Why It Matters More Than Ever—and How Your Payroll Partner Can Help

In today’s fast-moving, tech-driven business landscape, first impressions matter—especially when it comes to new hires. From day one, employees expect a seamless, professional experience that helps them feel welcome, informed, and ready to contribute.

At The Payroll Company, we help businesses build and automate modern onboarding programs that not only reduce HR workload but also boost retention, productivity, and engagement from the start.

🚀 Why Onboarding Is More Critical Than Ever

In 2025, onboarding isn’t just about handing out a laptop and an employee handbook. It’s about creating a structured, engaging experience that guides new hires through paperwork, training, culture, and connection.

Whether employees are remote, hybrid, or on-site, they need to feel supported and aligned with your company’s mission—starting on day one.

The Top 7 Benefits of a Strong Onboarding Program

1. ✅ Attract and Retain Top Talent

Offering competitive salaries and benefits is no longer enough. High-performing employees stay with companies that invest in their development from the beginning. A well-designed onboarding program sets the tone, builds trust, and helps new hires see a future with your company—not just a job.

2. 🔄 Automate Enrollment and Get Involved Early

Digital onboarding systems allow new hires to complete tax forms, benefits selections, and direct deposit setup before they even start. But automation doesn’t mean detachment—smart companies combine tech efficiency with early human engagement, like welcome calls or intro meetings.

3. 📈 Drive Business Performance

Studies show that companies with structured onboarding programs achieve higher productivity and profitability. When employees are engaged and clear on expectations, they become valuable contributors faster—and stay that way longer.

4. 📚 Promote Buy-In and Cultural Alignment

A strong onboarding program educates new employees on your values, goals, and workflows. It’s an opportunity to introduce leadership, share the company’s mission, and get employees excited about their role in your vision.

5. 🤝 Build Lasting Relationships

Assigning a mentor or onboarding buddy during the first few weeks helps new hires build connections and feel part of the team. That sense of belonging is key to long-term loyalty and morale.

6. 🗣️ Encourage Open Dialogue

Starting a new role can be overwhelming. A structured onboarding program provides clear communication channels, reducing anxiety and encouraging new employees to ask questions and offer feedback early.

7. 🔒 Improve Retention and Reduce Turnover Costs

Employee turnover can be expensive and disruptive. Effective onboarding improves job satisfaction, reduces early exits, and creates a foundation for long-term retention—all while protecting your bottom line.

How The Payroll Company Supports Better Onboarding

We offer integrated payroll, HR, and onboarding software that allows you to:

• Digitally onboard new hires with automated workflows
• Set up benefits, payroll, and tax documents in advance
• Track onboarding progress in real-time
• Streamline compliance with federal and state labor laws
• Customize the experience to match your company culture

Whether you need a turnkey solution or a tailored onboarding workflow, our team will help you create a seamless process that makes every new hire feel like part of the team from day one.

Ready to Level Up Your Onboarding?

A strong onboarding program is no longer optional—it’s a competitive advantage. If you’re ready to modernize your hiring process and improve employee retention, we’re ready to help.

Contact The Payroll Company today to schedule a demo or speak with our onboarding specialists.

The term “Before day one” is frequently used in HR circles. And if you don’t completely grasp what it implies, you’ll be excused. What are new employees looking for in a potential employer? How often should we be interacting? What kind of information or tasks are appropriate?

It may surprise you, but candidates want to know what to anticipate from their first day on the job before they show up there. Some want to know so they can be the best employee ever to grace your boardroom, but the majority don’t want to appear ridiculous, walk to the incorrect office, or be dressed to impress on casual Fri-yay when they’re not supposed to.

Let’s look at the best practices for onboarding new staff before their first day.

Prepare for the arrival of staff.

Disruptions throughout the onboarding process might indicate that you don’t care about making sure your new worker is prepared for success right away or want them to be productive. After putting in so much effort to bring them on board, you don’t want to give them the impression that they’re not appreciated!

As a starting point, these are some of the most typical onboarding duties (and a couple that isn’t):

• Security logins & access keys
• An electronic device such as a laptop, tablet, or smartphone (or BYOD registry)
• Monitors, cords, and those pesky adaptors
• Hardware logins, password management solutions, and role-specific applications and software
• Created profiles and share logins for the time and attendance software
• Specialized equipment and tools
• The use of customized name tags and uniforms

PRO-TIP

 Uncertain about a new hire’s first requirements? Talk to their team leader or a coworker and go through a day in their life; you’ll rapidly discover products or logins you may not have considered.

Thus, you can confidently welcome your recruit, knowing they have all they need because you’ve already gone through the processes!

Get the paperwork out of the way.

 Documentation is the most tedious, perplexing, and aggravating aspect of the onboarding process. A missing signature on a single piece of paper or an unreadable bank number might cause significant delays.

Necessary documentation should be completed before day one:

• Employment contract Policies requiring recognition
• Payroll paperwork – banking, tax, and Super VISA & Work necessities
• Police and Working with Children verifications

Complete your paperwork as quickly as possible. The sooner the paperwork is completed, the sooner you can concentrate on the engagement aspect of onboarding. Electronic acceptance is a simple way to expedite the paperwork process, as it eliminates the delays of mailing, filing, and data entry by hand.

It will expedite the hiring process significantly, but you will also leave a lasting impact on your new employees.

PRO-TIP

 To provide a lasting first impression, you must increase the degree of friendliness during onboarding.

Every encounter should be tailored to the work, team, or individual.

Involve your team members in the process (and make them aware)

The onboarding process should include all workers, teams, and departments, not just HR. These groups significantly affect whether a recruit is motivated to work.

An employee’s primary point of contact will likely be their line manager. Still, it is also likely that they will benefit from access to HR and IT for questions about the company’s policies and payroll.

The onboarding process and the duties assigned to each internal stakeholder must thus be open and accessible to all stakeholders. It’s a lot to expect of HR personnel who are already overworked, so consider automating the process.

Preparation for the first day of work necessitates clear communication from the team leader. New hires need to establish a working relationship with their immediate supervisor as soon as their employment agreement is completed.

HR professionals are discussing how to keep team leaders motivated. While their involvement is critical to creating a successful employee journey, they are often irritated by red tape and bureaucracy. To keep every management informed and involved in the new employee’s journey, there are two main tasks you may perform.

Assign important assignments and deadlines to the team’s leader to “nudge” them forward.

The new starter should get a “welcome message” from the team leaders.

More than 60 percent of the best onboarding companies allow their managers to monitor the progress of new workers. Why shouldn’t yours?

To guarantee that best practices for new hire onboarding are followed, managers should be involved in the process instead of depending just on HR. Managers will be more than delighted to help with employee onboarding if they clearly understand the importance of employee engagement and the benefits of employee retention.

It’s essential to have a two-way conversation as part of this process. Managers must be made aware of which workers are in jeopardy by HR. Recruit performance, experience, and engagement should be shared with HR to improve the new hiring process.

PRO-TIP

 Automating a few sound cues and reminders can assist team leaders in becoming epic managers. They can personalize the message, or if they’re short on time or imagination, there’s a helpful preset message to get them started)

Personalization may be used to increase the number of contacts between team leaders and their subordinates. Use prompts and default material to encourage leaders to get the ball going.

Provide information that will be useful to new employees throughout their first week.

People are eager to join organizations whose values and ideas are like their own. Your culture, brand, and distinctive style need to be reinforced to new hires before they begin working at your company.

Be careful not to overburden them! List of important onboarding actions to make new employees feel confident and prepared for their first day of work:

• Greetings from the CEO and a brief history of the company
• The zoo’s staff members are introduced in this section.
• Terms and slang used by the team
• What to anticipate from team rituals and ceremonies – what to expect from group chatbots and socials
• The schedule for the first day

These procedures should be addressed in advance to make the first day of an employee’s onboarding as painless as possible. This will help new employees feel more at home and connected to the firm, coworkers, and unique position.

In 2022, the modern workplace is super-fast and offers easy access to information. Communication is also quick and easy, thanks to fast computers, email, texting, and online meetings. However, all this technology doesn’t do a company any good when hiring new employees if they don’t have a solid system in place for onboarding them as soon as they start work.

A company needs to provide a complete and thorough new employee onboarding system to successfully orient, train, and equip employees with the tools they need to work from day one. This system should cover all the basics, from computer log-in credentials to job-specific training. Providing this information upfront will help new employees hit the ground running and be productive from the start.

Onboarding: A Critical Process for New Employee Success

Starting a new job is like starting a new school year – you feel excited and nervous but are motivated to do your best for your company.

A new employee needs the proper tools and training before starting their new job. This will help them to be successful and know what is expected of them in their new position.

A well-thought-out onboarding program provides new employees with the information and education they need for their new job. It also helps them to understand what is expected of them and gives them the tools they need to be an effective employee from day one.

Here’s a list of benefits you can expect from a solid new employee onboarding program.

Onboarding Program Benefits

1. Recruit and Keep the Best Employees

Most human resource heads today agree that it will be a challenge to recruit, train and keep the best high-producing employees in the future. This is because providing solid benefits and good salary compared to other companies is easy.

It can be difficult to create a positive work atmosphere that will keep top talent happy and working for your company. Some things you can do include providing good training, one-on-one feedback from supervisors, strong leadership, and a positive attitude among employees.

Onboarding new employees is also important in setting the tone for their time at your company – it should be positive and make them want to stay for the long term. If you can create a workplace that top talent enjoys, they will be more likely to stick around and continue working hard for your company.

2. Enroll Employees in Onboarding Immediately, then Get and Stay Involved

No matter what a company’s base values, and culture are like, common sense and recent studies show that for new employees to have a positive long-term employment experience with the company, they need onboarding right away. The company needs to stay involved with the employee immediately after hire.

3. Build Business

Employee involvement is a key part of company onboarding programs, as it helps improve the work atmosphere and leads to better business outcomes. Studies have shown that companies with highly involved employees tend to have significantly higher sales and profits than their competitors.

4. Grow Company Involvement and Buy-In

A good onboarding program is essential for new employees, providing them with the knowledge and data they need to start working effectively. Each new employee should be introduced to management and learn from them about the company’s business goals and plans for growth.

5. Start and Continue to Grow Bonds with New Employees

Studies show that employees who receive direct attention and support from the beginning, followed up by team building and bonding activities, become bonded directly with their fellow employees, supervisors, and managers.

The best way to start this process is set up a work mentor for new employees in the first two weeks of employment. This mentor can help forge a great relationship and connection with the employee and the company itself.

6. Promote Direct Open Dialogue

Starting a new position with a company can be daunting, especially when it comes to discussing your worries and information about the new job and department. A well-designed onboarding program will give you the support and guidance you need to obtain information about your new company without feeling intimidated.

7. Improve Employee Retention

When companies lose employees, it can have a negative effect on profit and create a bad atmosphere. Putting in place a good new employee onboarding program can help.

When employees leave your company, it can have a negative impact on your bottom line and team morale. Implementing a new employee onboarding program can help ensure that new employees are a good fit right from the start and helps keep employees engaged in the long-term.

During onboarding, new workers are trained for many months by their employers to acquaint them with the firm and their tasks. Why is an efficient onboarding process so crucial, although it takes a long time?

What is the significance of the onboarding process?

When new employees join a firm, they need to be acclimatized to their new job, the company’s values, and the firm’s offerings. Another benefit of this strategy is that it creates a sense of belonging for employees and makes new hires feel like part of the team. According to recent polls, nine per cent, or one in ten, of employees who have left a firm due to a poor onboarding experience, and 37 per cent of employees stated their manager did not play an essential role in their onboarding assistance. If correct onboarding processes are not followed, employee turnover will increase, and productivity will be negatively impacted. Employee disengagement has a significant financial impact on businesses.

This article will explain the difference between onboarding and orientation and why onboarding new employees are critical to a company’s success. If an employee is engaged, 87 per cent are less likely to leave the company. In other words, they are five times less likely to depart than disengaged employees. 7 out of 10 people stay at their jobs for at least three years if they have a great onboarding experience.

What Is On-Boarding?

Once hired, new workers are given orientation and training to assist them in adjusting to their new roles within the company. Using this method, new hires can immediately grasp the responsibilities they would be expected to fulfil and the company’s culture.

Who Does Onboarding?

Typically one of the HR employees or a supervisor does onboarding. All these people may be able to help with the onboarding process by introducing the new hire to different parts of the business. It is not uncommon for a new employee to be paired with a peer mentor during the onboarding process. This can help recruits adjust to their new workplace by giving them a sense of familiarity. Companies should select a peer mentor who will positively impact the new worker and who demonstrates the traits they want them to have. This is a vital time for employee involvement.

How Is Onboarding Different from Orientation?

Orientation usually gives new employees a quick overview of the job and the work environment to get used to the place. As a practical matter, the primary goal of a recruit orientation is to get them out of the way of all of the mundane but essential aspects of their new job. Within a few hours, or a few days at the most, orientation is finished.

On the other hand, the employee onboarding procedure might take up to a year or more. They get the education and tools they need to succeed in their new jobs during this time. This boosts motivation, job satisfaction, and the chances that they’ll stay with the company.

It Allows New Hires to Become Acclimated

Employees who join a firm for the first time need an onboarding program to help them adjust quickly.

An acclimation process goes much beyond just telling people the location of the restrooms or suggesting where a new employee may heat their food. People who start working at a company must learn about its mission and values as part of their onboarding. For employees, acclimatization is a chance to learn about and appreciate the many things the company offers. You and your new coworker can talk about how you both can help the organization achieve its goals. Establishing clear expectations with new hires helps them succeed and feel like they belong. In addition, new employees learn about the company’s benefits throughout the acclimation process. People who are adequately onboarded become more productive because they need the tools to be successful and effective. Without onboarding, recruits are kept in the dark about the expectations of their new employer and the company’s work culture, which can lead to employee dissatisfaction.

It makes new hires more engaged with the company.

They are more involved when they grasp the company’s point of view and what it can provide.

Engaged employees have a strong sense of loyalty to the company and their position in it. These are the types of people that are willing to give their all every day because they sincerely care about the success of their firm. As a result of the onboarding process, engaged workers with a solid connection to the company are created, so it is essential. To retain employees, it is necessary to take the time to teach new hires and make them feel comfortable. Gallup has shown a link between a company’s level of employee engagement and several different outcomes. A company with a higher level of employee engagement is more successful than one with a lower level of engagement. The following are some of the advantages of having more motivated workers:

• Increased income
• Fewer employees are leaving for other jobs.
• Better records of safety.
• A better-quality product.
• Improved customer feedback
• There are fewer days on which employees miss work.

In this way, an onboarding strategy helps build workers who are willing to work hard and help the company be more productive and successful.

Recruiting and Retaining New Employees

In addition, a new hire’s likelihood of staying with the organization increases once they’ve completed the onboarding process. Because high turnover costs a lot of time and money, companies must do everything to keep their staff.

The significance of onboarding data

The possibility that new hires will remain with the company significantly increases throughout the onboarding process. Surveys of organizations with excellent onboarding revealed 82 per cent higher retention rates for new hires. According to a recent poll, only 12% of businesses have a good onboarding process. The typical onboarding process for a new employee includes more than 50 tasks. Increased extended onboarding program have been linked to better personnel and business results, such as employee engagement, company reputation, quality hiring, and the percentage of diverse employees, according to Kronos’ onboarding research.

Overworked managers and a lack of time for onboarding were cited by more than 60% of the participants in recent studies as the biggest obstacles to a successful onboarding process. An additional 47% pointed to inconsistent implementation throughout the organization, while 38% pointed to a lack of tools for evaluating return on investment (ROI) or efficacy.

Why Is Onboarding Important?

New hire onboarding is critical to a company’s success since it facilitates the integration of new personnel. Recruits are given the tools and resources to succeed on the team, including orientation and on-the-job training.

In addition, it aids in the acclimatization, involvement, and retention of new personnel. Employees’ expectations and resources are better understood after becoming acclimated to the firm.

As soon as recruits become acquainted with the firm and its duties, they are more likely to invest in the organization. Employees invested in the firm’s success are more productive and more likely to stay with the company in the long run.

Less time and money are spent on rehiring and retraining if people stay at their jobs. As a result, the article’s main takeaway is that bringing on new staff and high-quality new employee onboarding is critical to a company’s long-term success. It is definitely something you’ll be glad invested time in and do it consistently well.