Onboarding for human resources

First day employee onboarding template

This checklist guides employees through initial setup, ensuring all administrative tasks are sorted and they are connected to the core systems needed to get to work.

Use this template to onboard your employees

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First day employee onboarding

Welcome to your first day! This checklist will guide you and our team through your initial setup, ensuring all administrative tasks are sorted and you are connected to the core systems you need to get to work.

No due date

Link tasks to actions, such as completing forms or booking meetings

Administrative setup

Essential paperwork and formal induction steps to get you officially on board and registered with HR.

Verify I-9 documents

Check the new hire's identification documents for I-9 verification.

No due date Team member

Sign employee handbook acknowledgement

Read through the digital employee handbook and sign the acknowledgement form online.

Complete direct deposit and tax forms

Fill out your banking details and W-4 forms in the HR portal to ensure you are registered for payroll.

No due date Upload documents

Tasks can be for the employees being onboarded, or for the team

Core infrastructure and IT setup

Getting your hardware, company accounts, and primary software tools up and running securely.

Handover laptop and hardware

Provide the configured laptop, monitor, and necessary peripherals to the new employee.

No due date Team member

Log in to your email and messaging tools

Activate your corporate email account using the temporary password provided and log in to our internal communication tools.

No due date

Grant permissions to departmental software

Ensure the employee has the correct role-based access for department-specific software or CRMs.

No due date Team member

Set up two-factor authentication

Enroll your mobile device in our identity management system for secure 2FA access to corporate tools.

No due date

First day orientation

Meeting the team, understanding the layout of your new workplace, and settling in.

Complete office tour

Walk the new employee through the office space, pointing out emergency exits, restrooms, and break areas.

No due date Team member

Introduce the new hire to the team

Host a brief morning stand-up or coffee chat to introduce the new employee to their immediate team members.

No due date Team member

Schedule a check-in with your manager

Book a 30-minute slot on your manager's calendar for an end-of-day check-in to wrap up your first day.

Click the button below to edit or add tasks, add due dates, and much more...

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

How to use this template

Three simple steps to onboard employees

Step 1

Grab this template

Step 2

Send to employees

Only needs an email address. Or add an open invite link to your existing welcome emails.

Step 3

Employees complete tasks

  • Email reminders keep things moving
  • Ask questions or clarify with comments
  • Summary page shows everything you need to know

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

Loved by 4,500+ happy users

The perfect way to onboard employees

Your brand (even the emails)
Instantly know what's been done
Shows employees what to do
Chases up while you sleep
Everything lives in one place

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

Easy to use — high adoption

There are no passwords, the UI is clean and simple, it's easy to ask questions, and they can invite others to help. We're obsessed with useability.

HubSpot ready

  • Start new onboarding plans inside HubSpot
  • Adds events to the timeline
  • Updates custom fields
  • Attaches photos and documents
Don't use HubSpot? No problem, it works great without it too.

White label (including emails)

Every interaction, from invite through to the task page, showcases your brand.

Does the chasing up

Never send a "checking in" email again.
We'll make sure tasks always get done, on time.

Helps you improve

We'll ask employees to rate their onboarding experience.

  • Helps you to constantly improve your processes
  • Make sure your team are delivering exceptional service

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

Handles complex onboarding too

With advanced features like calculated due dates, sequential tasks, internal team tasks, a powerful dashboard, and more.

Frequently asked questions

How can I use this template?

Just click Customize this template above and we'll take you through a couple of simple steps to create an Onthen account and copy the first day employee onboarding template into it.

Once that's done we'll take you straight into the template editor where you can customize it to your exact needs (there's bound to be a few things you'll do differently).

Finally, once it's ready you can use it to create individual checklists (we call them 'plans') for each of your employees. Just type their email address and we'll do the rest. As they move through the tasks, you'll see their progress in the dashboard.

Who is this first day employee onboarding checklist for?

If you run a team that needs to onboard employees then the first day employee onboarding template is a perfect starting point.

You'll first be able to tailor the template to your team's needs, by editing, removing or adding tasks to suit your onboarding process. When it's perfect, onthen has all the tools you need to easily invite employees to it and make sure all the tasks get done, on time.

How do employees use it?

First you'll invite employees to the checklist. You can either send an invite manually, through our HubSpot integration, or by using an invite link that lets anyone with the link create a new checklist.

Your employees won't need to create an account or a password, they'll simply access it with a 6-digit code we'll send to their email.

It's really easy to use and there's nothing to navigate, it's a simple single page checklist that looks pretty much like you see above.

If any task gets forgotten about, we'll send email reminders to nudge your employees to complete everything.

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

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