Employee Automated On-Boarding Benefits & Checklist

Are Your Companies Onboarding System Effective?

Do you really know what are the benefits of good employee automated onboarding program?
Many HR professionals today think that the next few years will be a major task to retain talented and top-performing candidates.
While it will be easy to match their perks and salary requirements, it will be much harder to find intangible reasons why employees stick around.

Reasons could vary or differ from such as good rapport with managers or thriving company culture, etc
Have a glance at how a good onboarding program helps you…

1. Helps to attract and retain top talent

With an awesome on-boarding program, you can build a strong foundation for the intangible elements that create an amazing work culture, and use that to attract and retain top talent.

2. Employee Engagement

Research indicates that the outcome differed in different companies due to the difference in engagement among employees, particularly engagement soon after joining a company i.e onboarding system. If you put every new hire through a thoughtful, educational, and fun program, you’ll go a long way towards fostering engagement and retaining it in the future.

3. Enhances business growth

Engagement should be the main objective of any onboarding program because it builds culture and rapport, and also drives business growth.

4. Grows trust

Good welcome programs educate and keep new hires informed and updated about organizational practices. New hires meet with senior management and hear from them directly about key organizational initiatives and goals. This is a great time to discuss your future goals, mission with the new recruits and to help them adjust to and understand your company culture.

5. Build connections with employees

Gallup research indicates that the most engaged employees are the ones who have strong connections with their co-workers and managers. Help them build those connections by assigning them a mentor or buddy during their first week or two.

6. Encourage open communication

An onboarding program can provide the platform for new hires to get answers to questions about their new work without the pressure. Providing this forum during onboarding goes a long way towards fostering the kind of environment employees thrive in.

Take a look at this sample step by step Employee onboarding checklist:

- Do a background verification
- Add their personal information into the company database, including name, title, manager, department, home address, location, personal email, start date, and birthday (set a reminder for birthdays and anniversaries while you’re there!)
- Send them a welcome letter with some company swag
- Have your IT department create an email address for the new employee
- Add their email to the appropriate email groups
- Get the manager to describe what kind of hardware and intranet software they will need, including any mobile phones with installed apps
- Get the requests approved by the finance
- Have the IT team source and prepare their system including passwords and wifi access
- Order credit cards, as required
- Order business cards
- Send a request to the office manager to assign and prepare a desk and key card
- Set up meetings with Finance, HR and other relevant staff members
- Schedule relevant technology or general training

Wouldn’t anyone feel great about a company you were joining if all these things were prepared perfectly for you the minute you walked in the door? However, trying to give the exact same experience to every joinee becomes much more challenging as a company grows in size and interests become divided.

That’s why effective onboarding automation is ideal for giving new employees the same amazing experience.
So, let's get underway with the step by step process and run through this employee onboarding checklist with your new hire.

Before the first day:

1. Prepare paperwork

To kick off the employee onboarding checklist, you need to prepare the relevant paperwork and information prior to the employee's first day. Start by recording the employee's basic information.

2. Discuss role, goals, and projects with a supervisor

During the training period, you should discuss the new employee's role with their supervisor. Discuss the goals you have set for the new hire and think of appropriate projects that would be beneficial for the training period.

3. Prepare employee's workstation

Prepare the employee's workstation before they arrive to avoid any delays on their first day. Include items like:
Furniture (desk, chair)
Telephone
Computer
Desk supplies (business card, stapler, letterhead, paper, pens etc.)

4. Give access to any tools they will need

To make sure you provide your employee with all the necessary items, you can note down the steps you take each day and what tools you use.
Also, consider details like (but not limited to):
Keys to rooms they will need access to
Company mobile phone

5. Create accounts

No self-respecting employee onboarding checklist would be complete without making sure that you create all the accounts required by the new employee.
Your employee should have their own email and phone line. You should create an account for whichever app your company uses

6. Prepare benefits package

Let your employee know what benefits package they will receive based on their level of experience and current job market. Let them know some details about the budget so they are aware of the potential promotions and salary range.
Inform your employee on vacation time and health benefits they will receive.

7. Provide a job description with responsibilities

You have discussed the job in more detail during the interview, but now it's time to give specific instruction what you expect your employee to do.

First day:

1. Welcome to the team

It is very important to introduce a new hire a new employee even if he arrives during a busy working week.
You should introduce them to the team - talk about their role, tell them why you selected them - this will help the rest of the team remember them better.

2. Tour of the office

Take your employee on a tour around the office. Let them know where all the important and common areas are.
Make sure they know where to find:
- Kitchen
- Reception
- Bathroom
- Their work-space
- Support desk
- HR area
- Their mentor's office
Also, encourage them to visit you if they have any questions.

3. Assign training material

Send your introductory training material, or add the employee to your LMS and assign the relevant courses.

4. Explain your expectations

If you want your employees to perform well you need to let them know what you expect. Outline the general areas of knowledge and skills required to ensure your employee is successful in his/her job.

5. Induct into the company culture

- Have your HR team contact your new employee to explain details such as:
- When s/he must arrive at the office
- Where s/he must park
- How s/he will access the building
- What your company’s dress code is

6. Assign a mentor

To ensure your new employee has the opportunity to seek help and work productively, you should assign a mentor.

First month:

1. Plan check-in meetings

You should schedule meetings with the employee for the first month. Use this time to address any issues and concerns your employee might have

2. Explain long-term goals

Letting your employee know that he/she is involved in some long term goals will make them feel more secure and understand the mission they are working to achieve.

3. Provide reading material for personal growth

Now that you have decided where exactly your new employee fits in you should encourage them to further their knowledge in the field. Ask them to read books, articles, and magazines about the appropriate themes

4. Encourage them to socially interact with the team

Have your new employee interact with the team. If the team members interact with each other they will work together much better. Perhaps you can organize some out of work activities for the team to make sure they build good relationships and enjoy operating as a team.

Review the on-boarding process over the next 60 days

Once the employee is settled in and feels more comfortable in the workplace it's time for you to review your on-boarding process. Evaluate the steps that do and don't work for you. Ask your employee for their opinion, perhaps create a survey and hear their thoughts to improve your onboarding process in the future. Once you've got your results, create a new employee onboarding checklist here in Creative Social Intranet to work through in the future.