New Hire Checklist: The Complete Guide

9 minute read

Posted by Chris Platts on 19 August 2020

Effective onboarding requires performing a range of tasks in a structured way. A new hire checklist is useful to ensure all new recruits go through a consistent and first class onboarding process. 

According to research, 20% of new hires quit within the first 45 days of employment, making both candidate selection and new hire onboarding imperative issues for any recruiter.

To learn more about the importance of onboarding, BambooHR surveyed over 1,000 U.S. adults, comparing those who received effective onboarding to those who didn’t. The differences are striking. Employees who experienced effective onboarding were:

  • 18 times more likely to feel highly committed to their organization
  • 30% more likely to feel strongly integrated into their workplace culture
  • 30 times more likely to have high job satisfaction

Also, organisations with effective onboarding had:

  • 38% more employees who were confident in their ability to do their job
  • 69% more employees who rated their organization as a strong performer
  • 33% more employees who felt engaged

We’ve compiled the ultimate new hire checklist for every stage of the onboarding process so you get the most out of your new hires.

Why do you need a new hire checklist?

Effective onboarding process reduces new hire attrition as well as shortens ramp-up time. Having a new hire checklist creates consistency which helps with the following:

Employee turnover

Forbes estimate that it costs between $3,000 and $18,000 to replace an employee, however, the real cost is usually much more than that. You can use our cost of failed hires calculator to work out yours.

Vacant positions mean your business is operating below maximum capacity; projects slow down and customer relationships will suffer. Ineffective onboarding can be disruptive to day-to-day operations; interruptions, missing information and distractions will affect the productivity of a team.

Speed to productivity (AKA ramp up time)

On average it takes new employees 8-12 months to reach full productivity compared to tenured workers. If you want people to perform well, you have to get them off to a good start: in the UK and US, $37 billion a year is wasted on unproductive employees.

Employer brand

Nothing can harm your employer brand quicker than a disgruntled ex-employee. Online review sites, like Glassdoor, mean that bad onboarding experiences easily spread to future employees. On the flipside, great employee and candidate experiences will be shared and written about too.

Manager satisfaction

Managers prefer to have a structured onboarding process to follow. A new hire checklist gives them this. According to research, manager satisfaction increases by 20% when their employees have a formal onboarding process.

The complete new hire checklist

Before day one

Lay the groundwork for a great first day by implementing an effective preboarding checklist for your new hires. For a more exhaustive guide to preboarding, read our step-by-step guide

A lot of the tedious necessities of onboarding can be done before they start so your new employee won’t have a first day that’s all paperwork! The list below is full of tips that will make that all-important first day as smooth and possible.

1. Order equipment

Save precious time by making sure all the tools and equipment your new staff will need are ready waiting for them. For example; office equipment, uniforms, laptops, anything that needs to be ordered should be done well in advance of their first day.

2. Set up logins

Setups, installations and new account setups often take longer than you would imagine. Install the programmes they’ll need on their work laptop, or set up their work email and give them instructions to do it themselves. You’ll have enough on your plate explaining how to use all the new materials, don’t waste time watching a loading bar crawl across the screen!

3. Minimise paperwork

Nowadays most of the necessary paperwork can be emailed or filled out online. Send your new hire their contract, health and safety information and other documentation in advance. In return, get them to send you their personal details, P45, national insurance number, or whatever information you need to get them ready to start when they walk through the door.

4. Employer handbook

First-day nerves seem to be a fact of life, but you can help mitigate this by giving your new employee all the information they could need before they start. Simple things like directions to the workplace, dress code information, and the contact details of their manager.

First day

You only get one chance to make a first impression, these steps will make sure it’s a good one.

1. A warm welcome

There are plenty of free and easy touches you can employ to welcome your new employee to the team. Perhaps their manager could meet them at the door and show them to their desk. Maybe you put their welcome letter, handbook and office equipment on their desk, ready for their arrival. Tying some balloons to their desk or office chair is a cost-effective way of making their first day memorable.

2. Meet the team

Your colleagues, your team leader and manager will make up a big part of an employee’s work life. Make sure these introductions are made on day one (if not before) so your new hire knows where to turn to for help. This will not only help integrate your new team member but having current employees there to help them on the first day will stop them relying on trial and error, making them more productive.

3. Meet the culture

Invest time in getting your new hires familiar with their new workplace. As well as the obligatory office tour, you should also familiarise them with your company mission and ethos. Knowing the history and future direction of a company is a great way for your new hire to identify with the company early on and give them a sense of purpose in their work. Remember, your new hire chose your company for a reason, it’s likely they already think highly of your company, draw on that to foster loyalty among your new staff.

4. Set expectations

You don’t want to patronise your employees; they know they’re here to work. So you should set goals and expectations early on. If goals are clear your new hire can feel secure knowing that they’re performing as they’re expected to, whilst also encouraging them to exceed expectations from the first day. You can also let them know about what responsibilities or projects they will have moving forward.

First week

Week one is an opportunity to keep up the momentum and push your new employee to increase their performance with stimulating tasks, constructive feedback and a workplace they can feel like an active part of.

1. Encourage contact

A feeling of camaraderie with your teammates is a great incentive to stick around. A social event in the first week can help cement early relationships into friendships. Research suggests that 70% of employees say having a friend at work is the most important factor when it comes to job satisfaction. If you’re working remotely then having daily virtual coffees over video conferencing over week one can help people feel part of a distributed team.

2. Request feedback

At the end of week one ask your new employees for feedback. You can use this information to tailor and update your recruitment process in the future. Not only that but asking for feedback in the first week shows that you genuinely care about their input into the team culture.

3. Create a training plan

Training is one of the most appealing opportunities for new employees. It makes your employee value proposition stand out as it shows that you’re an employer who’s willing to spend time and resources on their employees.

First month

Hopefully, if you’ve followed the new hire checklist, after a month your “new” employee will feel like part of the family, but that doesn’t mean the onboarding process is finished. There are still a number of ways you can get the most from your employee even after they’ve settled in.

1. Hold a review

The end of the first month is the perfect time to have a formal evaluation. If the first month is probationary, use this time to welcome your new hire formally to the team! A performance review doesn’t need to be stressful; it’s a great chance to reflect on their employee experience so far and see how they are integrating with the team.

2. Give credit where it’s due

If they’re still here after a month, your new employee has hopefully done a good job. So tell them! Most people choose a job that they think they will be good at. It creates a virtuous circle which gets reinforced with positive feedback. If it’s a formal passing of a probationary period then make sure you celebrate it publically or privately with your new hire depending on their preference.

3. Offer increased responsibility

Trusting people with more responsibility is a great way to motivate and retain new hires. After a month in situ, you could reward your new hire with new responsibilities; perhaps they could be in charge of welcoming your next new employee.

The first month should be about helping your new hire settle in. Your job after that is to keep them incentivised and challenged to keep their productivity and job fulfillment high.

That’s all folks

Onboarding is a long process. It starts before your new employee joins and extends well after their first month.

It’s your job to keep challenging and rewarding your employees to keep them engaged at work. Doing this effectively is a tough skill to master, but a strong new hire checklist is a good place to start.

Share

The ThriveMap Newsroom

Subscribe for insights, debunks and what amounts to a free, up-to-date recruitment toolkit.

About ThriveMap

ThriveMap creates customised assessments for high volume roles, which take candidates through an online “day in the life” experience of work in your company. Our assessments have been proven to reduce staff turnover, reduce time to hire, and improve quality of hire.

Not sure what type of assessment is right for your business? Read our guide.

Other articles you might be interested in

Banner image for this post

Best recruitment methods for call centres

Call centers are the backbone of customer service for many businesses, handling a myriad of enquiries and concerns daily. However, the traditional recruitment methods used by most call centers often fall short, leading to challenges such as high attrition rates and mismatched skill sets among employees. Pitfall of current call centre recruitment methods At the […]

Continue reading
Banner image for this post

Navigating recruitment technology compliance: Key considerations and how to future-proof your investments

Recruitment technology is rapidly evolving and regulators across the world are playing catch up to ensure candidates are getting a fair experience. This article discusses the key considerations that you, as a recruitment leader, must consider before investing in new tools, to both future-proof from impending regulations and to uphold equality, inclusion, and diversity in […]

Continue reading
Banner image for this post

Skills-Based Hiring: What You Need to Know

In the rapidly evolving job market, skills-based hiring is becoming increasingly significant, heralding what some call the “death of the degree.” With technology advancing at breakneck speed, employees find themselves in a constant cycle of acquiring new skills to stay relevant. This shift has led many job seekers and employers alike to prioritize skills and […]

Continue reading

View all articles