Best practices onboarding new employees
- Checklist items
- 37
- Items due before or on day one
- 17
- Items due in the first 30 days
- 20
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Best practices for onboarding new employees, in the order they pay off: the paperwork done before day one so the first day is about the job, a welcome email from the manager with the logistics and a named person to ask, a first week written as a plan, the handbook acknowledged with the week-one policies explained in person, and check-ins at week one and month one that are written down. The onboarding checklist on this site produces the list for the role, free and without an account; HeadcountDesk Pro keeps it and chases what is open.
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Before day one
Contract, forms, I-9 section one, the acknowledgement, the accounts, the equipment, the first-week calendar and the welcome email. Owners and dates; the free onboarding checklist on this site assigns them.
Day one and week one
I-9 section two on time, the equipment recorded, the introduction, the named person, the first real task on day one, and a week that runs to the calendar rather than to whoever is free.
The policies explained, not just signed
Hours, time recording, PTO, conduct: explained in person in week one and acknowledged in the handbook. The free employee handbook template on this site has them written.
Check-ins in writing
Week one, month one, before probation ends, with notes and the goals for the first review. The free review template on this site records them. From the vendors' own pricing pages: Homebase lists Essentials at $24 per location per month billed annually or $30 monthly, with a free Basic plan for one location of up to ten employees; BambooHR lists Core at $10 and Pro at $17 per employee per month; Deputy lists Core at $6.50 per user per month. HeadcountDesk Pro is $24 a month per location.
Best practices onboarding new employees: common questions
What is the single best onboarding practice?
The paperwork before day one. Everything else follows from a first day that is about the job.
Is the onboarding checklist free?
Yes, with no account. Pro keeps it and sends the reminders.
How soon should the first check-in be?
End of week one, in writing, then end of month one.
Will it do what you need for Best practices onboarding new employees?
Tell us what your business needs and we will tell you straight whether HeadcountDesk Pro does it today, whether it is coming, or whether you are better off with something else. A person reads these and replies.