from day one.
We redesigned onboarding as a springboard focused on accelerating effectiveness from the start.
Why rethink new-hire readiness?
As new joiners arrived from increasingly varied professional backgrounds—some without traditional business training—we saw a clear pattern. While they brought talent and ambition in spades, they didn’t always feel immediately equipped for all of the nuanced demands of their role.
True success requires an evolving blend of leadership judgment, technical fluency, and contextual expertise—capabilities that don’t always develop simultaneously. Without a structured bridge, many early-career professionals find themselves navigating a steep, often fragmented, learning curve.
We weren’t alone in this challenge. Many organizations are now onboarding talent from a broader range of disciplines. For us, this challenge sparked a shift from a standardized onboarding model to one that is tailored, skills-first, and designed to accelerate impact.
What does it really mean to be Day One ready?
Our reimagined onboarding isn’t just a new training program; it’s a new approach to building critical capabilities at scale.
Each component of the journey targets a specific capability, and within those programs, we’ve embedded short, diagnostic assessments. These allow us to tailor the experience to each new hire’s background and needs, ensuring that every learner receives the right support, at the right moment.
1. Personalizing onboarding from the start
We’ve introduced several changes to our onboarding journey, one of the most impactful being the redesign of our financial modeling module. Since financial modeling isn’t a prerequisite to join McKinsey as a consultant, all new hires previously received the same baseline training.
Over time, we saw that some new joiners arrived with significant modeling experience, while others were newer to the skill. To better meet each person where they are, we introduced a low-pressure, skills-based diagnostic before onboarding begins. This short assessment helps new hires self-evaluate their financial modeling and related problem-solving skills and guides them toward the right learning path.
Based on their results, new joiners follow one of two tracks:
- Foundations track: A facilitated, team-based program that builds foundational modeling skills through hands-on learning and peer collaboration.
- Refresher track: A flexible, self-paced digital option designed for those with prior experience who may only need light reinforcement.
2. Learning by doing
Beyond financial-modeling expertise, there are McKinsey-specific skills that every new joiner needs to build. Our reimagined, mostly in-person onboarding journey isn’t a lecture series—it’s a simulation. Each day, participants work in teams to tackle realistic business scenarios, break down complex problems, and present solutions to simulated clients.
New joiners learn by doing. Building judgment in areas such as financial impact, stakeholder influence, McKinsey’s approach to written and verbal communication, and the levers of long-term organizational change—not in theory but through role playing and real-time collaboration. Naturally, AI-enabled tools play a role in the simulation as well.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s readiness: to engage meaningfully, ask sharper questions, and add value in the moments that count.
3. Turning assessments into growth plans
During the McKinsey-specific-skills onboarding journey, each participant also takes a simulation-based assessment that focuses on leadership skills. Each participant receives a Day 1 Growth Plan—a personalized development guide based on their performance in a simulation-based leadership assessment.
This plan highlights strengths, pinpoints development opportunities, and outlines next steps. It also connects to our broader credentialing ecosystem, offering structured learning pathways in areas like finance, risk, strategic thinking, and industry-specific knowledge. For learners, it creates a clear “what’s next.” For the organization, it builds a culture of ownership around skill development. It transforms onboarding into the start of a longer development journey—one anchored in capability, not just completion.
4. Building a culture of feedback early
Feedback is embedded throughout the onboarding experience—not as an evaluation but as a development tool.
From the initial pre-assessment on financial modeling to the simulation-based evaluation at the end of the onboarding week, and culminating in the personalized Day 1 Growth Plan, new joiners receive multiple touchpoints with feedback from the very beginning.
Crucially, these elements are not positioned as evaluations but as opportunities to reflect on strengths and to identify areas for development before hitting the ground running. Each one offers personalized guidance and points joiners toward relevant resources—setting the tone for continuous, self-directed learning.
By weaving in peer feedback, facilitator input, and self-reflection exercises throughout the journey, we help normalize feedback as a tool for growth—not a test of worth.
5. Using data to continuously improve
For our learning design teams, the introduction of the simulation-based assessment had another important benefit: It surfaced the specific areas where many learners continue to face challenges, even after an intensive onboarding experience.
These insights have allowed us to continuously improve the in-person program—shifting focus areas and fine-tuning delivery based on real learner performance.
What’s made the biggest difference
For others looking to rethink their onboarding, a few design principles stand out:
- Design for diversity of starting points: Personalization doesn’t have to be complex; a short pre-assessment can unlock highly tailored learning paths.
- Make practice the core: Simulations and applied learning drive both retention and confidence.
- Create a bridge to future development: A growth plan rooted in skills, not scores, fosters self-awareness and momentum.
- Model your culture from the start: Onboarding is your culture’s first impression—make it count.
Looking forward
We’re continuing to evolve this work: expanding our digital learning options, integrating the Day 1 Growth Plan into broader talent pathways, and exploring new ways to support foundational skill building across the firm.
And it’s not just about onboarding. We’re actively developing Day 1 Growth Plan analogues to support colleagues navigating major career transitions that often signal step changes in responsibility or scope. These tools help build self-awareness, clarify expectations, and offer tailored guidance on where to focus development, ensuring that growth doesn’t stop at entry but is continually included at key inflection points.
At its core, the mission remains simple: to turn those crucial early days, whether in the firm or in a new role, into a platform for confidence, connection, and contribution. When people start strong, they’re equipped to contribute earlier, navigate complexity faster, and build the momentum they need to grow as individuals. And that growth accelerates team performance, drives business results, and increases employee satisfaction—from day one and beyond.