I had the same thought. At some point, loading employees up with structured activities and obligations that aren't entirely related to doing their job becomes counterproductive. It can be a sign that the company has lost focus.
My favorite onboarding process was to simply give the person's team a budget to do whatever they wanted with the new hire for a day or two, then get to work. Managers would write up a document with all account info, login info, key communication info, and then let the teams fill the new person in on the day-to-day details while they went out to lunches or went go-karting or whatever they wanted.
The more HR tries to structure things, the less effective it becomes at onboarding people. Let the teams handle it and make them responsible for getting the person up to speed quickly. They're closest to the work, and therefore they know best what the person actually needs.
My favorite onboarding process was to simply give the person's team a budget to do whatever they wanted with the new hire for a day or two, then get to work. Managers would write up a document with all account info, login info, key communication info, and then let the teams fill the new person in on the day-to-day details while they went out to lunches or went go-karting or whatever they wanted.
The more HR tries to structure things, the less effective it becomes at onboarding people. Let the teams handle it and make them responsible for getting the person up to speed quickly. They're closest to the work, and therefore they know best what the person actually needs.