---
name: "onboarding_checklist"
description: "Design and run a structured employee onboarding program: 30-60-90 plans, buddy pairing, preboarding, and milestone reviews. Use when asked to onboard a new hire, build an onboarding checklist, or improve first-year retention."
---

# Onboarding Checklist

## Purpose
Turn a signed offer into a fully contributing team member. This skill builds a phased onboarding program — preboarding before day one, a 30-60-90 plan with measurable milestones, a buddy pairing, and structured feedback loops — grounded in SHRM's 4 C's (Compliance, Clarification, Culture, Connection). Strong structured onboarding is credited by Brandon Hall Group research with improving new-hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%.

## Workflow

1. **Gather the inputs.** Role title, team, manager, start date, location (on-site/hybrid/remote), employment type, and any role-specific systems or compliance requirements (e.g., I-9, W-4, licenses, background checks). Ask only for what is missing; do not stall on optional detail.

2. **Design the preboarding plan (offer signed → day one).** Per `references/preboarding_checklist.md`: handle paperwork and accounts so day one is about people, not forms. Preboarding-engaged hires are materially more likely to survive the first year — SHRM notes up to 20% of all turnover happens in the first 45 days.

3. **Draft the 30-60-90 plan.** Follow `references/30_60_90_template.md`:
   - **Days 1–30 (Learn):** orientation, compliance, systems access, team introductions, shadow tenured staff, one small "first win" task — a real, low-risk deliverable finished in week one or two that proves the hire can ship.
   - **Days 31–60 (Contribute):** role-specific training, ownership of small projects with supervision, cross-functional introductions, regular manager check-ins.
   - **Days 61–90 (Deliver):** independent work against defined KPIs, lead a small project, 90-day review with self-assessment, set next-phase goals.
   Set SMART milestones per phase (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).

4. **Pair a buddy.** Follow `references/buddy_playbook.md`: pick a tenured peer (not the manager), brief them on expectations, schedule at least four buddy touchpoints in the first 90 days. Gallup finds employees with a close work friend are 7x more likely to be engaged; Microsoft research found buddy programs lifted onboarding satisfaction 36%.

5. **Run milestone reviews.** Check-ins at day 14, 30, 60, and 90. The 90-day review covers the accomplishment report, feedback on the onboarding itself, and the next-quarter growth plan. Extend lightweight check-ins to month 6 and month 12 — Aberdeen research cited by SHRM shows programs extending toward a year retain ~25% better than short ones.

6. **Collect feedback and iterate.** Survey the hire at 30/60/90 on clarity, support, and belonging; feed results back into the plan. 29% of employees never get to give onboarding feedback (TalentLMS & BambooHR 2025) — don't be that company.

## Output Contract
Deliver an onboarding packet containing, at minimum:
- A preboarding checklist (before day one).
- A week-by-week schedule for days 1–14 and phase goals for 30/60/90 with named owners.
- The buddy assignment with a touchpoint cadence.
- The review schedule (14/30/60/90 + feedback survey questions).
- Success metrics: time-to-first-win, milestone completion %, 90-day retention signal, hire satisfaction score.

## Operating Rules
- **One owner per item.** Every checklist line names who does it — the manager, HR, IT, the buddy, or the hire. Ownerless items are how onboarding dies.
- **Compliance first, culture always.** Paperwork and access are blockers; never let them swallow day one. Culture and connection are the elements SHRM's research ties most directly to retention — schedule them explicitly, don't hope they happen.
- **Personalize, don't generalize.** A sales hire, an engineer, and an executive need different plans. Adapt phases and first-win tasks to the role.
- **Write numbers only when sourced.** Retention and productivity figures used above are from Brandon Hall Group, Gallup, SHRM, Microsoft, and Aberdeen research as cited in `references/`. Never invent statistics for an onboarding report; if you can't verify a number, cut it.
- **Feedback is a deliverable.** The post-90-day survey and the plan-revision notes are part of the packet, not an afterthought.