Fresh from the Field – One NZ's onboarding program

Fresh from the field

Fresh from the Field – One NZ’s onboarding program – by Hula

Fresh from the Field is a weekly article series sharing the fresh and inspiring work of our Aotearoa Design Assembly community.

Drawing on inspiration from te ngāhere, Aotearoa’s forest ecologies, Hula walk us through their recent work for One NZ.

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The Brief

Our challenge from One NZ was clear: transform their employee onboarding program into an exceptional, immersive experience reflecting their recent rebrand. The goal was ambitious—to create the best onboarding program in New Zealand, one that inspires inclusivity and connects a diverse workforce to One NZ’s purpose of ‘unlocking the magic of technology to create a more awesome Aotearoa’.

Authentic connection doesn’t happen in one day alone. A more profound journey of discovery is required to cultivate the kind of mindset shift, mutual growth, collective responsibility and shared purpose our client was looking for. We needed to totally revolutionise the programme.

Visual of onboarding image slides showing Aotearoa flowers, trees, and text; "Nurture the seed and it will grow."

Image of a singular flower growing into a circle representing individual growth, collective responsibility, and stronger together.

Image of Harakeke flower in circular pattern

The Design Response & Launch

To meet this challenge, we conceived a 100-day onboarding journey inspired by Aotearoa’s interconnected forests.

Our creative idea ‘Growing Together’ draws inspiration from te ngāhere, Aotearoa’s forest ecologies, to communicate the interconnectedness of One NZ’s people and business. Showing how we grow from seeds, to saplings, to a mighty ngāhere together. Each touchpoint was designed to encourage employees to see the critical role they play at One NZ in a new light.

It was important this was not only clearly and beautifully communicated, but felt and experienced on a deeper level. This led us to design outside of traditional formats, creating a digital-first experience for remote employees and an immersive in-person experience for those in central office hubs. An approach that aligns with One NZ’s purpose of unlocking the magic of technology to create a more awesome Aotearoa. The experience also provided space for staff to engage with One NZ’s sustainability strategy and Whārikihia Māori Strategy.

A successful launch at the internal ‘flip day’ for the One NZ brand saw over 4,300 employees experiencing a condensed version of the programme. It is now being run on a regular basis with both in-person and virtual experiences. This is just the beginning – the programme was designed with a long term perspective, with the ability to evolve, grow, and weave in additional elements year on year.