Automating your new hire checklist with HR project management software (template included)

If you’ve ever hired a new employee, you know how stressful the process can be. 

Applications. Interviews. Decisions. 

And once you’ve hired somebody, your job still isn’t done — now it’s time to provide a comprehensive, stellar onboarding experience to give them everything they need to do their job, and a great first impression of your agency.

A new hire checklist is the best way to help new employees blend into your agency quickly and easily. Get them up to speed by providing a checklist of tasks to guide them through the onboarding process from start to finish.

Once your list is ready, save time by automating the document so employees can work through it on their own. Here’s how to create and automate a new employee checklist to take a load off your shoulders without sacrificing quality. 

What should be included in your new hire checklist?

The first step is preparing your employee onboarding checklist so it’s ready to go once you hire someone. While the specifics will vary from one agency to the next (as well as the person themself, their department, and their role), you’ll want to include tasks like:

• Fill out new hire paperwork.

• Read the employee handbook.

• Schedule office tour.

• Review schedule, duties, and expectations.

• Finish all relevant employee training. 

• Complete culture-building items and meet new colleagues.

• Set up an email address and prepare the work environment as needed.

Once your new hire checklist is ready to go, import the checklist into your project management software so you can automate it, making the process hands-off for you. 

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Benefits of automating new hire checklists with PM software

Many agencies don’t have their own dedicated human resources department to handle background checks, welcome emails, benefits facilitation, and a laundry list of other hiring tasks. The job often falls to the agency owner or another management-level team member who has their own job to do on top of being responsible for hiring. 

So, how can busy agencies keep the process as simple as possible? With PM software. 

By automating your new hire checklist, it will be easy for you to provide each new employee with the same great onboarding experience — one that helps them feel ready and excited to get to work.

Here are the benefits you’ll be able to enjoy by implementing automation. 

Streamlines onboarding by standardizing the experience

Give every new hire a good first impression by using the same onboarding checklist for everyone. Recycling your onboarding template has two major benefits:

• Streamlining the process for you (since you don’t need to start from every time)

• Providing a comprehensive, professional overview for each new hire.

By creating this standard experience, you’ll feel confident that you’re giving employees the information they need and that you haven’t omitted any crucial steps. 

Saves time and money

Through automation, employees can focus on more complex activities that drive value, improving overall efficiency. In addition to saving time, automation reduces your costs, too.

“Automation is cost-cutting by tightening the corners, not cutting them,” says engineer and entrepreneur Haresh Sippy.  

In an ebook on how automation can help HR departments, Zenefit estimated that automating timesheets and payroll alone could save companies $119,600 per year.

Don’t be afraid to incorporate automation into your onboarding process, putting your new hire checklist into a project management software for some serious financial benefits. 

Speeds up the recruitment process

From the day you start looking for a new team member to that magical moment when they’re finally integrated into your day-to-day operations, it’s all too easy for quite a bit of time to elapse, which is why robust recruitment tracking is essential for keeping things on track and optimizing the process.

A month is a fairly average amount of time to locate and hire a new employee, with onboarding and training often stretching to a total of three months. 

That’s a significant amount of time for your agency to wait to get the help you need. Using automation as you onboard new employees helps reduce the time it takes them to get up and running. 

Removes repetitive or redundant tasks

Automating processes such as onboarding eliminates tasks that are repetitive and/or redundant. A human employee doesn’t need to do jobs like data entry or sending emails at certain times — not in 2023 when we have the power of artificial intelligence.

Allowing automation to take over repetitive tasks is helpful because:

• It boosts workplace productivity, freeing up recruiters to focus on other things like interviewing

• You’ll also have more predictability over outcomes as these jobs are standardized.

• Employees won’t be tempted to cut corners.

Let the robots take over the boring stuff and everyone is happy.

Minimizes the chances of human error

The onboarding process is a critical time for every new employee. This is the period when they’re learning everything they can about your agency, taking in new information like a sponge so they can put it to use.

If you make a mistake as you show them the ropes, this could lead them to make mistakes — or worse, go home that night with a negative impression of your agency’s culture or practices. 

Automation is helpful because it minimizes or even eliminates human error. While your focus can easily slip (think about that afternoon slump when you’re watching Facebook cat videos to distract from your need for caffeine), intelligent automation is foolproof. It can handle large volumes of data and complete mundane tasks at a much more accurate rate than humans. 

Step-by-step guide for automating your new hire checklist

Ready to reap the benefits of automation? Follow these steps for your onboarding checklist. 

1. Create the checklist

Before you can automate the checklist, you need to create it. Employees are looking for an onboarding experience that:

• Is comprehensive, covering everything they’ll be expected to know and do

• Incorporates the agency culture

• Makes it easy to get connected 

Make your checklist more organized and easier to understand by splitting it into four stages with appropriate tasks for each:

1. Before the start date: Logins, direct deposit, swag, new hire forms, dress code

2. Essentials for day one: Meet colleagues, office tour, security explanation, agency policies

3. Day-to-day training: Software, daily tasks, weekly meetings

4. Ongoing cultivation: Check-ins, performance evaluations, goals

These stages make the most sense as you introduce someone new to your agency. 

2. Import your checklist into HR project management software

When your checklist is ready, take the document you’ve created and import it into HR project management software. The first thing you’ll do upon hiring is get that person set up within the software so they can work their way through the checklist.

3. Assign tasks and set deadlines

The next step is to assign tasks and set deadlines where needed. Some items on the checklist might actually need to be assigned to veteran employees, not the new hire.

For instance, you might assign a colleague to facilitate introductions between the new employee and the rest of the team and to answer any questions that arise. 

Other items may require deadlines. 

Consider setting a specific date when new hires should complete training, for example, so they’ll be ready to get to work by the time that you need them. 

Remember, follow the stages outlined earlier in this article, structuring your employee onboarding checklist into four categories according to when tasks need to be finished.

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4. Track progress

Automating a new hire checklist is great. But it doesn’t mean you can hit a single button and then leave your newest team member floundering in the deep end. 

Continue following along as they work through the checklist, tracking their progress and offering advice if they get stuck. 

Once they’ve completed enough training to get started with the new job, you’ll also want to continually implement additional tasks over time. These might include:

• 30 60, and 90-day check-ins

• Scheduled evaluations

• Software reviews

• Future training and goals

These kinds of tasks help you keep your finger on the pulse of your onboarding program, understanding how your employee is doing as they continue to assimilate into the agency culture. 

Try Teamwork’s new employee onboarding template today!

Automation isn’t just for scheduling email blasts or IT-specific jobs. It can also help with new hire onboarding, making an employee’s first day, first week, and first month simpler by providing an experience that’s standard, comprehensive, and doesn’t drag out any longer than it has to.

Make the process easier next time you hire a new employee by using Teamwork’s new employee onboarding checklist template. It’s a great starting point to give new hires, answering FAQs about their job training and new role. Download the template here.