How we automate onboarding and focus on the human side of employees’ first days

Leif Oldert is VP of Human Resources at Clicklease. Leif is a Rippling Wavemaker, a business visionary who has been empowered by Rippling to challenge the status quo and creatively impact their company. 

Like most companies, when we bring a new hire onto the team, we feel there’s a lot riding on their first few days. Making a great first impression is essential—and it starts before they even walk through the door. We make sure they know how to find the office, and we want them to know we’re taking them out to lunch on their first day, so don’t pack one.

Welcome email aside, new team members need all sorts of information, tools, equipment, and benefits. The faster they get what they need, the more likely they are to feel welcome—and the sooner they can start contributing.

Onboarding has so many moving pieces–it’s too complex and too important to delegate all the setup and comms to managers and IT and hope for the best. Better to have an onboarding flow that handles everything automatically, sending the right info and access at the right time, from those day-one instructions to app log-ins to benefits selections and even 90-day satisfaction surveys.  

That’s the kind of setup we’ve been able to build with Rippling’s automated workflows and app provisioning, and it’s made all the difference. Here’s why.

Why automated workflows are so critical for effective onboarding 

A manual onboarding process might seem more personal for the new hire, but it’s incredibly time consuming and could leave new hires waiting around for the tools and info they need. Here are a few benefits of automating:

• Replace lost time with instant access to tools and info: A typical onboarding checklist has tons of steps—welcome emails, day-one itineraries, benefits enrollment, T&E instructions, and on and on. Automating onboarding frees HR and managers up to focus on strategy, the big picture, and investing quality time in getting to know their new hire. Meanwhile, new hires are guaranteed access to key systems and key info like travel & expense instructions and HR and benefits policies without asking or hunting for info.
• Improve security by eliminating room for error: New hires need access to the right tools and apps, but if IT is granting access manually to every app for every new hire, they are bound to make mistakes. Automatic role-based provisioning ensures new hires get only the level of access they need and nothing more. This is critical for highly regulated industries or to comply with security frameworks like SOC 2. 
• Avoid communications breakdowns that could leave new hires feeling disengaged: Without an automated communication workflow, there’s a good chance new hires won’t get the info they need at the right time. That could leave them feeling disconnected and wondering what comes next. And while it’s tempting to think manual, manager-led onboarding will make new hires feel more welcome, a busy manager can easily forget to send a set of key instructions—not good for remote staff who can’t just pop over with a question.

How to set up onboarding automations with Rippling

You can automate your onboarding process with Rippling in a few easy steps just like I did. Here’s a quick look at how.

Step 1: Configure role-based app provisioning

Role-based provisioning or role-based access control (RBAC), starts with a clear understanding of the types of roles spread across your organization and what each one needs from a systems-access perspective. You can then map that into Rippling so it can grant access automatically to each new hire based on their role. 

Step 2: Automate onboarding communications

New staff need info before they even start work, and it’s best to stay ahead of their needs throughout onboarding. We mapped out what new hires need to know and when, and then set up workflows to handle those communications automatically—welcome packets a few days before start, T&E instructions for commuters, and a first-day agenda outlining what to expect on day one.

Step 3: Set up ongoing engagement touchpoints

Onboarding communications don’t stop after the first day or week—make sure they map to the entire process, which for us lasts at least 90 days. We made workflows for 30-, 60-, and 90-day check-ins and set reminders for managers to stay engaged with new hires. We even send surveys to gather feedback along the way so we can proactively address any concerns. 

Then come other touchpoints after onboarding. On birthdays and work anniversaries, for example, we send reminders to team members so they can say “happy birthday” or “congratulations” to their colleague. We think that’s more impactful than a generic happy birthday email from the HR team. So in that sense, we’re using automations to inspire more human engagement, which is a bit unexpected but a really positive outcome.

Step 4: Collaborate with IT for integrations

Some tools require a little extra setup, so you may need to work with IT to get apps like Office 365 integrated into your Rippling workflows. Single sign-on (SSO) will make it even easier for new hires to jump into these systems without any hiccups.

Rippling automated our onboarding so we can focus on what matters

Automated onboarding for new hires drastically improved their new-hire experience, giving them the warm welcome they deserve while saving HR, IT, and managers tons of time on manual onboarding tasks. 

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of November 21, 2024.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.