Gatheround Powers Ontra's Onboarding Program With Zero Dropoff and 95 eNPS.

Legal tech company Ontra has built a global onboarding program that combines automation with human connection, using Gatheround and Donut Journeys to deliver 2,000-plus automated touchpoints across a four-week employee journey.

The results speak to the power of structured remote onboarding: 99% of new hires reported feeling welcomed, 98% felt integrated into the company's remote culture, and 97% felt set up for success. The program also achieved a 95 employee Net Promoter Score with zero dropoff during the onboarding period.

Ontra's approach centers on Donut Journeys, which orchestrates scheduled touchpoints throughout the onboarding experience. Gatheround handles the live connection moments, providing video-based sessions that bring new hires together for structured activities and team building.

The combination allows people teams to automate the scheduling and delivery of onboarding content while preserving the interactive, human elements that help remote employees build relationships. Rather than relying on ad hoc coffee chats or hoping managers remember to check in, the system ensures every new hire receives consistent support at predictable intervals.

This builds on Gatheround's recent integration work with Donut, which brought AI-powered onboarding agents and automated journey design to HR teams managing distributed workforces.

The program runs across four weeks, mixing automated messages, live video sessions, and asynchronous check-ins. New hires move through structured phases: orientation to company culture, integration with their immediate team, connections across departments, and longer-term relationship building.

Each touchpoint serves a specific purpose. Early interactions focus on logistics and immediate questions. Mid-program sessions introduce cross-functional colleagues and normalize asking for help. Later touchpoints reinforce learning and gather feedback on the experience itself.

The automation layer handles reminder messages, calendar invites, and progress tracking. Gatheround provides the video infrastructure for live moments, using templates designed for remote team connection rather than generic video calls.

The zero-dropoff metric matters because early employee departures carry significant costs. Beyond recruiting and training expenses, losing new hires signals problems with culture fit, role clarity, or support systems. Ontra's numbers suggest their structured approach addresses these risks before they become resignation decisions.

The 95 eNPS indicates new hires would actively recommend the company to others based on their onboarding experience. That kind of advocacy starts in the first few weeks, when employees form lasting impressions about whether they made the right choice and whether the company invests in their success.

For distributed teams, the challenge intensifies. Remote employees can't rely on hallway conversations or overhearing colleagues to fill knowledge gaps. Structured programs compensate for the ambient learning that happens naturally in physical offices.

Ontra's results point to a broader trend in HR technology: moving beyond simple scheduling tools toward orchestrated employee experiences. Rather than asking managers to manually coordinate onboarding activities, systems like Donut Journeys and Gatheround automate the framework while preserving flexibility for human interaction.

This matters for small and mid-sized companies without dedicated people operations teams. The playbook Ontra built can scale across hiring cohorts without linear increases in HR workload. New managers inherit a proven system rather than inventing their own approach.

The integration between journey management and live video sessions also reflects how modern HR stacks work. Rather than all-in-one platforms, companies increasingly combine specialized tools that integrate through APIs and shared data models. Donut handles the journey logic, Gatheround handles the live moments, and both feed back into the broader employee experience.

For teams evaluating onboarding solutions, Ontra's metrics provide a benchmark. The question isn't whether to automate employee journeys, but how to automate them in ways that feel personal and drive measurable outcomes.