Employee onboarding checklist
A checklist that covers the full arc from offer to day 90, with an owner for each item. Copy it, remove what doesn't apply and add your role-specific steps.
Key takeaways
- Assign an owner to every item.
- Split by stage: before day one, day one, week one, month one, day 90.
- Add role-specific steps from a role plan.
Before day one (HR / manager)
Logistics and a warm start.
- Contract and required paperwork complete
- Accounts and equipment requested and confirmed
- Buddy chosen and briefed
- First-week calendar sent to the hire
- Welcome message from the manager
Day one (manager / buddy)
People and access, not policies.
- Logins tested
- Team introductions
- Walk through the first-week plan
- Lunch or coffee with the buddy
- First small task assigned
Week one (hire, with manager)
Context for the role.
- Core systems walkthrough
- Shadow two or three real pieces of work
- Read the documents the role uses most
- First check-in with the manager at the end of the week
Month one (hire, manager)
First independent work.
- Complete a first piece of real work with review
- Meet key cross-functional contacts
- Agree 60- and 90-day outcomes
- 30-day check-in: what's unclear, what's missing
Day 90 (manager, HR)
Close the loop.
- Review outcomes against the plan
- Collect the hire's feedback on what was missing
- Update the plan for the next hire in this role