Onboarding new employees: a 90-day plan
A concrete plan for onboarding new employees: what should happen before day one, in the first week, the first month, and up to day 90, and who is responsible.
The first months matter a lot. Good onboarding of new employees gets people up to speed faster, provides a secure start, and reduces the risk of them quitting again. Poor onboarding is rarely bad intent, but lack of a plan: everyone assumes someone else has it covered.
This guide offers a simple plan for the first 90 days that you can adapt to your own roles.
Why a plan makes the difference
Without a plan, onboarding depends on who the new hire happens to sit next to. Some get a thorough start, others have to figure it out themselves. Meanwhile, no one can see what the new hire has actually been through.
An onboarding plan solves that. It describes what should happen when, who is responsible, and what the new hire should be able to do after each period. The plan serves both the new employee and the manager.
Before day one: preboarding
Onboarding begins when the contract is signed. The period up to day one is called preboarding. The goal is for the new hire to feel welcome and know what to expect.
- Send a welcome message with a plan for the first day.
- Say who will greet them and who their contact person is.
- Make sure the computer, access rights, and workspace are ready.
- Consider giving access to a short intro course about the company, but keep it voluntary.
Day one: comfort before information
Day one is about feeling well received. Avoid filling the day with presentations. The new hire will only remember a fraction anyway.
- A welcome from the manager and a tour.
- Lunch with the team.
- The name of a buddy who can answer the small questions.
- An overview of what will happen the rest of the week.
The first week: what is needed from day one
In the first week, the new hire should learn what is necessary to do the job. Typically that means systems, security, and the most important workflows.
This is where digital learning works well. What all new hires need to learn in the same way can live as short courses assigned automatically to the new-employee group. Everyone gets the same explanation, and the manager can spend their time on what requires a human.
- Short courses in the systems the role uses.
- Security and rules that apply to everyone.
- The first real task together with a colleague.
- A brief conversation with the manager at the end of the week.
The first month: the role's core workflows
In the first month, the new hire moves from observing to solving tasks on their own. The focus shifts from the general to the role.
- Courses and tasks focused on the role's workflows.
- Regular meetings with the buddy, for example once a week.
- A reflection: what is clear, and what is still difficult?
- A follow-up conversation with the manager after four weeks.
Day 31 to 90: standing on their own
The last two months are about becoming independent. The new hire takes on more responsibility, and the onboarding concludes with a conversation about how it went.
- Tasks with increasing responsibility.
- A final course or quiz if the role requires documentation.
- A conversation at day 90: what went well, and what can be improved for the next group?
Who is responsible?
A plan only works when responsibility is clear. A simple division looks like this:
- HR owns the plan and the shared courses every new hire takes.
- The manager owns the role-specific content, the follow-up, and the conversations.
- The buddy answers the practical questions and shows how things are done.
- The new employee takes the courses and speaks up when something is unclear.
Make the plan digital
When the plan lives digitally, it is easier to reuse. Bundle the courses that belong to onboarding into one program and assign it to the new-employee group. The new hire then sees one journey with a clear order, and HR and the manager can follow progress without spreadsheets.
See how onboarding of new employees can be set up in Skillflow under E-learning.