onboarding_checklist v1.0.0

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.

1. 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.

1. 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).

1. 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%.

1. 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.

1. 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.