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FAQs on why you need and how to use an employee onboarding checklist.

Finding the right new hire is only half the battle. A large part of your new hire becoming a successful, long-term employee is a result of how their onboarding process goes. Taking the time to ensure your new hires are properly on-boarded into your organization can positively or negatively affect your bottom-line. The cost of hiring a new employee is high, so failing to devote the time and resources to the onboarding process can drastically hurt your business.

In today’s reactive (rather than proactive) corporate environment, it’s easy to lose track of all the factors that play a role in properly acclimating your new hires. Enter – the new employee onboarding checklist. Checklists make it easy to keep you and your organization accountable for properly onboarding new hires so that they are positioned to succeed.

Are you providing the right onboarding and training to your employees? A detailed checklist can serve as an important tool to ensure your employees are properly on-boarded to all departments.

What is an employee onboarding checklist?

An employee onboarding checklist is an effective tool for holding each department accountable for having a hand in transitioning a new employee onto the team. Regardless of what the new hire’s position is, several departments should be involved in the onboarding process.

Checklists help ensure a process is followed, and nothing is forgotten. The employee onboarding checklist will assist the new employee during their first few days, weeks, and even months.

For example, the tasks for the new hire’s direct report on the first day may include: introducing them to their new team, a tour of the office, providing the appropriate training materials, and an introduction to the company culture. After a few days, the checklist may provide instruction for: assigning the new employee their first project, highlighting their expectations for the following month, and scheduling weekly or monthly check-in meetings.

While many of those things might seem obvious, encouraging those responsible to check off each item will ensure they devote the time and resources needed to fulfill each task.

When should the checklist begin?

Though the action of checking off boxes proves effective, that is not the sole intention of the onboarding checklist. Rather, this employee checklist should be about creating your employee’s introduction to the organization – and that introduction starts before day one.

A good onboarding process should begin before the new hire enters their first day on the job. Some processes can be done before they arrive to help make the onboarding as seamless as possible, particularly as it relates to the HR department. Preparing paperwork, creating email and project management accounts, organizing the new employee’s workstation, and collecting all the info needed to begin the benefits package can get the employee ready to hit the ground running on their first day, now that they’re already (on paper) part of the organization.

When does the onboarding checklist end?

Your new employee isn’t fully transitioned into the organization after the first day, and neither should your onboarding checklist. On average, a new hire checklist lasts about 90 days. Often, organizations will refer to this as a “probationary period,” qualifying that – by the 90-day mark – an employee should be fully adjusted to the processes and policies of the organization and will either be sinking or swimming.

During those first three months, an employee is still evaluating if they like their new role and if they see a path for success – making this the most critical time for their supervisor to create a roadmap for success, largely through the onboarding checklist. Maintaining open lines of communication during this time will be key.

Once the new hire is adjusted, it would be beneficial for your organization to review the onboarding process with them and find out what did and didn’t work to continue to improve your processes and thus new hire checklist.

How do I create and implement an onboarding checklist for my organization?

Sometimes it takes fresh eyes and an objective perspective to determine how to best design and organize the right onboarding checklist to be tailored to your specific organization. That’s why we’re here.

At AHA! Business Consulting, we’ve created tools and processes that can be customized for any organization to streamline and refine their hiring, onboarding, and training processes. Contact us to schedule a free consultation today.