How to Onboard a New Employee

Employee onboarding can look like a whole host of different (albeit important) tasks that will allow a smooth transition for your new employees. Not only is the onboarding process crucial for making your new employees feel more at home and at ease, but it also ensures more efficiency for your company as a whole. 

If these tasks aren’t done with appropriate timeliness or professionalism, this can reflect badly on your company and potentially lead to a high turnover rate. 

The moment your new employee accepts the job offer, the onboarding process begins, and usually, “preboarding” is crucial at this stage. This includes all the processes and various paperwork that need to be completed before your new employee starts at the company. 

Onboarding covers a lot of ground. Before a new hire's first day, most employers will need to run background checks, complete pre-employment paperwork, and establish a communication plan. Whether a background check is required depends on the role, your industry, and applicable state laws, but many employers run them as standard practice to protect their organization and verify candidate information. Skipping this step can expose you to legal liability later, where the cost of a bad hire is really felt.

Clear, consistent communication is equally important in this pre-boarding window. It helps new hires feel welcome before they've set foot in the door and reduces misunderstandings on day one. 

Most new employees will have questions even if you've sent a welcome pack in advance, so keeping a line open matters. This becomes especially important at volume: if you're running a mass hiring strategy, a structured communication approach is essential to keep everyone informed without things falling through the cracks.

Administrative tasks like collecting documents and signed paperwork are best handled early too. They're easy to deprioritize and easy to forget once the first day arrives. Similarly, sending a clear onboarding schedule well in advance gives new hires time to process what's ahead. First-day nerves are normal - fear of the unknown has a biological basis - and unanswered questions only add to that anxiety. A schedule doesn't just ease nerves; it signals that your organization is prepared and takes the new hire's experience seriously. Initial introductions before day one can have the same effect: research shows that early connections - even virtual ones - create lasting impressions and help new hires feel part of the team from the start.

Once you’ve found the right candidate for the job, it can feel like the hard part is over. Onboarding is where the hiring process hands off to retention, and how well you manage that handoff has a direct impact on whether your new hire sticks around.

However, onboarding really matters for a host of reasons, including: 

• Early employee retention 
• Reduced administration 
• Fast-tracks productivity
• Builds trust and community 
• Strengthens a sense of company culture

1. Complete Pre-boarding

By completing onboarding before the new employee starts, you can have a good chance at increased efficiency in their workload. It also means that the mundane tasks are mostly taken care of. Additionally, it gives the employee a good chance to enjoy those first few days, giving you time to check over important details if needed. 

2. Send a Welcome Pack

A welcome pack is a huge advantage for two reasons: the candidate feels welcomed into the company and, by extension, the team, and with a comprehensive welcome pack, hopefully most of the common questions can be answered. In turn, this means fewer messages, emails, or queries land in your inbox.

3. Set up Systems 

While it takes a few days for employees to understand all the processes of their new roles, and a little patience is appreciated, you want to ensure that they have everything they need to hit the ground running. While this means that pre-onboarding paperwork and mundane administrative tasks are completed, it also means ensuring that all systems and access are set up before they arrive. There’s nothing worse than hiring a great candidate only for their first few days to be spent waiting for IT to set them up with everything they need. 

4. Make Introductions

It might seem obvious, but it’s crucial that once the first day arrives, you take the time to orient the new hire and ensure that they meet everyone in their team (where possible) and that they are introduced to key staff members. In each company, this will look different, but skipping or rushing this step can make employees feel isolated. Likewise, it can give the impression of an unfriendly company culture, which won’t help gain early retention. 

5. Complete Training Early 

Incomplete or delayed training creates a drag on productivity, which is why it's best to get required training done in the first week. Training contributes to the overall cost per hire and should be factored in during the early stages to ensure it’s not forgotten about. Training is also a good first task because once it’s done, it often doesn't need to be revisited for a good period of time, allowing the employee to focus more astutely on their everyday tasks and challenges.  

6. Schedule Check-ins

In the first days and weeks, it’s important to schedule check-ins with the new hires to ensure that they’re comfortable, they feel a part of the team, and to ensure any outstanding questions get answered. Often, there is an element of trial and error in the first few weeks of a new job, so new employees must have a safe space to raise any questions or concerns. It also allows you to evaluate where they’re currently succeeding and where there could be room for improvement. 

7. Set Goals

Once a couple of weeks have passed, your new hire should hopefully feel a part of the team and well looked after. At this point, it’s good to set some achievable goals with them for the duration of their probationary period to ensure that they know what they’re working towards. This can help them to flex their initiative, increase their confidence, and help prioritize tasks according to what’s most important in the bigger picture.

Common Onboarding Mistakes Employers Make 

• Leaving data set-ups until the first day
• Forgetting the employee’s name or mispronouncing it
• Giving the employee an unclean or untidy workspace 
• Choosing an inappropriate mentor (someone who hasn’t been selected on both skillset and personality)
• Forgetting to offer a tour of the workspace 
• Not offering introductions and expecting employees to do this themselves
• Being unavailable for additional questions or queries 

Onboarding Remote and Hybrid Employees

Putting a face to a name is really important for a lot of new hires to feel comfortable in their role, and for those joining remote or hybrid positions, it can be extra difficult to form a community and a sense of company culture. So in these positions, it’s particularly important to think about the impact of being at a computer all day and how to create meaningful first interactions.

The remote format makes scheduled check-ins even more important; remote employees can’t bond while making a coffee, nor do they have the ability to bump into you as they pass your office. Instead, it takes a lot more effort from the new hire to take their queries or concerns to you, so they must know you’re still available. 

How Onboarding Impacts Long-term Retention

In a tight job market, it’s really important to reduce your turnover rate for the success of your company and your company’s overall image. Those first few weeks are vital to establishing your company’s culture and ensuring your new hire feels confident in their role. This additional confidence and feeling of community mean an employee is more likely to want to stay. If they feel forgotten or isolated, it might spur them into thinking about finding a different position at another company. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Should Employee Onboarding Take?

Onboarding typically lasts 30 to 90 days, though many companies extend the process through the end of a new hire's probationary period. The intensity varies by week: pre-boarding and orientation are front-loaded, while later weeks focus on goals and development.

What Is the Difference Between Onboarding and Orientation?

Orientation covers the first few days: surroundings, team, and initial tasks. Onboarding is broader: it starts before the hire's first day and extends through their probationary period. Think of orientation as one chapter within the wider onboarding process, not a synonym for it.

When Should a Background Check Be Completed in the Onboarding Process?

Once you've extended a conditional offer, you can start the background check process with written approval from the prospective employee. Background checks must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which requires written consent from the candidate before screening begins. It’s vital that if you need to conduct a background check, you do this before the candidate’s first day, in case any delays or problems need addressing. 

A Strong Onboarding Process Starts Before Day One

A strong onboarding process shapes your new hire's first impression, and that impression sticks. While hiring the right candidate is vital, it’s important that they want to stay in your company and feel a part of your community from the moment they accept the job offer. However, it can be difficult to know where to begin. 

ScoutLogic's dedicated Scouts handle background checks before day one with a 97%+ verification rate, so you can make a confident start date decision. Explore ScoutLogic's background check services to get started.