How to onboard new employees at a small business (first 30 days)

A new hire's first day says a lot about a business. When onboarding lives in someone's head, it shows: no login, no uniform, no one expecting them. A simple checklist, tracked per person, fixes that.

Treat each new hire as one ticket

One record per person, with the details that matter:

• New hire name, start date and role
• Manager: the one person who owns their first month
• Signed paperwork, attached
• Equipment ready: yes or no

The steps

Before start

1. Offer signed: collect the signed offer and paperwork. Nothing moves on until it's attached.
2. Setup: order equipment, create accounts, get keys and uniforms ready.

First 30 days 3. First week: welcome, training and introductions. 4. 30-day check-in: the manager sits down for feedback, both ways.

Done 5. Complete: onboarding is finished.

Make the important parts impossible to skip

The paperwork rule matters most. A step rule means the ticket can't leave Offer signed until the signed paperwork is attached, so nobody starts work without it.

Remind the manager

The 30-day check-in is the step that gets forgotten. A step reminder nudges the manager when it's due.

Add your own steps

Every business has the thing it always forgets: the alarm code, the POS login, the parking pass. Add a step for it once, and it's never forgotten again.

Using the template

The free employee onboarding checklist template sets up the fields and five steps, with the paperwork rule built in. Onboarding several people at once, or opening a new store? A project with a Gantt chart can hold the bigger plan.