Skip to content
Process management

Creating an Effective Onboarding Workflow

·
6 min read

Table of Contents

Written by

Onboarding recruits is a crucial part of a manager’s role. Ensuring that new employees have a positive experience in the lead-up to starting the role and in the first few days, weeks and months plays a key role in how they perform, engage and contribute. An effective onboarding process increases productivity and retention rates, but how do you get it right? In this post, we’ll guide you through the steps to creating an onboarding workflow tailored to your business.

What is an Onboarding Workflow?

An onboarding workflow is a documented process outlining the steps a recruit must follow upon joining the business. 

According to Zippia, businesses with an effective onboarding workflow experience productivity gains of over 70% from recruits. In contrast, statistics show that 20% of employees leave new roles within their first 45 days.

Having a structured workflow provides a template for everyone in the business to use and ensures that everything gets covered. It sets an intentionality about how significant it is to set expectations and make someone feel part of the team right from the start. A framework for onboarding ensures that recruits have what they need and can start developing their full potential immediately. 

📌 Get your free onboarding workflow template to effectively welcome your new hires to the team. 

Step-by-Step Guide To Creating an Onboarding Workflow

The HR teams usually owns the onboarding workflow process. Often times, they collaborate with other teams to ensure they are tailoring their onboarding sessions with relevant information based on title or department. More and more HR teams are opting to use onboarding software to assist them to create effecting onboarding workflows. There are four main steps to follow when creating an onboarding workflow.

Preparation

Once contracts are signed and a new hire is confirmed, the preparation or preboarding stage begins. At this point, the focus needs to be on finalising the necessary administration, such as signing contracts, setting up technology and accounts, and scheduling any immediate meetings or training. However, an equally important part of preparation is making the new employee feel welcome before they start. A virtual meeting or phone call before the first day to set expectations can go a long way towards reducing the natural anxiety of starting a new role.

Welcome

The second stage focuses on the first day and first week that the recruit is in role. Adequate preparation for this stage ensures that the employee feels welcomed and included from the start, setting the tone for them to feel valued and engaged – and ultimately supporting them to deliver from the beginning. There’s a balance to achieve between providing enough information so they feel informed and equipped, without overwhelming them. Creating a schedule for the first week that includes informal opportunities to meet teammates and key stakeholders, meetings to cover key areas such as roles, responsibilities, policies and procedures, and adequate time for any essential training will help deliver this balance. 

Training

While some training is usually essential in the first week of starting a role, an effective onboarding workflow will include a strong focus on the learning and development support an individual needs to do their best in the role in the first three to six months. Setting clear goals for different stages of the initial period and providing close guidance, mentoring, and coaching ensures a strong feedback loop between the business and the new employee. Not only does this feedback help the employee feel supported and enable them to do the best work you require, but it also allows an ongoing conversation between both parties about what is working and what is not, and whether the role is the right one.  

Feedback

Companies often overlook the fourth stage of the onboarding process. It’s easy to assume that onboarding is complete after a few months. While the employee may no longer be technically ‘new’, it’s important to remember that feedback, development goals and appropriate training are still essential to help these employees grow their confidence. Conducting an initial performance review, setting interim goals with role- or team-related objectives, and organising specific training or events to attend are all part of this stage. 

What to Look for in an Onboarding Workflow

An effective onboarding workflow is tailored to the individual organisation, but the following prompts will help you consider what is important to your business.

  • What makes our business special, and how can we help new recruits understand it from day one?
  • What do you wish you had known on your first day?
  • Do you have feedback from recent new recruits or exit interviews about how the onboarding process worked?
  • Is the timeframe for our workflow working, or should we factor in more time?
  • How are we tracking the progress and engagement of new hires?
  • Are there key tasks that we can automate or use AI tools to help us be more efficient with?
  • Is there clear ownership for the different tasks that need to be done?
  • Do we have a regular review cycle built into our onboarding workflow?

💡 Not sure how your current onboarding process measures up? Book a free onboarding audit with our HR experts to see what areas you can optimise.

Automating your Onboarding Workflow

Utilising technology to streamline your onboarding workflow can save you hours on busy admin work. The best onboarding software tools help you standardise your process to ensure you are setting up your new hires for success by providing them with all the necessary resources. Modern onboarding software can transform time-consuming manual tasks into automated workflows that run seamlessly in the background. Here’s how automation can revolutionise your onboarding process:

  • Document management and e-signatures: No need to scan, print and sign documents in person. By automating your onboarding workflow with platforms, you can send employment contracts, confidentiality agreements and policy documents directly to new hires for electronic signature.
  • Equipment and IT access: Set up a customised workflow that automatically triggers actions like laptop setup, software licences, email account creation, and access permissions when a new hire joins. This eliminates the need for manual coordination with the IT team.
  • Task assignment and tracking: Automated workflows can assign tasks to relevant stakeholders, whether that’s introduction meetings, filling out employee data, or providing supplies like a desk.
  • Compliance and reporting: Track completion of mandatory training, and generate reports on onboarding metrics such as time-to-productivity and employee satisfaction scores. This data helps you analyse how effective your onboarding workflow is and if any changes will be required.

See how Factorial’s recruiting and onboarding features can reduce your manual admin workload. 👆

Common Onboarding Workflow Mistakes

As we’ve discussed, effective onboarding is a balance between providing enough support to help a new recruit feel welcome and able to get on with their role immediately, without overwhelming them with information and expectations. Here are some common pitfalls that organisations fall into:

  1. Treating onboarding as an event, not a process: it’s common for new employees to feel lost after the initial set-up stops. Structuring onboarding over an ongoing period, with milestones and regular feedback, can help avoid this.
  2. Information overload: dumping every single thing the employee needs to know on them in the first few days leads to cognitive overload and heightens stress. Prioritise what they really need to know in the first few days, and let them build knowledge gradually.
  3. Lack of role clarity: when new employees aren’t clear about expectations, priorities, and how their work fits in with the wider organisation, they can be more anxious, less confident, and less productive. 
  4. Inadequate tech setup: if new employees don’t have the tools they need to start work from day one, it sends a message that the company isn’t prepared or invested in the new recruit. 
  5. Forgetting to check in after the first few days: new employees often need the reassurance of frequent check-ins where they can ask questions, build relationships and feel more empowered in their new role. 
  6. Not utilising digital platforms: software solutions can streamline the administrative burden of onboarding, freeing up time to make the onboarding experience more personal while ensuring nothing is overlooked.
  7. Ignoring cultural onboarding: it’s easy to focus on the role requirements and forget about the importance of helping new recruits understand the company culture, communication style and unwritten rules, details which all help employees fit in more quickly. 
  8. Not providing adequate support for remote or hybrid employees: they’re at higher risk of isolation, so it’s vital to approach their onboarding differently. Make sure the schedule includes even more touchpoints for connection by providing regular video check-ins and a clear communication plan.
  9. Forgetting individual needs: while templates and processes can guide the process, it’s also essential not to ignore the individual’s role, background, and lived experience. 
  10. Not measuring onboarding effectiveness: without checking whether onboarding is working, you can repeat mistakes without realising it. Use performance metrics, surveys, and retention data to sense-check how effective your process is and whether you need to change anything.

Invest in the Best Tool to Build an Effective Onboarding Workflow

The best onboarding tools use AI and automation to support your business. They provide customised templates, processes and policies that are tailored to your needs. While many onboarding solutions exist, not all are created equally. Factorial is an all-in-one business management platform that automates your onboarding workflows. Rather than focusing on manual tasks, with Factorial, you’ll be able to focus on strategic growth and developing your team.

Additionally, Factorial’s onboarding software has a built-in AI Agent, One, that is integrated into every aspect. Using One ensures an onboarding experience that is personalised, appropriate, supportive and efficient. It acts as an intelligent assistant and helps teams in the following areas:

  • Automation of onboarding tasks 
  • Smart documentation & support for contract signing and storage 
  • Personalising welcome messages
  • Interactive Q&A for new starters
  • Automated reminders and alerts
  • Insights and reporting
  • Data-driven personalisation

Are you ready to use AI and technology to elevate your onboarding processes to the next level and see returns in engagement, productivity, and retention? Get in touch with us today to arrange a free demo with one of our experts and discover how you could save 15+ hours per new hire.

Imogen Hall
Imogen is a freelance writer specialising in health, travel and people, who loves creating content that is accessible and easy to digest. She is also currently in her second year of retraining to be a children and adolescent therapist. In her spare time, she goes cold water swimming, plays tennis and loves to travel with her family and their dog.

Related posts