5 ways to automate employee onboarding

Onboarding matters. From work authorizations and open enrollment, to helping new employees transition into their roles, the onboarding experience sets the stage for how a new employee views your company. A recent survey by Rippling found that 8 in 10 remote and hybrid workers believe they can predict whether they’ll like a new job based on the onboarding process. 

Unfortunately, the enormous importance of onboarding comes with time-consuming tedium. Too often, your HR team is stuck wading through a long checklist of "chores" for every single new hire. The status quo of checklist after checklist, much of it including manual data entry, is inefficient drudgery that pains both HR pros and new employees.

That's where onboarding automation comes in. By streamlining and simplifying the tasks involved in bringing a new employee on board, you can create a seamless, stress-free experience for both new hires and your HR team. Plus, automating repetitive tasks frees up time for more meaningful work, like helping new employees integrate into the company culture.

In this piece, we'll explore the world of onboarding automation and share 5 concrete ways you can use technology to make your onboarding process more efficient and effective. 

What is onboarding automation?

Onboarding automation is the process of using technology to streamline and simplify the tasks involved in bringing a new employee into your organization. It involves automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, such as collecting employee information, provisioning devices and software, and assigning training. The main goal of onboarding automation is to create a smooth, efficient employee experience.

Some common tasks that can be automated include:

• Sending welcome emails and paperwork
• Collecting employee data and documents
• Setting up user accounts and access permissions
• Pairing new hires with suitable buddies
• Assigning and tracking work device 

3 challenges of manual employee onboarding

If you're still doing onboarding the old-fashioned way, you might be facing some of these common challenges:

Increased human error

When employee onboarding is done manually, there's a higher risk of mistakes and oversights. For example, an HR team member might forget to send important paperwork or miss a step in the onboarding process, leading to delays and confusion for the new hire.

Lower efficiency

Manual onboarding is time-consuming and tedious. HR teams can spend hours on repetitive tasks like data entry and email follow-ups, taking away from more strategic work. This inefficiency can be especially problematic during periods of high-volume hiring.

Poor new hire experience

A disorganized, error-prone onboarding process can leave new hires feeling frustrated and unsupported. They may have to chase down missing information, wait for access to essential tools, or sit through redundant training. This negative experience can impact engagement and retention right from the start.

Benefits of onboarding automation

Turns out that the solution to these employee onboarding woes is automation. Here are a few of the benefits you can expect when you automate your onboarding process:

1. Saves time and reduces manual tasks

Automating tasks like data collection, account setup, and document routing can save HR teams countless hours. Instead of getting bogged down in paperwork, they can focus on creating a welcoming environment and providing high-touch support to new hires.

2. Enhances new hire experience

With automated onboarding, new hires can hit the ground running. They have access to everything they need from day one, including clear information, necessary tools, and relevant training. This organized, efficient process helps them feel valued and sets them up for long-term success.

3. Ensures consistency and compliance

Automation ensures that every new hire goes through the same comprehensive onboarding process. There's less risk of skipping important steps, like required legal notices or policy acknowledgments. This consistency is especially important for maintaining compliance and reducing legal risk.

4. Speeds up productivity

When new employees have a smooth onboarding experience, they can start contributing faster. Automation eliminates bottlenecks and delays, so new employees spend less time on logistics and more time learning the ropes and connecting with their team.

5. Seamless integration with HR systems

Onboarding automation tools can integrate seamlessly with your existing HR systems, like your applicant tracking system (ATS) and human resource information system (HRIS). This integration allows data to flow smoothly from recruiting to onboarding to payroll, reducing manual data entry and ensuring accuracy.

7 ways to automate your employee onboarding process

Onboarding automation can take many forms, depending on an organization's specific needs and systems. Here are 7 key ways to leverage automation to streamline the employee onboarding experience:

1. Automatically send welcome emails one week before the start date

One week before your new hire's start date, automatically trigger a welcome email that includes:

• A warm greeting and message of excitement
• Key details like start date, time, location, and parking information
• What to expect on the first day
• A reminder to complete any outstanding paperwork

For in-office and hybrid employees, you should share details like WiFi information, parking regulations and locations, and building access protocols. For remote employees, it is important to communicate device access logins and details, training resources, brand guidelines, and org charts.

2. Automatically send a notification when a new hire's device has not yet shipped

Avoid first-day frustration by setting up an automatic alert if a new hire's equipment (like their laptop or phone) hasn't shipped 2-3 days before their start date. This notification can go to IT and/or the hiring manager, prompting them to check the order status and troubleshoot any issues.

3. Create a reminder event to communicate benefits enrollment deadlines

New hires are often overwhelmed with information during their first few days. It's easy for important deadlines, like benefits enrollment, to get lost in the shuffle. Set up an automated reminder that goes directly to the new hire's calendar, nudging them to complete their enrollment before it's too late.

4. When a candidate accepts their offer, send a notification to their soon-to-be teammates

Build excitement and foster a sense of welcome by automatically notifying the new hire's team when they accept their offer. You can send this notification via email or your internal chat tool, encouraging the team to reach out and introduce themselves.

Example message: "Hi team! I'm thrilled to share that [New Hire Name] has accepted the offer to join us as [Job Title]. Their start date is [Start Date], so let's all give them a warm welcome and help them feel at home on the team!"

5. Send a notification when a new hire hasn't received their work authorization

Set up an automatic notification to the HR team and hiring manager if a new hire's authorization is still pending before their start date. This alert allows you to proactively communicate with the new hire and adjust the start date if needed.

6. Automatically assign mandatory training and compliance tasks

As part of your onboarding workflow, automatically assign mandatory training modules to new hires based on their role and location. For example:

• All employees complete a company values and culture training
• Managers complete a training on performance reviews and 1:1s
• Salespeople complete a training on using the CRM

7. Sync new hire data with payroll and IT systems

Integrate your onboarding tool with your payroll and IT systems to automatically sync new hire data, like name, address, Social Security number, and start date. This integration saves you from manually entering data in multiple places and ensures that new hires are properly set up for payroll and have the right system access.

Transform onboarding with Rippling's automated employee onboarding software

We've covered a lot of ground in this guide, from the challenges of manual onboarding to the benefits of onboarding automation to specific ways you can streamline the onboarding process. But what if there was a tool that could do all of this and more?

Enter Rippling. What sets Rippling apart is the Employee Graph, which serves as the single source of truth for all employee data across the platform. With actively-built products like HRIS, device management, and app provisioning layered on top of this unified data, HR and IT can work seamlessly throughout the employee lifecycle.

Here's how Rippling makes onboarding a breeze, both for new hires and administrators:

• Automatically assign new hires the devices they need and ship them directly, all ahead of their start date. Rippling's inventory management system lets you select approved devices from a pre-configured catalog.
• Provision (and deprovision) app access automatically based on role-specific permissions. Using Rippling's app management tool, you can set up rules to automatically give new hires access to the SaaS tools they need, like Slack, G Suite, and Zoom. No more manual account creation and tedious permission-setting.
• Easily add new hires to the right groups, like Slack channels and Google Groups, based on their department and role. Rippling automatically syncs group memberships, so you never have to worry about leaving someone out.
• Integrate with physical access systems, like Brivo, to automatically grant new hires badge access to the right office locations.
• Securely connect new hires to the office Wi-Fi network by automatically installing a certificate on their device and syncing their credentials through Rippling.

With Rippling, you can turn a daunting list of onboarding to-dos into an efficient, automated workflow. New hires have a great first impression, and HR and IT teams can save time while ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of November 4, 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.