About the Project

Supporting European SMEs to improve onboarding, reduce staff turnover and build more resilient workplaces.

OnBoard is an Erasmus+ project that helps SMEs strengthen their onboarding practices through research, practical tools and training resources.

The project supports HR managers, team leaders and trainers with guidance to integrate new employees effectively, improve retention and develop a stronger workplace culture.

About OnBoard

Supporting SMEs through Better Onboarding

OnBoard – Supporting European SMEs improving onboarding procedures to defeat turnover and become more resilient is a European project funded under the Erasmus+ Programme.

The project addresses a growing challenge across Europe: ineffective onboarding practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often lead to early employee disengagement, high staff turnover and reduced productivity.

OnBoard aims to support SMEs by providing structured, practical and accessible onboarding solutions tailored to real labour market needs.

Why OnBoard?

Across Europe, many SMEs operate without formal HR departments and rely on informal, ad-hoc onboarding processes. New employees are often expected to “learn on the job”, with limited guidance, feedback or integration into organisational culture.
OnBoard responds to this gap by:
  • promoting structured onboarding as a strategic HR process,
  • supporting SME managers and HR professionals with practical tools
  • helping organisations improve retention, performance and employee experience.

Our Mission

The mission of OnBoard is to help SMEs become more resilient by improving onboarding processes, strengthening human capital and reducing early staff turnover.

By investing in better onboarding, SMEs can create more engaged teams, improve productivity and support sustainable growth in a changing labour market.

What We Do

OnBoard develops and delivers:
  • a structured onboarding curriculum aligned with EU frameworks (EQF, ECVET, Europass);
  • a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) accessible to SMEs, trainers and professionals;
  • blended pilot training, combining online learning, face-to-face sessions and work-based learning;
  • digital tools, including the OnBoard Collaborative Platform and the OnBoard Toolkit, supporting onboarding, retention and performance monitoring;
  • guidelines and resources for VET providers and organisations working with SMEs.

All outputs are designed to be practical, scalable and easy to use, especially for small organisations with limited HR capacity.

Who Do We Work With?

OnBoard is designed for and implemented with:
  • Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);
  • HR managers, onboarding specialists and company leaders;
  • VET providers, trainers and training institutions;
  • Higher education institutions and researchers;
  • Employment services and business support organisations;
  • Job seekers and newly hired employees.

The project promotes inclusive participation, accessibility and gender balance across all activities.

European Cooperation

OnBoard is implemented by a European partnership bringing together organisations from several EU countries, including training providers, research institutions, consultancies and business support organisations.

This cooperation enables:
  • exchange of good practices across countries,
  • adaptation of solutions to different national contexts,
  • joint development of high-quality, transferable results.