7-Step IT Onboarding Checklist

When thinking about a hiring manager’s contribution to a company’s success, hiring top IT talent is just the starting point. Onboarding and retaining that talent is, in the long run, arguably more influential. And from what the market thinks, it might be hard to pull off a good onboarding experience. Only 12% of employees feeling their onboarding experience was satisfactory.

This article provides a 7-step IT onboarding checklist so you can find your new hires among that 12%, retain them, and make sure they contribute to your company in the best way you can.

1. Pre-Onboarding Preparation

The practicality of an employee onboarding checklist begins long before the new hire walks through the door. Here’s what you need to do:

Gather Necessary Equipment and Software

• Coordinate between IT and HR: Share relevant details about the new hire with your IT department, including their start date and what equipment they'll need.
• Order equipment: Set up hardware like laptops, monitors, and phones. For remote workers, ship equipment in advance. For office-based employees, check everything is ready at their desk. A strong asset management feature will help you keep track of laptops or subscriptions.

Create User Accounts and Access Permissions

• Create accounts: Make the essential user accounts such as email, communication tools, and software access.
• Create permissions: Grant the right access to files, company systems, and tools based on their role.

2. First Day Essentials

The first day of a new hire is a big opportunity to make sure that they get off on the right foot. Here’s how to make their initial experience hassle-free and productive:

Introduction to Company Policies and Procedures

• Welcome meeting: Start with an orientation to introduce the company culture, values, and key policies, such as dress code and office etiquette.
• Company handbook: Provide a handbook outlining important policies, like time off, workplace safety, and standards of behavior.

3. System Access and Security

Knowing that your new hire understands and follows security protocols is extremely important for protecting your company’s data and systems. Take these tips into account in your IT services onboarding checklist:

Verifying All Security Protocols Are Followed

Security policies: Make sure they understand the security guidelines for the IT systems—for example, telling them how regularly they'll have to change their passwords, if they can use their own devices or not, and your policies on data security or remote access.

Setting Up Multi-Factor Authentication and VPN Access

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Set up MFA for additional security and explain its importance.
• VPN access: Set up VPN if remote work is required, and guide them on its use and troubleshooting.

Providing Training on Cybersecurity Best Practices

• Cybersecurity training: Conduct a session on recognizing phishing attempts, using strong passwords, and reporting suspicious activities. Some companies prefer to use phishing simulators.
• Ongoing support: Provide contact information for IT support in case of security concerns or questions.

4. Hardware and Software Setup

Set up the hardware and software correctly so that your new employee can start working without any technical problems. Here are some office equipment productivity tips:

Giving Out Necessary Hardware and Software

• Prepare equipment: Check that laptops, monitors, keyboards, and other corporate office equipment that you requested IT are ready.
• Check on pre-installed software: Check that IT has installed the software that the employee will need. Although some companies have a harder time with this because the security guidelines mean that only the employee will be able to log in and check.

Providing Login Credentials and Initial Access

• Account access: Give the new hire their login credentials for email and internal systems. You can move this step to earlier into the onboarding process and send them an encrypted email with their credentials.

5. Communication Tools and Collaboration Platforms

Make sure that communication systems and collaboration platforms are set up with the right tools so that new hires can integrate smoothly into the team.

Setting Up Email Accounts and Communication Tools

• Email setup: Companies are using a single user for the email and for system's access. You could do the same.
• Communication platforms: Set up users on tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams and configure notifications, so that new hires can join corporate accounts.

Introducing Collaboration Platforms

• Platform overview: Introduce collaboration tools like SharePoint and, explicitly, where each file should be uploaded.
• Access and permissions: Secure access to relevant documents and folders.

6. Role-Specific Software and Tools

Each job in a company might need special software and tools to do their job correctly. That's the case of a design unit, for example, that might need licenses for creative software. The same applies for IT workers — they might each have a specific scope of work. These are the key steps for new employees that joined in to cover specific roles:

Installing and Configuring Role-Specific Software

• Determine the needs: Pinpoint the specific software needed based on the new hire’s role.
• Install and configure: Install and configure the required software, such as development tools or sysadmin tools.

Providing Access to Necessary Databases and Resources

• Database access: Guarantee access to relevant databases and data sources.
• Other tools and locations access: Provide access to shared drives and project management tools.

Offering Training Sessions for Specialized Tools

• Schedule training: Organize hands-on workshops or webinars to train on role-specific tools, especially if it's a company system or a company-specific tool.

7. Compliance and Documentation

Proper documentation, both physical and digital files, helps maintain organizational standards and provides clarity for both the new hire and the IT department. Here’s how to do it:

Making Sure All Legal and Compliance Requirements Are Met

• Compliance checklists: Verify compliance with data protection laws and company policies.
• Check documentation and agreements: Check the new hire signs necessary legal documents like NDAs and data protection agreements—this must be done before the new hire starts.

Documenting All Processes and Access Permissions

• Access logs: Maintain records of user accounts and permissions granted. This is better done with a tool that keeps this information private.
• Onboarding checklist: Keep a detailed new employee onboarding checklist of completed steps.

To Sum Up…

A solid new hire onboarding checklist is key to helping new hires get comfortable and productive from the start. Remember to adjust the IT onboarding checklist template to fit your company’s unique needs. Also, not every step should be taken in this same order or discipline. An HR representative might prefer skipping on certain items, like showing a developer what their programming tools will be. Like in many aspects of a company, a customized approach makes the IT onboarding process less hectic and more welcoming.

Maximize Your IT Onboarding Checklist with HR Software

Maximizing a checklist means making the most of it. A good onboarding experience will make new employees more engaged and improve their retention, and a checklist is a quick way to make sure those results are brought in. One of the easiest ways to complete an onboarding checklist, whether you are a hiring manager working with a large company or a startup, is with onboarding software that walks you through each step—and then simplifies what follows the onboarding.

TalentHR offers an onboarding solution as part of a fully-featured HR platform. With TalentHR, you can easily manage your workforce, track your applicants, check employee data, and onboard new hires all from one place. The platform helps you create and manage an onboarding program, automate tasks, and store employee records—without the expense of juggling multiple tools.

Sign up for free to start automating your HR tasks today.