Walking into a new job can be a double edged sword. While it’s a happy day, whether you’ve made an upward career move or simply ending a period of unemployment, the nuts and bolts of being a newbie are tedious: spending your first day filling out forms, asking where the bathroom is, and staring at a screen that still doesn’t have your login credentials. It's awkward, overwhelming, and not the welcome anyone hopes for.
Gallup asserts that only 12% of employees strongly feel that their company performs an excellent job onboarding new employees, indicating a significant opportunity for improvement through better IT solutions.
Don’t let that first day chip away at your new employee’s enthusiasm. Once you establish the right solutions, you can turn a chaotic first day into a smooth, professional, and welcoming experience, both for the employee and your HR team.
How important is onboarding?
The quality of your onboarding does one of two things:
Weak onboarding devalues the company to new hires.
Strong onboarding empowers new hires in the belief that they have come to the right place.
Regardless of how frustrating that first day can be, the first 90 days of any new job are critical. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), nearly 1 in 3 employees who quit within their first six months of employment said they received little to no onboarding, and 15% specifically cited poor onboarding as a key reason for leaving. That’s not just a talent issue; it’s a cost issue too.
With a little thought and care, it does not have to be that way. A well-organized onboarding program can boost retention and improve employee engagement. It’s a huge opportunity to make a lasting impression, and IT plays a key role in making it happen.
The Downside of Traditional Onboarding
What constitutes the typical onboarding experience? Forms. Password resets. More forms. Confusion. Waiting.
It’s no better for HR and IT teams, from tracking equipment to setting up accounts, they’re often buried in repetitive tasks that leave little time for human connection. Some of the headaches:
Seemingly endless paperwork: Wastes time and opens the door to errors.
Little or no role clarity: New hires don’t know what’s expected of them.
Inconsistency across teams: When every department does things differently, it creates confusion.
Tech delays: Without access to the right tools, new employees can’t do their job.
However, a good IT services team can tackle every one of these problems and more.
How can onboarding be improved?
IT can do a lion’s share to improve the process. Let’s break down how technology can step in and make everything smoother, faster, and more efficient for everyone involved.
Preboarding
Don’t wait until the new hire reports for duty. The moment someone accepts your offer; the onboarding process should begin.
Establish the tone by sending digital welcome kits, login details, and training schedules. With IT support, you can automate emails, pre-configure accounts, and even ship laptops with the necessary software already installed.
Consider this preboarding IT-powered checklist:
1: Email setup and access to systems
2: Welcome videos or messages from leadership
3: Digital forms completed and submitted online
4: Set a clear first-day schedule
5: Send Slack or Teams invites to meet the team
These will get the boring stuff out of the way so your new hire can hit the ground running.
Automate Repetitive Tasks
Nobody should spend their time manually inputting the same employee data into five different systems.
IT support can automate these tasks:
HR systems data entry
Background checks
Compliance training assignments
Reminder emails for pending tasks
Automating these chores gives HR more time to actually connect with new hires and less time chasing paperwork.
Training Should be Interactive and Accessible
Don’t load your new employee up with dull training binders. Powered by IT, modern learning platforms allow companies to deliver engaging training through videos, quizzes, simulations, and gamified content.
Additionally, a learning management system (LMS) can be tailored for each role, so a marketing associate and a software engineer don’t have to waste time on irrelevant modules.
IT makes this possible through the easier integration of LMS tools, by setting up device compatibility (mobile, desktop, tablet), and establishing progress tracking and reminders.
It’s simple: When new hires learn faster, they contribute faster.
Establish One Central Hub for Everything
Adopting a unified onboarding portal pulls everything into one place: policies, tools, documents, training modules, schedules, and contacts. Instead of a dozen scattered emails, employees can access what they need in one click, whether they’re in the office or remote.
IT solutions also provide a single login for all onboarding needs, secure document sharing and storage, and mobile-friendly interfaces for convenience.
This not only makes onboarding easier, but also shows your company is organized and modern.
Guage New Employees’ Progress with Analytics
Do you know how long it takes for your hires to become fully productive? Or which training modules are most effective?
Your IT can set up dashboards and reports that track:
Time-to-productivity
Completion rates
Satisfaction surveys
Drop-off points in onboarding
These analytics provide data that helps you refine the process and prove the value of a solid onboarding strategy.
Why Customization Matters
Customization helps personalize the company relationship with its employees. Not every new employee needs the same exact path. Some may thrive with self-paced learning, while others prefer scheduled check-ins and mentorship.
Use your IT tools to customize onboarding based on, their department and role, prior experience, and learning preferences.
IT can personalize each employee’s journey while keeping the overall process consistent, from assigning a mentor on day one to recommending skill-based learning paths.
IT and Manager Involvement
Remember that managers are also vital to onboarding, but they’re busy too. IT platforms can send timely nudges and provide checklists to help them stay involved without overwhelming them.
Easily automated and handy tools include 30/60/90-day check-in reminders, onboarding task assignments, feedback collection, and next steps.
This keeps everyone on the same page and helps managers guide their new hires without dropping the ball.
The Secret to Improved Onboarding
The first days of a new job can be nerve-wracking enough, so nobody wants to spend hours digging through old PDFs or waiting for a password reset.
With your IT managing automation, integration, and data tracking, you can focus on what truly counts: human connection, confidence, and clarity.
Great onboarding is a big part of the glue that binds a new hire to an organization. If it’s confused and haphazard, the newbie may well presume that that’s what life in their new job will be like. Whether you’re a growing startup or a large organization, contact us today and improve your onboarding with smarter IT solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 5 Cs of onboarding?
In onboarding, the 5 C's constitute a framework for effective new employee integration:
Compliance
Clarification
Culture
Connection
Check-back.
This framework ensures that new hires understand policies, their role and expectations, and company values, while also helping them build relationships and receive ongoing support.
What is the biggest challenge on onboarding?
Easy Generator identifies the 10 biggest challenges, but Identifies #1 as:
Information Overload
It's rare to see a thin Employee Handbook. Walking through the door on starting day presents new hires with a mountain of information almost all at once. This is the main reason why onboarding fails.
Can you get fired during onboarding?
Absolutely. In most states, even if the employment cannot simply be terminated “at will,” you can be fired at any time during the first 90 days, as long as the termination is not due to discriminatory or retaliatory reasons.
What not to do when training a new employee?
There are always plenty of mistakes to avoid. Acrisure list the top 4 HERE.
How secure is your network?
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The best defenses are expert cybersecurity to protect your data from theft, and a top-notch Managed Services Provider (MSP) to ensure continued reliability and defenses against newly emerging threats.
With our 100% Money Back Guarantee in writing, we offer a risk-free way for prospective clients to try us out. Because we do not require a ‘hard’ contract, our clients can fire us at any time with 30 days’ notice. We have to be good.
Among the Managed IT services we provide:
IT HelpDesk Service
Onsite IT Support
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IT Support LA is an award-winning Managed Services Provider (MSP):
o 3 Years awarded Best IT by the Small Business Expo
o Awarded 2nd best company of any type in the US by the Small Business Expo SB100
o Awarded Best IT Support in California by Channel Futures
o Winner of Best IT in Los Angeles by Channel Futures
o Listed as one of the world’s Top 501 MSPs by CRN and in the top 250 in the ‘Pioneer’ listing
o 4 years listed as one of the Top 501 MSPs in the World by Channel Futures
o Listed as #21 MSP in the World in Channel Futures NextGen 101
o Globee 2021 Bronze Award winner for Chief Technology Officer of the Year
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o Named one of 2022’s 50 ‘Best’ businesses in California by UpCity
o Named Best of IT winner by UpCity
o Winner of Local Excellence Award for 2021, 2022 and 2023 by UpCity
o Named Best of Cloud Consulting winner by UpCity
o Certified as Top Managed Services Providers and Cybersecurity Pro by UpCity
o Named Best IT in Los Angeles by Expertise.com.
Planning an Office Move?
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