What you will take away
- Set the manager, shift and role before the employee starts daily work.
- Test onboarding using a real staff role.
- Use the first week to resolve issues revealed by actual use.
Who is doing what before the joining date?
Put a name beside each part of the joining process. HR confirms the employment record and documents. The line manager prepares the work and first-day plan. The person arranging equipment or account access needs a clear request and a completion date.
Agree who follows up when something is missing. A request sent to another department can easily be mistaken for a completed task.
Keep employee information with the right people. A manager may need to know that a joining document has been checked without needing a copy of the document itself.
Get the employee profile right
Use accurate names, a unique employee code and the intended work contact details. Assign the correct company, department, designation, location and reporting manager. Confirm the joining date and employee status against the approved employment record rather than copying an old employee’s profile without review.
When importing employees, use the template available in your account and test a small sample. Check how the import expects dates and configured values. Open each sample profile afterwards to confirm that the employee has not landed in the wrong department or received an unintended role.
| Preparation | Who confirms it | Practical check |
|---|---|---|
| Employee identity and code | HR | The profile represents the intended person. |
| Department and manager | HR and line manager | Requests reach the correct reviewer. |
| Shift and work location | Line manager and HR | The first attendance day uses the intended schedule. |
| Role permissions | Company administrator | The employee sees appropriate menus and records. |
Show attendance and leave in the first session
Show the employee where Clock In and Clock Out appear when enabled. Explain how to report a missed punch and which person reviews corrections. For field staff, demonstrate that customer visit actions and attendance actions represent different records.
Explain the leave request flow using a sample, including how the employee checks the request status. A submitted request is not the same as approved leave. HR should confirm the assigned leave policy and opening balance before the employee relies on the displayed entitlement.
Give payroll time to check the joining details
Collect the documents required by your company through the approved process. HR should review completeness, validity and access rather than simply checking that a file exists. Avoid putting sensitive employment or bank documents into general team messages.
The payroll owner should verify salary details, the applicable template and any approved starting adjustments. A joining date near the end of a payroll period can require additional review. The onboarding checklist should identify who resolves such questions rather than trying to encode every payroll decision into a generic form.
Let the employee try the daily actions
Ask the employee to sign in, open their own profile and find the daily actions relevant to their job. Check that they can see their expected work without seeing another team’s restricted information. An administrator’s successful sign-in does not prove that a staff role is configured correctly.
Give a short, task-based introduction: where to find the shift, how to request leave, how to update permitted personal details and how to ask for support. A few clear examples are more useful on day one than a long tour of features the employee will not use.
Example: a new field salesperson
An employee joins a regional sales team. HR creates the profile and confirms the department and manager. The administrator assigns the intended staff role. The manager checks the shift and prepares a small customer visit plan. Equipment responsibility is recorded separately so that a working login is not mistaken for a completed handover.
On the first day, the employee signs in using their own account, finds the assigned customers and practises the attendance flow. The manager then demonstrates a visit start and completion using the approved test process. The employee learns that finishing attendance and finishing a customer visit are different actions.
By the end of the first week, HR checks any missing profile details and the manager reviews the employee’s questions from actual use. A missing customer list is investigated through the assignment and role rather than solved by granting administrator access. The checklist closes when the employee can perform the intended job reliably.
Use the first-week check to close the gaps
At the end of the first week, ask what the employee could not find or complete. Review missing documents, profile errors and access questions with HR. If equipment was handed over, check that its asset record names the right employee.
Fix approval routing before more requests build up. Leave anything unfinished on the checklist with a named owner and a date for checking it again. The onboarding record should tell the next colleague exactly what still needs attention.
Common questions
What belongs in an employee onboarding checklist?
Include the employee profile, joining details, reporting manager, work schedule, required documents, access, payroll preparation and first-week checks.
Should new employees have administrator access?
Give the role needed for the job. Verify access with the employee’s staff account rather than granting broad rights to make onboarding easier.