New Hire – First Day Checklist

The HR team covers a lot of ground on a new hire’s first day. This checklist helps you stay on track so all new employees transition into their roles without a glitch.

HR tasks to do on a new hire’s first day

Set up their workstation with:

• Your employee handbook
• An onboarding kit or a welcome gift
• A welcome letter from their manager or the CEO
• An agenda for their first day
• A nameplate or employee ID
• A set of business cards
• Necessary office equipment

Notify team members of their start date and set up a buddy to help them settle in

Take employees on a grand office tour, familiarizing them with important rooms

Help new hires fill out HR paperwork:

• Provide digital or physical copies of forms
• Explain terms of agreement (e.g. on health insurance and benefits documents)
• Answer any questions your new hires may have

Present your key company policies.

Check back with new hires to learn how their first day went before they head home. You may want to ask:

• How did your first day go?
• What do you think of the company and your team?
• Do you need any clarity on our policies?
• Do you have everything you need? (e.g. hardware, stationery, etc)
• How has the first day lined up with your expectations of the job?
• Do you have any questions?

Hiring manager tasks on a new hire’s first day

Introduce your new hire to your team members in-person, as well as the entire company via email or company messaging software.

Make sure your new hire’s computer station is up and running. Check whether the IT team has:

• Set up new hire’s accounts (e.g. email, Slack,etc.)
• Installed software and applications, including anti-virus systems
• Shared necessary manuals

Run a role-specific training to train new hires on:

• Their main responsibilities
• The team structure (names, roles, duties and organizational chart)
• Job-specific tools
• The team’s objectives

Schedule meetings with team leaders  to introduce your new hire

Assign first tasks to your new hire, and be sure to:

• Offer guidance
• Providing resources that your new hire is likely to use (e.g. reports, spreadsheets, and white papers)
• Answer questions

Introduce your new hire to a work buddy for support.

Schedule a group lunch to help them get to know other employees.

Give your new hire an overview of the first week and the first month on the job.

Set aside time for new hires to ask any questions they might have.