SOP-002  ·  Rev 1.0
[EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING SOP]

Most onboarding fails in the gaps between the people who touch a new hire: who sets up the accounts, who prepares the workspace, who explains the expectations, who checks in at the end of the first month. This template turns those handoffs into a checklist with an owner for each step. It is written for a team without a dedicated HR person, so it keeps each task small and assigns it to a named role. The worked example follows a new hire from signed offer through the thirty-day review. The order matters — a person is not productive until they have access, context and a first win.

1.  PURPOSE
    > Note — One sentence on why this procedure exists.
    [PURPOSE]

2.  SCOPE
    > Note — Who this applies to and what it excludes.
    [SCOPE]

3.  BEFORE DAY ONE
    > Note — Everything that must be ready before the new hire arrives.
    [BEFORE_DAY_ONE]

4.  DAY ONE
    > Note — What happens on the first day, in order.
    [DAY_ONE_1]
    [DAY_ONE_2]
    [DAY_ONE_3]

5.  FIRST WEEK
    > Note — Orientation, expectations and the first piece of real work.
    [WEEK_1_1]
    [WEEK_1_2]

6.  FIRST MONTH
    > Note — The checkpoints that make the hire productive, not just present.
    [WEEK_2_CHECK]
    [THIRTY_DAY]

7.  RECORDS
    > Note — What record onboarding leaves and where it is kept.
    [RECORDS]

Free to use in your own documents, including commercially.

Worked example

1

Purpose

Note — One sentence on why this procedure exists.

Change bar — replace this

To bring every new hire from accepted offer to a productive first month through the same sequence, with an owner for each step, so no part is left to memory.

2

Scope

Note — Who this applies to and what it excludes.

Change bar — replace this

All new full-time and part-time hires. Does not cover contractors or temporary staff, who follow a shorter access-only checklist.

3

Before day one

Note — Everything that must be ready before the new hire arrives.

Change bar — replace this

Owner prepares the workspace and keys. Account admin creates the login, email and shared-drive access. The hiring manager sends the day-one time and place at least three days ahead.

4

Day one

Note — What happens on the first day, in order.

Change bar — replace this

The hiring manager meets the hire at the agreed time and shows them the workspace, the kitchen, and where things live.

Change bar — replace this

Account admin runs through logging in, email, and where files are stored, and makes sure every login works on the spot.

Change bar — replace this

The hire can log in, send mail, and open the shared files they need.

5

First week

Note — Orientation, expectations and the first piece of real work.

Change bar — replace this

The hiring manager covers the role, the team, the expectations for the first month, and the one or two rules that matter most.

Change bar — replace this

The hiring manager assigns one small real task so the hire produces something by the end of the week.

6

First month

Note — The checkpoints that make the hire productive, not just present.

Change bar — replace this

The hiring manager checks in at the end of week two: what is going well, what is unclear, and whether access covers the work.

Change bar — replace this

The hiring manager runs a thirty-day review covering progress, the first task, and what the next month holds.

7

Records

Note — What record onboarding leaves and where it is kept.

Change bar — replace this

A one-page onboarding record with the hire's name, start date and the thirty-day review note, kept in the personnel folder.

A

The Document Control Kit

Turn a folder of documents into something a team can actually find and follow

Every template on this site is free and stays free. The kit is what turns a folder of documents into a system you can actually run: a register with numbers, owners and review dates; who reviews what and how often; a numbering scheme that still works at fifty documents; and the thirty-day sequence for getting a team to use any of it, which is where most of these projects die.

What the kit holds

Register Column headings — number, title, owner, revision, approval date, review-due date

Review cadence Who reviews what, how often, and what triggers an off-cycle revision

Rollout plan The thirty-day sequence for getting a team to actually use the documents

Numbering scheme How to number documents so the system survives its first fifty

Open the control kit FREE · NO ACCOUNT · NO CARD · NOTHING SENT ANYWHERE

Opens a short sponsor step, then brings you straight back to this page with the kit open. Nothing you have entered goes with you.