Brand Begins on Day One: Use Faculty & Staff Onboarding to Build School Culture
It’s the season of faculty meetings, summer reading, and soon, registration days. Across the Southeast, independent schools are welcoming new faculty and staff to campus. And while paperwork and moving furniture dominate these early days, there’s a critical opportunity that often goes overlooked: using onboarding as a deliberate tool to communicate school culture and brand.
Culture is a Strategic Asset
School culture cannot be taken for granted. For those who have been part of the community for years, it feels second nature. But for a new hire—especially one coming from outside the independent school world—it can be bewildering. They don’t know your shorthand, your families, or your style. Without an intentional introduction, they’ll start building their own version of your culture, pieced together from staffroom conversations and campus observations.
You need to clearly articulate your culture and your brand so that it isn’t vulnerable to interpretation—and misinterpretation. A thoughtful onboarding process is key.
Branding Isn’t Just for Marketing
Your brand and culture are both external and internal tools. Brand is what people say about your school when they’re talking to friends, or how your staff describes their work to family. Brand is far more than your logo and colors. It is your reputation, and it’s an incredibly important and delicate thing. It is intimately tied to your culture.
Introducing your brand during onboarding helps align your newest ambassadors with your school’s mission and message. Don’t just show them what you do—tell them why it matters. Share stories that illustrate your values. Give them language that reflects your positioning. Talk about how your school sees itself in the market, what makes it distinctive, and how they contribute to that identity.
Practical Ways to Embed Brand and Culture in Onboarding
If your new faculty orientation is mostly logistics and policies, consider adding these culture-forward elements:
1. Brand Guide Meets Culture Kit
Include a short session from school leadership about your identity, your brand promise, and your aspirations as a school. Not just what you do—but who you are and why families choose you. Share your brand guide with your new hires (and existing staff). Make sure your brand guide is more than just logos, fonts, and colors. Make it a culture kit, too. Include your mission, vision, and USP. Include language about how you communicate and more.
2. Culture Tours and History
I worked at an independent school where a long-standing faculty member gave a tour of campus to all new hires during the onboarding process. Not only did he point out dates and facilities, but he told stories that illustrated the culture and values of the school. Who was the head of school who changed the trajectory of the place? What’s the legend behind your school’s motto? How has the perception of your school changed over the years?
3. Meet the Brand Stewards
Introduce new hires to the people behind your marcomms efforts. When new staff know who to turn to with questions—or content ideas—they're more likely to engage and align with your public-facing efforts. This point also helps break down silos, which work counter to everything we preach about independent school marcomms.
Final Thought
A school’s culture doesn’t just live in traditions and rituals—it lives in people. As new faculty join your community this summer, don’t leave your brand up to chance. Make it part of the first impression.
