New-Starter Onboarding Checklist

About this template

Onboarding fails when tasks have no owner and knowledge lives in people’s heads. This checklist gives every step a named owner and points each task at an SOP, so that by the end of day ten a new starter completes their core tasks with an SOP open, not a colleague standing beside them.

What’s inside

• How to use it — four rules that make onboarding stick
• Pre-arrival checklist — access and accounts, tools and equipment, and the first-week calendar, each line with an owner and a due date
• Day one to week two path — one objective per day across the first ten days
• SOP reading order per role type — company-wide first, then the core process, then the role’s own tasks
• 30, 60 and 90 day check-in templates — 45 minutes each: day 30 checks fit, day 60 checks capability, day 90 confirms the role
• Buddy system one-pager — who makes a good buddy, what the buddy does week by week, and the buddy rules
• Confusion log — every question a new starter asks, captured so the SOP can be fixed that week

Who it’s for

The manager responsible for a new hire, the buddy who supports them, and whoever owns access, equipment and HR paperwork. The template has a line for each role, so everyone knows which steps are theirs.

The problem it solves

A new starter who spends their first morning waiting for a login learns that your business is disorganised. Most onboarding problems come down to steps with no owner and processes that were never written down.

How to use it

1. Assign every checklist line an owner before the start date. “HR” or “the team” is not an owner.
2. Point each task at an SOP. A task with no SOP to link is a gap in your library.
3. Book the 30, 60 and 90 day check-ins on day one, in both calendars.
4. Log what confused the new starter, and fix the SOP that week.

What you’ll have at the end

• A new starter working from your SOPs by the end of week two
• A list of the SOP gaps their questions exposed — a free audit of your documentation
• The 30, 60 and 90 day reviews already in the calendar

The template is an editable Word document. Make it yours: replace the example SOP names with the titles in your library.