The Employee Onboarding Checklist Every Business Should Follow

Did you know that a successful employee onboarding process can boost your hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%?

Needless to say, you’ll want to make use of these great stats by ensuring that your onboarding protocol is created with your industry in mind, with the aim of a climate your new employees to their new roles and their office or working space.

Of course, some parts of the process are tactical in nature, but other onboarding steps can be a bit more empathetic in their approach.

Keep on reading for the full breakdown of the employee onboarding checklist, where we’ll cover the exciting, stressful, and the enjoyable parts of onboarding new employees.

Employee Onboarding 101: Employee Drug Testing and Other Paperwork

One of the very first steps to take when you’re onboarding a new employee is to have them conduct a drug test.

From saliva/swab testing kits to Fentanyl testing strips, the options are endless. If you’re new to the process, there’s nothing to be worried about when it comes to employee drug testing. After all, almost 8 in 10 employers in the U.S. conduct drug tests for their new employees.

It’s simply part-and-parcel of the onboarding paperwork.

Moreover, once you have the medical paperwork ready, you can start helping your employee fulfill all the paperwork necessary to satisfy Form I-9 compliance.

When it comes to the current pandemic of COVID-19, keep in mind that the Department of Homeland Security announced flexibility in requirements, so you don’t have to stress about reviewing a new employee’s identity and employment authorization in person.

Role-Tailored Onboarding: Orientation Edition

Your new hire’s first day is both an information-dump/celebration/welcome to the team type of day. Needless to say, that can be rather overwhelming to your new employee.

Thus, you can create your first day’s orientation into a presentation format, especially if your company is currently working on a remote basis. After all, the traditional first day in the office would have included seeing the office space, meeting team members, as well as getting a solid dose of the company culture.

When it comes to transforming this day into a virtual format, make sure to mimic these steps as much as possible. For instance, your current employees can meet your new hire online to start creating a sense of belonging.

Presentation Building-Blocks: History and Leadership

As for the presentation itself, whether in person or virtually, start with the company history.

You can either visualize your company’s history in a timeline format, with highlights encompassing the critical milestones, essential product release dates, as well as memorable fun moments.

This trip down memory lane should match your company culture. If your company is more on the informal side of the spectrum, make sure that it shows. The same thing applies to the reverse if your company is a bit more formal.

The key here is making sure that it’s actually interesting and entertaining for your new employee.

Furthermore, you can move on to underlining your company’s mission and vision. For example, you can showcase the different elements of your business, and how it all aligns with your company’s overall mission. Next, you can highlight how this links the new hire’s role to the overarching company goals.

Moreover, you must include —at least— a couple of tidbits about the company’s leadership. After all, companies might seem a bit cold and alienating until your new employee can see that the firm is an extension of its leadership values, as well as the contributions of every single individual employee.

Your new employee gets to join your company’s story.

Set up a Scheduled Touch-Base

Making sure that you’re in contact with your new hire both before their start date, as well as during the onboarding process will ensure that your employee knows exactly where they stand in their induction process. Besides, it keeps them aware of what their next steps will entail.

With every single session of outreach, your new hire will feel more integrated into your company’s culture, and start feeling like “one of the team.” This will ease the process of facilitating conversation between your new employee and your old-timers.

All of this will, hopefully, lead to an engaged employee from day one, as well as solidify their relationship with the company as time goes by.

Create an Employee Onboarding Handbook

Regular human memory leaves much to be desired. Therefore, it’s key to have an employee onboarding handbook on hand to make sure that your new hire will be able to retain as much information as possible. If they happen to forget something (which will undoubtedly happen), they can simply refer back to the booklet.

Moreover, you can have this handbook serve as a reference checkpoint for both your new and current employees.

It should include everything about the company from policies, benefits information, organizational charts, industry acronyms, and even some fun parts about the company culture as well as old-school stories about past and current employees.

Tech Setup on the First Day

Nothing can send a new employee into panic-mode faster than a newly-set task, without having set up their tech and their company credentials.

On the very first day, you should cover the tech essentials, and confirm that your new employee has both the necessary hardware and software they need to do their jobs.

For example, your employee should have a set of IT instruction send to both their personal email address, as well as their new company email. This way they can have access to their setting up instruction on their personal accounts, in addition to a copy available for their convenience in their new work email.

Also, keeping in mind the current pandemic and potentially working remotely with no end in sight, make sure to bring up the strength (or lack thereof) of your employee’s internet bandwidth and speed. This will prevent internet connectivity issues from popping up at the least convenient moments.

Ready to Welcome Your New Employee?

It’s always rather exciting to add a new member to your company and see the physical evidence of a company’s growth.

However, the employee onboarding process is similar to first-impressions. You get to only do it once, and its effects are long-lasting.

Thankfully, after reading our little onboarding checklist, you’re in a much better position to tailor your process to your company’s needs.

Yet, there’s still much more to learn when it comes to employee drug testing, and making sure that your bases are covered. Check out our rapid detection products if you’re in a rush.