Before day one

CHECKLIST
TO BUILD AN EPIC

ONBOARDING
EXPERIENCE

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO CREATING AMAZING NEW STARTER WELCOMES

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N E W E M P L O Y E E O N B O A R D I N G

MILESTONES

01 02 03
Engage Before First Day First Week
Day One Agenda & Orientation Immersion

04 05 06
Probation Period Towards And
Encouragement
05 First Anniversary 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

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01 BEFORE DAY ONE 

E N G A G E

FAST OFFER & ACCEPTANCE INTRODUCE THE TEAM

To form a great first impression, the Build relationships early and start
boring but important parts need to be introducing your new hires to the team
streamlined with a fast, easy to they’ll be joining. Don’t try to boil the
complete electronic offer and ocean, concentrate on introducing the 4
acceptance process.  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 People love to join organisations that
complete, just-in-time reminders align with their values and beliefs. It’s
ensure that managers can have the important to keep reinforcing your
highest impact on new starter culture, brand and unique style to new
productivity. Google found a simple starters before day one.
reminder alert reduced the new hire
time to productivity by a full month -
25% faster! (Source: ERE)
BEFORE DAY ONE CHECKLIST:

Culture Objectives Admin Team

CEO welcome Company vision Offer accepted & Team intro's & 1st
forms complete day reminders
Company values & Position & role Team lingo &
Payroll provisioning
history detailed description terminology

Call out to social Systems & desk Invitation to group

media profiles provisioning chat tools

Gift for new starter Compliance courses

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)
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02 FIRST DAY
A G E N D A & O R I E N T A T I O N

MEMORABLE FIRST DAY PROVISIONS READY

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:
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.

Culture Objectives Admin Team

Culture sessions Company goals & First day schedule Team welcome &
strategy introductions

Team  goals & Onsite inductions Buddy program

strategy

“Twitter scheduled happy hours for new starters to

meet with senior cross functional talk” (Source: Quora)
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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 Communicate early how the new starter’s
longevity and engagement of goals are aligned to the businesses
employees. Take the time to think about strategy. New starters will gain a greater
the things that make the company and understanding of their impact and enable
team unique and then plan the best more informed decision making in the first
way to convey them.  critical months.

INTRODUCE THE TEAM INSPIRE NEW STARTERS 

Building lasting relationships is key for Sharing career development plans and
retention, so get the new hire to meet as required skill sets for senior roles
many people as possible in their direct demonstrates that the business is
orbit. interested and supportive of their
Plan how to re-introduce key people, development. This information can help
remembering that the first introduction new starters to have an informed
will be one of many in their first week.   discussion with managers about
Bonus points if you can introduce senior learning and development during the
leaders & CEO. first week of immersion.

FIRST WEEK CHECKLIST:

Culture Objectives Admin Team

Product & services Career path & goal Set up schedule Buddy program
inductions setting for regular
probation reviews
Schedule meetings Start on Establish regular
with key teams & meaningful work meet ups with
executives 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)
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04
E N C O U R A G E M E N T

PROBATION PERIOD
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.
These may include fortnightly one-to-
ones, monthly probation chats or a pulse
survey. Regular touchpoints uncover
early warning signs and identify which
new starters might need some extra
help.
Employees often have an innate desire to
learn, feel inspired and be presented with
opportunities.
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 Team

Encourage a Hold new starters Communicate how 360 feedback

culture of shared accountable to role probation is tracked from peers
learning & team goals throughout
Share company probation
Regular catchups
results & team
input regularly

"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)
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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.
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.
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. 
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 Send out Check in with team
setting onboarding surveys leader 

Anniversary gift Job & role Complete formal Feedback from

reflection probation reviews peers

Celebrate Encourage learning Celebrate as a team

milestones on opportunities
internal socials

“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)
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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.
Be transparent, constantly communicate
and continually optimise your employee
experience.
Conduct employee pulse surveys at least
twice a year to help you gauge employee
sentiment.
Using the right tool to communicate
with is paramount. A workforce
broadcast tool means that you can craft
personalised communication, at scale.
Vital information can be sent directly to
employees and is consistent company-
wide. 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.
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.
Nurturing your employee through the
entire employee lifecycle includes
offboarding. Make sure company
property and data is protected with
efficient de-provisioning.
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