The First 90 Days Checklist: A Template for New Hires

So, you’ve got a great new hire. You want to keep them, don’t you? Of course, you do, think of the money it costs to replace unhappy employees. The best way to keep new hires is to have a great plan. We’re talking about a long-term strategy, not just a first-day meet and greet. We’re also talking about acknowledging feedback from new hires.

With the workflow below, you can check off all the tasks involved in bringing your new hire up to speed. You can also make them comfortable. With the correct destination and the route to get there, you can avoid new hire unhappiness. You can mark off, along the way, the first 30, 60, and 90 days for your new hire.

Included are tips to motivate the new hire to stay. This is accomplished by valuing your new employee from day one.

With a checklist workflow, you’ll save money by avoiding negative emotions in the new hire such as:

• Feeling like everyone forgot they were coming
• Not knowing who they should ask for help
• Being frustrated as they don’t have the right passwords
• Thinking their opinions don’t count

Process Street specializes in effective workflows that save time and money. Please make your way through the following to ease your onboarding journey.

To get off to a great start, you need the new hire to feel like they have a new home. Explain the purpose of the new home. You also want to reassure the new hire that it will still be there for decades to come.

Lastly, you need to make them feel like a part of the jigsaw puzzle. All of that adds up to a feeling of security. 

Personalize the company from day one by showing faces. Let the new hire know that behind the big corporate building are people just like them.

Explaining how an individual rose from humble beginnings is always a winner too.

The mission should be explained in one or two sentences. It should be something that the new hire can quickly understand. It will also shape how they work for you.

As well as online resources, consider a folder with the hierarchy printed on its cover.

New hires may not always get the time to check online when talking over the phone. If they can place a caller in the organization, it will help them to prioritize in the future. So upload a copy of the hierarchy here, but consider putting it on stationery and even swag items.

Let the new hire feel you trust them from day one. By revealing future goals you let their subconscious consider their place in longer-term plans. They will start thinking about additional training if they feel it will help you in the future.

Sure, you told them this in the job description. But now is the time to elaborate. How does the new hire fit into the company? Who will they be talking to daily? Who will they be working with?

Plant the seed of relationship-building in the new hire’s mind.

Who is your new hire going to be working with? Who are they going to be talking to?

To answer these questions, start to build the new hire’s connections like a spider’s web.

First look at the hierarchy you gave them before. Can you arrange meetings that lay out a path right to the top? The line manager will want to hear more about the new hire’s experience and their ideas about the company. From there, the team is then introduced. The line manager should ensure each of the team members explain not only their roles but also their goals.

All meetings should swirl around this idea.

The new hire should now understand the purpose and goals of their colleagues. This will help the new hire to tell you how they can assist their team.

Yes, we know what is in their job description but you can go further than that.

The new hire will once again feel that their opinion is valued.

It will also help you to let their line manager know their other interests.

Take the new hire through your directory system. You can also identify how to contact other relevant departments.

Remind them of the hierarchy copy they have. This shows the new hire they are part of the team.

By showing your help manuals are easily accessible, you can give the new hire a greater sense of confidence. This enables them to have a self-serve attitude and be more proactive.

Consider offering the manuals on a USB stick which they can take home.

A better option would be to use Pages which is available from Process Street. This allows the new hire to log in from anywhere and look through the manuals. That includes their bus ride home.

The purpose of a buddy is to provide a single point of contact for the new hire. Take some time to decide on the perfect candidate for this role.

The buddy’s most important task will be daily meetings with the new hire. In order for the new hire to tell someone where they need support, the buddy must be approachable.

Ask yourself if you would like to have lunch with the buddy yourself. If the answer is yes, then you have the right person.

Go through the steps of providing the buddy’s contact information. Also, let the buddy know what they should show the new hire.

Check off the information below that the buddy should give the new hire:

Call the new hire and check in with them. Ask them what they feel their wins and losses were during the first 30 days.

This will be a great opportunity to spot any issues that may arise in the future.

By now, the new hire will have put work in on their first project.

Ask them how they feel it is working out. You also need to draw a line after their first 30 days. It is a good idea to create a moving forward agreement plan.

Explain what is expected in the first 60 days. This allows you to discuss both the company’s and the new hire’s expectations.

By this time, the new hire will have established relationships. They should also have gained a strong understanding of their work.

Discuss how they feel things are going and the lessons that have been learned. This will be invaluable research for future new hires. It can indicate where the onboarding process needs to be rethought or slightly tweaked.

Make this discussion a light-hearted telephone conversation.

Use a questionnaire to gain more insight into the new hire’s onboarding process. This will also allow you to gauge if they can assist other departments.

There may also be the possibility of grooming them for a more skilled position.

You could do this with the use of an aptitude test. For now, ask them to complete the below fields:

Send the above details to the new hire's line manager with the email template below:

To go even further with the onboarding process, see the fantastic YouTube video below. It covers the secrets of onboarding with Wade Foster: The founder, and CEO, of Zapier.

Shane McFeely and Ben Wigert - This Fixable Problem Costs U.S. Businesses $1 Trillion

Michael D. Watkins - The First 90 Days

Kate Morgan - The Great Resignation: How employers drove workers to quit

Mark Murphy - The Script That New Managers Need To Use When Meeting Their New Employees

Indeed.com - Creating a Buddy System in the Workplace

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