Employee Onboarding Process: Complete Guide [Bonus Checklist!]

A structured onboarding process sets new employees up for success from day one. Here is how we help organizations automate employee onboarding.

Employee Onboarding is the first step in a relationship between the company and the new hire. It involves educating the employee about the company, its culture, as well as introducing them to their team and all the tools.

Onboarding can have very lasting impressions on both the company and the new hire, setting the course for the rest of their time together. As such, it’s extremely important that the new employee onboarding process goes well.

Most organizations, though, don’t put too much thought into their onboarding process. They just “go with the flow.” After all, how hard can it be to mess this up, right? Surprisingly easy to mess up. In discussions we have had with HR directors at mid-sized companies, we hear the same frustration: pre-onboarding taking 1-2 weeks and new hire onboarding requiring 5-7 business days of manual coordination. One government contractor we spoke with reduced this to 2-3 days through structured workflows - a 71% improvement that allowed one HR person to efficiently manage 10-20 simultaneous onboardings.

As it turns out, not that hard. How well you execute your onboarding can have a significant impact on your organizations future. Want to learn how? Read on!

New employee onboarding process - a brief introduction

Before we get into the nits and grits of employee onboarding, let us rewind a bit and start with the basics.

Employee onboarding is the process of getting a new employee to start work at your company. The exact steps of what the process consists of are different for every organization. More often than not, though, you will end up doing things like…

• Dealing with the paperwork and all the legalities of making a new hire
• Providing the employee with a workspace, access to company tools & accounts, and anything else they need to start work
• Giving the right training, mentorship sessions, and ensuring that the employee is as productive as they can be at the company

Just about any organization has some employee onboarding process. The thing is, though, that this process is, in most cases, unstructured.

Here is how a typical employee onboarding could look like if there is ZERO thought put into it…

Suffice to say, if this happened in your organization, the new hire probably would not be too impressed with the company (and would potentially leave soon after).

If you structure your employee onboarding process, though, you will see a lot of benefits for your organization…

Better employee retention

The first impression your company makes on the hire can have a huge impact on their long-term performance. If their first day involves just sitting around and waiting for someone to pay attention to them, they are not going to think too highly of your organization.

Making them feel like a part of something great since day #1, however, will ensure that they stick around. First impressions matter. In fact, according to research by the Society of Human Resources, a structured onboarding can lead to increased employee retention by up to 25%.

Considering the fact that replacing an employee can cost up to 200% of their annual salary, this can really have a major impact on your bottom line.

Increased productivity

The faster your employees are up to speed and start work, the faster you will start seeing their value.

You don’t want them sitting around waiting for instructions - you want them to dig into their work and get used to their new workplace as soon as possible.

Having a structured new employee onboarding process can get them up to speed as soon as possible, leading to increased productivity company-wide.

Stronger employer brand

Today, hiring the very best talent is a competition. If you don’t create an engaging workplace experience for your employees, they will simply just leave for someone else. This holds especially true for high-skilled employees, who are bombarded with new job offers daily.

As employee onboarding is the first experience your new hire is going to have with your company, it’s going to leave a very lasting impression. If you manage to get this right, your organization will be famous for its stellar company culture & an employee-centric view.

How to create a structured onboarding process

Now that we have got you thinking about creating your own onboarding program, you are probably wondering how do you “do” employee onboarding, and most importantly, how you can get it right.

What you should do now is create the employee onboarding process. Meaning, list out the exact steps you would want to take to successfully onboard a new employee.

Then, you need to ensure that the onboarding process is followed through for every new hire you make. To do this, you can use employee onboarding software. We will explain how this works more in-depth later on.

For now, let us talk onboarding steps. To save you the trouble of figuring them out from scratch, we created a handy checklist for you to follow. Simply following through with the checklist for every new hire is enough to have an effective employee onboarding program.

BONUS: Employee onboarding checklist

During the hiring process

• Get all the necessary employee information
  • Name & Last Name
  • Date of Hire
  • Phone Number
  • Personal Email
• Fill in essential forms
  • W-4
  • I-9
  • Direct Deposit
  • Insurance
  • NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)

1-2 weeks before the hire’s day #1

• Prepare employee tech stack

  • Access to the internet
  • User / password for the computer
  • User / password for task management software, BPM, or anything else
  • User / password to the instant messaging software
  • Contact information for other company employees
  • Company email

• Prepare employee workstation

  • Desk
  • Monitor
  • Computer
  • Mouse
  • Phone
  • Keyboard
  • Headset
  • Any other relevant supplies for their position

• Prepare any other materials

  • Brochures with information on company culture and history
  • Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documents
  • Operations manual
  • Key or ID to access the office
  • Company swag (t-shirts, gifts, and other goodies)

• Transfer the employee’s personal information (Name, social, contact information), documents, and any other important information to your favorite employee management software.

• Bring the employee’s direct supervisor up to speed. Figure out the following…

  • Employee role
  • Initial tasks & KPIs
  • The projects your new hire will be working on

• Let everyone in the relevant department know about the new hire’s start date

• Schedule initial meetings

  • Relevant training on company culture, tasks, projects, and processes
  • Company lunch with the new hire’s department

• Send out an email to the hire with any must-have information about the workplace (how to find the office, who they are supposed to talk to, etc.)

• Remind the office manager & the new hire’s department about their arrival

• Schedule a tour of the company HQ

New employee’s day #1

• Introduce the new hire to all the relevant company employees

• Conduct a tour of the company HQ

• Give the new hire a schedule of their first few weeks of work. This can include…

  • Meetings & introductions
  • Professional training
  • Onboarding on company projects & goals
  • Check-in meetings with the HR and their supervisor

• Organize a company lunch with the new hire’s key team members

• Conduct a meeting between the employee & the HR. Explain everything about the company culture, benefits, perks, and any other important company information

• Conduct a meeting between the employee & their supervisor. Educate about company processes, methodologies, and the projects your new hire will be working on.

  • Set up goals and check-in meetings to ensure that the new hire’s first few months in the company are going smoothly.

• Give the employee some down-time to set up their workplace & go through any relevant company readings or videos.

First week of the hire

• Conduct 1-on-1 meetings between the hire and their direct supervisor

  • Keep track of their learning process
  • Ensure that they have access to any necessary knowledge or information
  • Provide feedback on their work
  • Ensure that they have enough tasks to keep them occupied

• Set performance metrics for the employee for…

  • The first month
  • 3 months
  • 6 months
  • The first year

1-3 months into the hire

• Keep conducting 1 to 1 meetings with the employee. Make this mutually beneficial by asking the right questions…

  • Are they satisfied with their work? If not, why not?
  • Do they have access to any resources they need in order to do their job right?
  • How satisfied were they with their onboarding process? Is there anything you could improve?

Example Procedure

Employee Onboarding

1HR - Set up payroll and send welcome email

2IT - Order equipment and set up workstation

3Office Manager - Prepare physical workspace

4IT - Create accounts and system access

5HR - Welcome meeting and company orientation

+3 more steps

View template

Example Procedure

New Hire Orientation

1Before arrival HR: Send new employee email and company handbook

2Before arrival Manager: Send new employee email and create work-plan for month 1-3

3Before arrival IT: Set-up desk and computer

4First day HR: Meet new employee and introduce manager, set up tax forms

5First day Manager: Introduce employee to department, begin training

+10 more steps

View template

Example Procedure

Employee Onboarding - Pre-Start

1Complete new hire input form

2Send welcome email

3Store new hire info for reference

4Run background check

5Add to payroll system

+10 more steps

View template

How to use employee onboarding software to automate the process

For a small organization, onboarding new hires probably isn’t hard. Just follow the exact steps we have mentioned above for every new employee, and you are gold.

If you are part of a medium-to-large sized company, though, this will not be nearly as easy. With HR-related discussions appearing frequently across industries like professional services (10% of our leads), healthcare (11%), and technology (9%), when you’re at the stage when there are dozens of new hires every month, things start to get extremely hectic. The variance in onboarding execution can be dramatic - one payroll processing company reduced their client onboarding from 14 days to 5 days (a 64% improvement) simply by standardizing their documentation collection workflow.

You end up running 20+ onboarding processes at the same time. Without software to keep track of all of them, you run the risk of missing some critical steps.

To ensure that every single one of your processes is executed flawlessly, you can try using employee onboarding software such as Tallyfy.

What is employee onboarding software

Employee onboarding software is the type of system that automates the execution of your onboarding process.

Related questions

What are the four elements of onboarding?

There are 4 components to successful onboarding which are the 4Cs - Compliance, Clarification, Culture, Connection. Everything is under the rubric of compliance; simple legal and policy rules.

Clarification is necessary so that employees comprehend their new roles and expectations. Culture familiarizes them with their organization’s values and norms. Connection allows for the formation of crucial relationships and social networks within the company.

What are the 5 C’s of onboarding?

Compliance, clarification, confidence, culture, connection are the 5 C’s of onboarding.

In addition to the four basics, confidence, is now included as a 5th C: parking place where new employees are made to feel self-assured and confident about their new role. This gives them confidence to start making a real difference from the get-go.

What are the 4 C’s of employee onboarding?

The 4 C’s are compliance, clarification, culture, and connection.

Consider them building blocks - the compliance as the foundation, the clarification as the direction, the culture as context and the connection as the belonging. Every C leverages the preceding one to craft full onboarding.

What are the six critical steps of onboarding?

The six key steps are: before day one, day one welcome, role clarity, integration with the team, training and development planning, and conducting regular check-ins and feedback.

Each of these steps can be incredibly well planned and executed, resulting in a smooth transition from new hire to productive team member.

Why should you focus on employee onboarding?

Proper onboarding equates to more employees staying on, quicker productivity and better team culture.

According to research, employees are 69% more likely to stay with a company for three years if they have a great onboarding experience. It’s also a lot like planting a garden - what you care about and put attention into in the beginning is what is going to grow for you down the line.

How long should employee onboarding last?

Successful onboarding takes 3-12 months, and not just a few days or weeks.

It’s like learning to play an instrument - you will not be good at first, and you need time to figure out the basic elements, nuances and feel that allow you to really play. This time-frame can vary based on complexity of the role and business requirements.

What is the difference between employee orientation and employee onboarding?

Orientation is a single event that you learn the basics of the company and onboarding is an initiative that takes months.

Orientation is akin to being handed a map of a new city, whereas onboarding is more like someone local taking you around and showing you the ropes so you can be considered a true resident.

When should employee onboarding begin?

On-boarding should start before the first day, once the offer has been accepted.

This pre-boarding comes with its advantages, such as enthusiasm building and leniency toward first-day jitters. It’s akin to packing for a journey - the more you prepare, the smoother the journey will be.

What are the best employee onboarding tools and software?

Modern solutions such as Tallyfy, learning management systems, e-sign for electronic document signing and easy communication platforms are some examples of onboarding tools.

The top tools cut off the tedium, maintain order, and make exciting content while taking some of the administrative weight off of our shoulders.

How does onboarding impact new employees?

Good effective onboarding has a huge impact on employee confidence and job satisfaction and long term success.

It lessens new-job nervousness, hastens productivity and encourages strong workplace relationships. Just as a strong foundation is a key ingredient of a well-built home, good onboarding underpins everything that follows.

What makes onboarding successful?

Maybe successful onboarding is a kind of magic, and magic is just the right recipe you follow with no mistakes.

It needs the help of HR, managers, and the team players to contribute to an environment that’s inviting and one new employees would feel valued and supported.

How can you measure onboarding effectiveness?

Some of the main metrics include time to productivity, retention rates, employee satisfaction scores, and new hire feedback.

Frequent progress checks and surveys enable the program to adjust and evolve to fulfill current needs.

What common onboarding mistakes should companies avoid?

Some of the common mistakes are overwhelming the new employees with details about the company, not giving them enough structure, not giving them enough communication and interacting with these new employees for a full day.

Great programs take the learning process as it comes and maintain transparency, but when it comes to bringing recruits on board, recognize that onboarding is a journey, not a mad dash.