Before day one
CHECKLIST
TO BUILD AN EPIC
ONBOARDING
EXPERIENCE
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO CREATING AMAZING NEW STARTER WELCOMES
CHECKLIST | 02
CHECKLIST | 02
N E W
E M P L O Y E E
O N B O A R D I N G
MILESTONES
01
02
Engage Before
Day One
First Day
Agenda & Orientation
04
Probation Period
Encouragement
03
05
05
Towards
First Anniversary
06
First Week
Immersion
And
Beyond
WRAP THEM IN A COAT
C ULTURE
Expressing the team (not just organisation) vision, cultural
values, quirks and what makes the team unique is vital when
building a memorable and successful onboarding journey
O BJECTIVES
Ensure the new starter understands how their role directly
contributes to the overall team and organisational goals with
clear examples of the impact this can make to the business
A DMIN
Get the basics right, streamline new starter administration and
remove friction to enable new starters to focus on early learning
T EAM
Enable team members to play a role in the new starter induction
before day one and beyond for an incredibly favourable
impression of the team ethos and sense of belonging
Get the latest onboarding insights at hronboard.me
CHECKLIST | 03
01 BEFORE DAY ONE
E N G A G E
FAST OFFER & ACCEPTANCE
INTRODUCE THE TEAM
To form a great first impression, the
boring but important parts need to be
streamlined with a fast, easy to
complete electronic offer and
acceptance process.
Build relationships early and start
introducing your new hires to the team
they’ll be joining. Don’t try to boil the
ocean, concentrate on introducing the 4
or 5 key people that the new starter will
be working with.
REMIND TEAM LEADERS
SHOW OFF YOUR CULTURE
By focusing on the top 5 tasks to
complete, just-in-time reminders
ensure that managers can have the
highest impact on new starter
productivity. Google found a simple
reminder alert reduced the new hire
time to productivity by a full month 25% faster! (Source: ERE)
People love to join organisations that
align with their values and beliefs. It’s
important to keep reinforcing your
culture, brand and unique style to new
starters before day one.
BEFORE DAY ONE CHECKLIST:
Culture
Objectives
Admin
Team
Offer accepted &
forms complete
Team intro's & 1st
day reminders
Payroll provisioning
Team lingo &
terminology
Call out to social
media profiles
Systems & desk
provisioning
Invitation to group
chat tools
Gift for new starter
Compliance courses
CEO welcome
Company vision
Company values &
history
Position & role
detailed description
Orientation plan
“We schedule different kinds of lunches and meetings to
help people to understand their colleagues they’re going to
be working with." (Source: CultureAmp)
CHECKLIST | 04
CHECKLIST | 04
02 FIRST DAY
A G E N D A
&
O R I E N T A T I O N
MEMORABLE FIRST DAY
Fear of the unknown applies to the initial
phase of a new job in addition to the
concern of being overwhelmed with
information.
It is important to ensure the new starter
has an idea of their first day's agenda
and how the orientation will work by the
time they arrive on day one or soon after
arriving.
Information should be be drip fed, when
it is required, for the information to be
retained in any meaningful way.
This is a key opportunity to really 'wow'
your new employee & set the tone of the
working relationship.
FIRST DAY CHECKLIST:
Culture
Culture sessions
PROVISIONS READY
Not having a desk, laptop or access
pass ready to go is one of the most
common complaints and often cited
reasons for lost productivity and low
engagement.
BUDDY UP
Assigning a peer buddy is also a great
way to show the new starter the ropes.
Consider a team mate rather than their
manager who they'll feel comfortable
asking mundane but important questions
about the office, culture & quirks of the
team.
The buddy is also a great person to
introduce the new employee around
and do the tour of the office to build
rapport and relationships.
Objectives
Admin
Team
Company goals &
strategy
First day schedule
Team welcome &
introductions
Team goals &
strategy
Onsite inductions
Buddy program
“Twitter scheduled happy hours for new starters to
meet with senior cross functional talk” (Source: Quora)
CHECKLIST | 05
CHECKLIST | 05
03 FIRST WEEK
I M M E R S I O N
LET CULTURE SHINE
SHARE CASCADING GOALS
Culture plays a significant role in the
longevity and engagement of
employees. Take the time to think about
the things that make the company and
team unique and then plan the best
way to convey them.
Communicate early how the new starter’s
goals are aligned to the businesses
strategy. New starters will gain a greater
understanding of their impact and enable
more informed decision making in the first
critical months.
Building lasting relationships is key for
retention, so get the new hire to meet as
many people as possible in their direct
orbit.
Plan how to re-introduce key people,
remembering that the first introduction
will be one of many in their first week.
Bonus points if you can introduce senior
leaders & CEO.
Sharing career development plans and
required skill sets for senior roles
demonstrates that the business is
interested and supportive of their
development. This information can help
new starters to have an informed
discussion with managers about
learning and development during the
first week of immersion.
INTRODUCE THE TEAM
INSPIRE NEW STARTERS
FIRST WEEK CHECKLIST:
Culture
Objectives
Admin
Product & services
inductions
Career path & goal
setting
Schedule meetings
with key teams &
executives
Start on
meaningful work
Set up schedule
for regular
probation reviews
Team
Buddy program
Establish regular
meet ups with
functional team
“New hires are immersed in the value of "knitting" - a term used to mean
collaborating with people & seeing the world from different points of view.
The theme continues through the first week & wraps up by volunteering
with KnitSF" (Source: Quora)
CHECKLIST | 06
CHECKLIST | 06
04 PROBATION PERIOD
E N C O U R A G E M E N T
ESTABLISH A ROUTINE
REWARD LEARNING
It’s critical to enable an easy flow of
feedback with your new starter and their
team leader throughout probation.
Establish regular catch ups between
team leaders and the new starter confirm these in employee calendars to
ensure they happen on a regular basis.
Employees often have an innate desire to
learn, feel inspired and be presented with
opportunities.
These may include fortnightly one-toones, monthly probation chats or a pulse
survey. Regular touchpoints uncover
early warning signs and identify which
new starters might need some extra
help.
Studies show as many as 40% of
employees who receive poor job training
leave jobs within the first year. Encourage
external learning and reward independent
learning (on their own time) to reduce the
risk of employees feeling unfulfilled.
(Source: GO2HR)
PROBATION CHECKLIST:
Culture
Objectives
Admin
Encourage a
culture of shared
learning
Hold new starters
accountable to role
& team goals
Communicate how
probation is tracked
Share company
results & team
input regularly
Regular catchups
Team
360 feedback
from peers
throughout
probation
"Every new engineer spends his or her first six weeks in Bootcamp, the
intensive onboarding program designed to immerse new engineers into
our code base, learn the ins-and outs of company culture and give
them greater flexibility in choosing a project."(Source: Toronto Star)
CHECKLIST | 07
CHECKLIST | 07
05 FIRST ANNIVERSARY
T O W A R D S
ONE YEAR TO ONBOARD
CELEBRATE, OFTEN!
The best onboarding programs take the
first year into consideration - until the
first anniversary.
Teams who focus energy on ensuring
employees are happy, challenged,
being heard and have development
opportunities foster a positive
experience and greater likelihood that
the employees will want to stay with the
business.
Studies show up to 23% of new starters
who receive a poor onboarding
experience depart in the first year. So the
first anniversary is a great time to reflect
on achievements, plan for future
development and celebrate.
Keep track of anniversaries in a shared
team calendar and notify team
leaders/managers a few days before to
provide sufficient time to prepare an
appropriate celebration with the team.
FIRST ANNIVERSARY CHECKLIST:
Culture
Objectives
Admin
Team
Onboarding survey
Career path & goal
setting
Send out
onboarding surveys
Check in with team
leader
Anniversary gift
Job & role
reflection
Complete formal
probation reviews
Feedback from
peers
Celebrate
milestones on
internal socials
Encourage learning
opportunities
Celebrate as a team
“At Groupon, no work anniversary (or Grouponiversary) goes unnoticed.
This milestone is recognised with a bright green Adidas track jacket.
Employees can even personalise their jacket with unique nicknames and
receive star patches for each additional year at the company" (Source:
Entrepreneur)
CHECKLIST | 08
06 ONBOARDING
B E Y O N D
BUILD TRUST
SCALE UP COMMUNICATION
An onboarding strategy should lay the
foundations for loyalty. To move an
employee beyond those first 6 months,
you need to continue the level of
engagement throughout the journey.
Using the right tool to communicate
with is paramount. A workforce
broadcast tool means that you can craft
personalised communication, at scale.
Conduct employee pulse surveys at least
twice a year to help you gauge employee
sentiment.
Vital information can be sent directly to
employees and is consistent companywide. Easily create engaging
communications that are memorable
with links, video and photos. Our
Broadcasts Feature gives you the ability
to schedule content that is always
available or date specific.
SMOOTH TRANSITIONS
HAPPY GOODBYES
No matter where your employees are in
their journey, managing career
transitions seamlessly will let them know
that they are valued.
Nurturing your employee through the
entire employee lifecycle includes
offboarding. Make sure company
property and data is protected with
efficient de-provisioning.
Be transparent, constantly communicate
and continually optimise your employee
experience.
From contract updates, secondments to
salary increases: your employees can
be guided through the admin and
requirements with ease. Let us help with
dedicated workflows and templates for
every step of the employee journey.
And send them out into the world as
brand ambassadors by giving them
a positive farewell. At HROnboard, we
can help you from hello to go.
“At Elmo, staff are delighted by in-house meditation and yoga classes
each week. Throughout the year there are many opportunities to
connect with staff but it is the early morning internal podcast that
employees love the most"(Source: Us)
Simplify your employee
onboarding & create
memorable experiences!
Learn more about HROnboard at:
hronboard.me
info@hronboard.me
+61 3 9879 2144