A new hire checklist is a document that enlists all the activities to be completed by a hiring manager or HR professional while onboarding a new employee.
It serves as a guide for them. It also ensures that none of the important steps to be taken during the recruit’s transition process are missed. Because of the importance of including all these important steps in a time-efficient manner, some professionals directly use a new hire checklist template. This template is for you to check as you complete tasks.
It is typically based on four stages. We have described these later on in this article.
Free Templates
Importance of Using a Checklist for New Hires
A successful onboarding process results in better productivity, efficiency, and employee satisfaction. There are some major benefits to effectively using a checklist in human resource management.
These include:
Onboarding efficiency
When you use a properly crafted checklist during the onboarding process of a new employee, it proves to be very beneficial. This checklist ensures that you document the tasks to be completed in a structured manner for maximum effectiveness. It also ensures that we take the steps promptly so that the new employee can transition into their role smoothly. You can ensure that their onboarding process is a success by using one.
Legal compliance
Following the checklist helps keep legal and regulatory requirements in mind for onboarding. They ensure that you use the required tax documents, confidentiality agreements, and legal contracts without forgetting to do so. Tax documentation in this context includes W-4 forms for U.S. employees, etc. Using one also ensures that you keep employment and labor laws in consideration during the recruit’s onboarding process. Neglecting these laws could lead to damage to the organization’s reputation or cause legal penalties.
It also ensures that the involved professionals give due importance to due diligence aspects and security procedures.
Consistency
The consistent format of a checklist template helps organizations avoid mistakes in their onboarding processes. HR professionals and managers use it to complete all the required tasks on time during the process. It also ensures that none of these essential tasks are missed. It serves as a guide for the professionals to be fully equipped and prepared to integrate the employee into the organization.
Employee retention
When HR professionals use checklists, new employees feel valued and supported by the organization. This is because they see that the organization has properly planned for their adjustment. This results in higher job satisfaction, productivity, and employee retention rates. Therefore, it is essential to enhance the new employee’s experience.
Who Can Benefit from a New Hire Checklist Template?
Multiple different parties can benefit from a checklist template. How they use them differs from each other.
Described below is how it benefits the main 3 parties involved in a hiring process:
Hiring managers
Hiring managers are responsible for smoothly integrating new employees within the organization. They are also responsible for ensuring that they provide these employees with the equipment they will need to conduct their duties. Most importantly, hiring managers are responsible for assigning mentors and planning training for new hires. A checklist template effectively covers these aspects. Therefore, it is highly beneficial for hiring managers to conduct their duties in a timely and effective manner.
HR professionals
HR professionals have to consider several factors, such as legal compliance, consistency, time management, and the proper handling of human resources. A hiring checklist template offers HR professionals ease of operation in these areas.
New hires
A checklist is also helpful for the new employee who joins an organization. It provides them with a sense of direction when they are struggling to adjust to a new environment. They become informed and understand the requirements of their job role during the onboarding process.
Key Sections of a Comprehensive New Hire Checklist Template
The key sections in the new hire checklist templates vary in different organizations and situations. However, the basic format of this list is based on the four different parts of the onboarding process.
We briefly described these parts in the table below:
| Pre-onboarding | Onboarding (first day) | Training (first week) | Post-onboarding |
| This is the first step of the onboarding process, in which you conduct tasks like preparing relevant paperwork after the candidate’s selection, sending them a job offer letter, and announcing the decision to the teams already present in the organization. | This is the stage of the process that focuses on integrating the new employee into the company. This involves getting documentation signed, setting up the recruit’s workstation, and introducing and integrating them into the currently present workforce. Completing these tasks effectively ensures that the new hire can provide their services productively as soon as possible. | The training segment of an employee’s onboarding process is typically the first week after their joining date. During this, the new employee is trained for their job role by being assigned job-specific tasks. Apart from that, they are also given other types of training. | Once the new hire has been onboarded properly, it is time to focus on their work output. The output of their work is also closely evaluated and adjusted during this time using the checklist template. It is usually the continual stage during the first month of their employment. |
Now that you are aware of the different parts of the onboarding process, let us show you which tasks and activities usually fall into which category of the hiring checklist.
We focus the first section of the template on the pre-onboarding stage. Typically, this entails the following tasks:
Pre-onboarding section
The pre-onboarding section involves the following tasks:
Job offer letter
The first step of the pre-onboarding segment discusses what activities an HR professional will conduct and mentions sending the job offer letter. We do this after their interview and/or assessment result in success. A job offer letter is a slightly less detailed document than an employment contract, as it outlines the terms of the new hire’s employment. The most significant part of this letter is the mention of the joining date. You can also include the job descriptions in a new employee’s welcome letter. You can also mention your availability in case the employee has any queries.
Background check
HR professionals conduct background checks to check the authenticity of the identity, education, and work experience-related information provided by the new hire. We usually do this after we send the job offer letter, but some companies might prefer to conduct it prior to that. Including this component in the checklist template is the next step in crafting it.
note
The two most essential considerations during this process are to get written consent to conduct the check and to consider the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) legal implications. You must also ensure that you conduct the background check ethically, in which you only access the necessary relevant documents.
Paperwork
After communicating the terms of employment with the new hire and verifying their information, HR professionals prepare the important documents. Therefore, this comes next on the checklist.
The paperwork could include HR documents like a non-disclosure agreement and an employment contract.
Workspace setup
Workspace setup is the third section of the checklist template in the pre-onboarding category. This involves providing the necessary tools and equipment to the new employee. This section also includes giving access to IT or software-related aspects. You must fully equip them in all ways to conduct their duties.
You can include setting up the company email, computer system, desk, chair, and supplies here.
Onboarding section
This section of the checklist focuses on the tasks you must complete on the new employee’s first day at work. It focuses on orientation. Since HR professionals focus on integrating the new employee into the organization smoothly at this point, you will include the following topics here:
Orientation
The first section in the checklist template’s onboarding section is based on the new employee’s orientation plan. HR professionals conduct orientation on the employee’s first day at work. HR professionals ensure they familiarize the employee with the different aspects of the organization. This ensures that they feel comfortable in the organization. Employee well-being and comfort are essential to attaining effective results. In this stage, HR professionals or hiring managers usually first appoint a mentor who can give the new hire a tour of the organization. Second, they provide the recruit with the paperwork that requires reviewing and signing.
Some HR professionals may even verbally inform them about any company policies they should know about, such as lunch break timings and working hours policies. This helps them gain an idea of the workplace culture.
Introduction to teams
During the orientation phase of a new employee, it is important to focus on introducing them to the teams already present at the organization. This helps them smoothly integrate with the organizational culture. On a checklist template, this section usually includes the sending of relevant emails to the concerned individuals. For instance, sending new employee announcement emails to colleagues. You can also send these announcement emails to the entire workforce.
Sending the employee a welcome email also falls in this category, as you are personally interacting with them by doing so. It is a form of introducing yourself.
Providing help with equipment or IT factors
Since you have already set up the new employee’s workspace with the equipment and IT software they will use, you will now ensure that they can use it easily. The checklist mentions rechecking that the equipment they will use is functioning properly. We do this to confirm that their time isn’t wasted and they can start work directly. You can also offer your assistance in helping them understand how to log in to certain company software or websites. So mention this next on the template.
Training
The third segment that we focus on in the checklist template is the training part. This is based on the activities that the HR professional must conduct during the first week of the employee’s joining.
This will typically include the following topics:
Job-specific training
This part focuses on providing the new hire training to conduct their job-specific tasks effectively. It might involve training for the usage of tools and systems directly relevant to their job. It is based on technical and operational aspects.
Skill-development
Once the new recruit is properly integrated with the organization, HR professionals or team leaders focus on enhancing or improving their skill set. Doing so results in increased productivity and output. This is also part of their training process.
Safety training
Depending on the industry or organization, performing the duties of a job might entail considering safety protocols, compliance with regulations, or legal implications. You will train the employees for these in the training segment too. Therefore, it goes last on the checklist’s training segment.
Post-onboarding
The last part is based on the employee’s first month at the organization. It covers:
Evaluation and feedback
After the adjustment of the new hire into the organization, you evaluate their work output and fine-tune accordingly. This helps them feel valued and results in increased job satisfaction. Also, you track the progress of their work to personally assess how well they are fitting in and doing their job. We include this on the template too.
Ongoing support and check-in plan
In order to keep track of the employee’s ongoing progress, HR professionals schedule quarterly check-in plans. In these, you can evaluate their work and fine-tune them in areas that require more attention and/or improvements. If this is not the case and you see that the employee is performing their duties well, then you can simply appreciate them for their dedication and hard work. Regardless, it is mentioned on a checklist template.
Conclusion
Integrating a new hire with your organization requires a lot of attention to essential factors and responsibilities. You can easily document the tasks you must conduct to do so effectively and tick-mark them “done” on a checklist. We have discussed the components of this checklist in detail and also provided free templates for you on this website.
About This Article
