The Ultimate Onboarding Checklist for 2025: A Guide to Employee Success

November 22, 2024

After all those job postings, prospect reviews, and countless interviews—congratulations on finding another great member of your team! This is just the beginning.

Recruitment is only one of the many aspects of employee handling. After finding the right hire, the next step is onboarding them, which is just as crucial.

Naturally, you would want to keep this hire for as long as possible and make sure they work at their best. Your onboarding plan can make or break their retention, engagement, and productivity.

If you don’t have one yet, now is your time to do so. Here’s a quick guide to all the hows, whats, and whens of onboarding an employee.

Two books stacked on top of each other with the words onboarding checklist written on them.

Pre-Onboarding

Onboarding starts way before your new employee steps into the office. You have to make sure everything is set up for them—including documentation, resources, workplace equipment, and introductions.

Prepare documentation and resources

Before they start, gather all the necessary documentation such as:

The offer letter
Tax forms
Employment agreement
Onboarding paperwork and contracts

While these may not be needed during role-specific tasks, it is great to have documentation and transparency for both parties.

You should also have role-specific documentation such as their scope of work, the employee handbook, and company policies. This makes sure they have all the information they need from day one and beyond.

Workspace and equipment

If your hire is to work onsite, arrange their necessary office space such as their desk, computer, and any other equipment they need for the job. They should also have access to systems, software, and emails. Test this beforehand to avoid any technical issues. If your team is remote, have an equipment delivery plan or software onboarding with all the instructions they need to follow.

Introduction to the team

If you have a team, prepare them in advance by notifying them of their new team member. Introduce them via email or during a team meeting. This will help your new hire feel part of the team.

First Day

Welcoming and warming up

Work buddies are not required, but are definitely great to have. Assign a team member to guide the new hire throughout the first week of the job. This can ease their nerves and can easily answer any questions they may have.

Walk through of the job, policies, and documents

Apart from physical files, it’s always great to have a sit-down talk with a new employee to go through documents like the company policies. This talk can also be a chance to guide them through what they will be doing on a daily basis.

Set initial goals

Their first day should be about getting acquainted. Don’t overwhelm them too much with a laundry list of specific tasks. Instead, discuss their job description, and primary responsibilities, and set goals for the first 30, 60, and 90 days.

First Month

Ongoing check-ins

It’s always important to check in with a new hire through scheduled meetings. This allows both of you to address questions and concerns. Check-ins will reinforce a support network within the company.

Continuous job training and development

Your new hire will likely get a little more comfortable during their first month. This is a good time to introduce more job-specific training sessions and opportunities. Focus on their skill gaps and perhaps offer them training and advice that could help them advance further.

Integration with company culture and values

Once your team starts to get bigger, you can integrate team-building activities or social events. This can deepen their connection with the company and its values.

First 90 Days

By this time, your new hire has likely developed a strong day-to-day routine (if applicable to the work setup.) You can evaluate their progress and overall performance by doing a 90-day performance review. Provide feedback, recognize achievement, and discuss areas for improvement.

In this assessment, you can also work together to set new goals. This can be along the lines of their career aspirations, and how it can contribute to the company's needs. Explore their potential growth opportunities.