The Ultimate Employee onboarding checklist template: 12 Resources for 2025

Poor onboarding is a costly mistake. According to a 2019 report by Digitate, the cost of losing a new hire within their first year can be one to three times their annual salary. Furthermore, research from Gallup shows that employees who have an exceptional onboarding experience are 2.6 times more likely to be extremely satisfied with their workplace, a key driver for retention. The reality is that a generic, one-size-fits-all checklist fails to address the unique needs of different roles, departments, and seniority levels. It creates a transactional, not a transformational, experience.

This guide moves beyond the generic. We have compiled and analyzed 12 of the most effective and adaptable employee onboarding checklist template resources available. You won't find basic to-do lists here. Instead, we dive into powerful tools ranging from AI-powered 30/60/90-day plan generators to collaborative project management platforms like Asana and ClickUp, and even specialized Notion templates. For those specifically looking to refine their approach for distributed teams, an excellent resource on crafting a tailored remote employee onboarding checklist can provide valuable insights.

Our goal is to help you find the right foundation to build a strategic onboarding process that accelerates productivity, strengthens cultural integration, and significantly improves retention rates. Each resource below includes screenshots, direct links, and a practical analysis of its best use cases, helping you save time and create an onboarding experience that sets your new hires up for long-term success from day one.

1. 30/60/90-Day Onboarding Plan Generator: AI-Powered Integration Roadmaps

For organizations seeking to move beyond generic, one-size-fits-all onboarding, MyCulture.ai's AI-powered generator is a standout solution. Instead of offering a static document, this tool creates dynamic, role-specific 30/60/90-day plans tailored to a new hire's job title and seniority level. This level of customization ensures that the onboarding experience is immediately relevant, providing new hires and their managers with a clear, time-bound roadmap for success from day one.

The generator translates a simple input, like "Senior Software Engineer," into a comprehensive, phased employee onboarding checklist template. The output includes specific milestones, actionable tasks, and scheduled check-ins, which significantly reduces the administrative burden on managers and standardizes the quality of onboarding across the entire organization.

Key Strengths and Use Cases

What truly sets this tool apart is its integration with MyCulture.ai’s science-backed culture and behavior frameworks. The generated plans aren't just tactical; they are strategically designed to reinforce company values and expected behaviors, aligning a new hire’s integration with the organization’s core identity. This approach supports not just skills ramp-up but long-term cultural fit and retention.

• Role-Specific Roadmaps: The AI tailors tasks and goals, ensuring a junior marketer's first 90 days looks distinctly different from a VP of Sales's integration plan.
• Manager Enablement: It provides managers with a ready-to-use playbook, reducing guesswork and saving valuable time during a critical period for team integration.
• Standardization at Scale: For growing companies, it ensures every new hire receives a consistent, high-quality onboarding experience, regardless of their team or manager.

Practical Considerations

The AI-generated output is robust and ready for immediate implementation, though it's wise to review and manually adjust the plan to include company-specific tools, internal processes, or unique team norms. While the core generator is accessible, advanced features like full ATS integration and enhanced customization are part of the broader MyCulture.ai paid platform.

Website: https://www.myculture.ai/30-60-90-day-plan-generator

2. Asana

Asana elevates the static checklist into a dynamic, collaborative project management tool. Its primary strength lies in transforming your onboarding process into a living, trackable project. Instead of a simple document, you get an interactive board where tasks can be assigned to specific team members, like HR managers, IT staff, and hiring managers, complete with deadlines and automated reminders. This approach is ideal for teams already using or considering a project management system to streamline workflows.

The platform offers pre-built employee onboarding checklist templates that are fully customizable. You can easily add, remove, or modify tasks to fit your specific company needs, role requirements, and even integrate cultural touchpoints. For instance, you could add a task for the new hire's manager to schedule a culture-fit check-in during the first week, a crucial step in ensuring long-term alignment. By centralizing all onboarding activities, Asana provides unparalleled visibility into the entire process, ensuring no critical step is missed.

Key Features and Implementation

• Task Assignment and Dependencies: Assign tasks to different stakeholders and set dependencies, ensuring one task cannot start until a prerequisite is completed (e.g., IT cannot set up a laptop until HR confirms the hire).
• Centralized Communication: Keep all onboarding-related conversations, files, and updates within the specific task, eliminating scattered emails and messages.
• Template Customization: Start with Asana's template and tailor it to your needs. Create separate templates for different roles, such as developers versus sales representatives.

Our Take: Asana is the best choice for organizations that want to actively manage their onboarding process rather than just track it. Its collaborative features are excellent for keeping cross-functional teams aligned. However, the requirement for everyone involved to have an Asana account can be a minor hurdle for some companies.

Best for: Teams needing a collaborative, actionable, and transparent employee onboarding checklist template with clear accountability.

Access it here: Asana New Hire Checklist Template

3. ClickUp

ClickUp positions itself as the all-in-one productivity platform, and its approach to onboarding templates reflects this ambition. It scales from a simple checklist to a deeply complex workflow management system, making it suitable for companies of any size. Its key differentiator is the extreme level of customization available. You can go beyond a standard checklist and build a comprehensive onboarding hub with custom fields for employee details, different views like Gantt charts or calendars, and powerful automations to move the process along without manual intervention.

The platform offers several free templates, including a dedicated Employee Onboarding list that can be imported directly into your workspace. This template comes pre-populated with standard tasks for pre-boarding, the first day, and the first week. You can then use ClickUp's powerful features to tailor it perfectly. For instance, you could create a custom automation rule that automatically assigns a "Schedule a 30-day culture check-in" task to the hiring manager as soon as the new hire's status is moved to "First Week Complete." This level of process automation ensures consistency and reduces the administrative burden on your HR and management teams.

Key Features and Implementation

• Ultimate Customization: Modify everything from task statuses and custom fields (e.g., "T-Shirt Size," "Laptop Model") to project views, allowing you to see onboarding progress as a list, board, or calendar.
• Powerful Automations: Set up rules to automate repetitive actions, such as assigning tasks to IT when a new hire is added or sending notification emails at key milestones.
• Integrated Dashboards: Create high-level dashboards to track the onboarding progress of multiple new hires at once, providing a clear overview for leadership.

Our Take: ClickUp is the ultimate choice for teams that want total control over their employee onboarding checklist template. Its scalability is its greatest strength, but this can also be its weakness; the sheer number of features can feel overwhelming for small teams looking for a simple plug-and-play solution.

Best for: Organizations that need a highly customizable, scalable, and automation-driven solution to manage complex onboarding workflows.

Access it here: ClickUp Employee Onboarding Template

4. Smartsheet

Smartsheet offers a powerful, spreadsheet-centric approach to managing the new hire journey. It excels at centralizing documents, due dates, and task statuses within a familiar grid-style interface, making it perfect for teams comfortable with Excel but in need of more dynamic project management capabilities. The platform transforms a static list into an automated, reportable system where every step of the onboarding process can be tracked with precision. This is particularly useful for organizations that require strong governance and clear documentation trails.

The primary employee onboarding checklist template available in Smartsheet's Marketplace is designed for immediate use and extensive customization. You can connect it with other templates, such as their remote employee onboarding set, to create a comprehensive system tailored to your specific context. By leveraging Smartsheet’s automation, you can set up alerts for overdue tasks or trigger follow-up actions once a document is marked as received, ensuring a smooth and accountable process from pre-start paperwork to the 90-day review.

Key Features and Implementation

• Automated Workflows: Create rules to automatically request updates, notify stakeholders of changes, and move tasks through different stages based on status updates.
• Centralized Dashboards: Build real-time dashboards that pull data from your onboarding sheet, giving HR and leadership a high-level view of new hire progress without digging into the details.
• Template Sets: Utilize related templates for both new employee and remote onboarding, ensuring consistency whether your new hire is in-office or distributed.

Our Take: Smartsheet is the ideal solution for organizations that live and breathe spreadsheets but need project management power. Its robust reporting and automation features provide enterprise-level control. However, its true value is unlocked within the Smartsheet ecosystem, making it less practical for teams not already committed to the platform. A paid subscription is required to use the template beyond the trial period.

Best for: Companies seeking a highly structured, spreadsheet-style employee onboarding checklist template with powerful automation and reporting capabilities.

Access it here: Smartsheet New Hire Onboarding Checklist

5. Microsoft SharePoint Look Book

For organizations deeply embedded in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, the SharePoint Look Book offers a powerful way to transform a simple checklist into a comprehensive new employee onboarding hub. Instead of a standalone document, this template provisions a full SharePoint communication site dedicated to onboarding. It provides a centralized, company-branded portal where new hires can access documents, meet the team, view welcome videos, and track their progress through a built-in checklist.

This approach centralizes all onboarding resources, moving beyond a simple task list to create an immersive experience. The template includes pre-built pages for company culture, leadership bios, and departmental information, which can be fully customized. The employee onboarding checklist template is a SharePoint list, allowing for easy updates and assignments. Integrating it with other Microsoft tools like Teams, Planner, and Stream for video content makes the entire process seamless for users already familiar with the environment.

Key Features and Implementation

• Integrated Onboarding Portal: Create a one-stop shop for all new hire resources, from policy documents to team directories and training materials.
• Customizable Site Pages: Adapt the pre-built site to reflect your company's branding, values, and specific onboarding journey. For a deeper understanding of what is possible, you can explore this SharePoint platform overview.
• Microsoft 365 Integration: Natively connects with the entire Microsoft suite, enabling automated workflows with Power Automate or task management via Planner.

Our Take: SharePoint is the ultimate choice for companies committed to the Microsoft stack that want to build a rich, content-driven onboarding experience rather than just a checklist. Its main drawback is the implementation complexity; it requires SharePoint admin support to deploy and customize, making it less agile than simpler tools.

Best for: Microsoft 365-powered organizations wanting a centralized, scalable, and integrated company-wide onboarding portal.

Access it here: Microsoft SharePoint New Employee Onboarding Template

6. Notion Template Marketplace (Grizzly Templates)

For teams that live and breathe within Notion, Grizzly Templates provides an incredibly flexible and zero-cost solution. Instead of a dedicated software platform, this is a fully-built employee onboarding checklist template that you can duplicate directly into your own Notion workspace. This approach leverages Notion’s unique blend of documents, databases, and customizable pages to create a centralized onboarding hub that feels native to your existing workflows. It’s ideal for companies that prioritize adaptability and already use Notion for knowledge management or project tracking.

The template serves as a powerful starting point, designed to track essential tasks, documents, and key milestones within a clean database view. Because it’s a native Notion product, customization is its greatest strength. You can easily add properties to track role-specific requirements, link to internal company wikis, or embed Loom videos for training. For example, you could add a "Culture Check" property and link it directly to your MyCulture.ai assessment results for that new hire, keeping everything interconnected without ever leaving the Notion ecosystem.

Key Features and Implementation

• Instant Duplication: The template can be copied into your personal or team Notion workspace with a single click, making setup nearly instantaneous.
• Highly Customizable: Modify database properties, page layouts, and content to create distinct onboarding checklists for different departments like engineering, marketing, or sales.
• Centralized Documentation: Embed or link to all necessary documents, such as employee handbooks, IT policies, and team introductions, directly within the checklist.

Our Take: This is the perfect option for startups and tech-savvy teams already invested in the Notion platform. Its free price point and limitless customization are huge advantages. However, it lacks the sophisticated automation, integrations, and user-specific permissions found in dedicated HR or project management software.

Best for: Organizations that use Notion as their central "source of truth" and need a free, highly adaptable onboarding solution.

Access it here: Notion Employee Onboarding Checklist by Grizzly Templates

7. Workable

Workable is best known as an applicant tracking system (ATS), but it extends its functionality into the post-hire phase with a robust library of downloadable onboarding checklists. Its unique proposition is integrating the hiring and onboarding processes, creating a seamless transition from candidate to new employee. This is ideal for HR teams looking to consolidate their tech stack and maintain a single source of truth for all employee information, from the initial application to their first 90 days.

While the platform offers a variety of free, downloadable employee onboarding checklist templates, its true power is unlocked with its HR package. This premium feature transforms static documents into dynamic, in-product workflows. You can automate task assignments, schedule welcome emails, and centralize all necessary data collection directly within the Workable ecosystem. This eliminates the need for context switching between your ATS and a separate onboarding tool, ensuring data consistency and a smoother operational flow for your HR and IT teams.

Key Features and Implementation

• Integrated ATS and Onboarding: Employee data flows directly from the candidate profile into the onboarding workflow, reducing manual data entry and potential errors.
• Template Library: Access a collection of ready-to-use, downloadable checklists that can be used as a starting point, even without subscribing to the full HR product.
• Automated Workflows: With the paid HR module, you can schedule tasks, trigger email sequences, and manage documentation centrally, automating many administrative burdens.

Our Take: Workable provides a powerful all-in-one solution for companies that want to bridge the gap between recruitment and onboarding. The free templates are a great resource on their own, but the real value lies in the integrated system. The main drawback is that the most powerful workflow features are locked behind a premium HR package with non-transparent pricing.

Best for: Companies already using or considering Workable as their ATS and seeking a unified platform for both hiring and onboarding.

Access it here: Workable Onboarding Checklists & Templates

8. TeamSense

TeamSense provides a no-frills, highly practical solution for businesses seeking a solid foundation for their onboarding process without committing to new software. Their free Excel new-hire onboarding checklist is designed for simplicity and immediate use. It’s an ideal starting point for small to mid-sized teams that prefer the familiarity and universal accessibility of a spreadsheet, which can also be easily imported into Google Sheets for cloud-based collaboration.

The template's key advantage is its clear, department-specific organization. It breaks down tasks for HR, IT, Security, and the hiring manager, ensuring every stakeholder understands their responsibilities from day one. This structure helps prevent the common issue of overlapping duties or missed steps during a manual onboarding process. While it lacks the automation of more complex project management tools, its straightforward layout makes it an excellent, low-barrier employee onboarding checklist template.

Key Features and Implementation

• Department-Specific Sections: Clearly organized tabs or sections for HR, IT, Security, and manager tasks help assign and track responsibilities across different teams.
• Simple Progress Tracking: Includes fields for status updates and notes, allowing for manual but effective progress monitoring.
• High Accessibility: As a standard Excel file, the template is universally accessible and requires no special training or software licenses to use.

Our Take: TeamSense offers a fantastic, back-to-basics tool that is perfect for organizations formalizing their onboarding procedures. It's a pragmatic choice for those not yet ready for a dedicated HRIS or project management platform. The primary limitation is its manual nature; it relies on individuals to update the sheet, which can be prone to human error.

Best for: Small to mid-sized companies that need a free, straightforward, and immediately usable onboarding checklist without software adoption hurdles.

Access it here: TeamSense New Hire Onboarding Checklist Excel

9. Valamis

Valamis offers a downloadable employee onboarding checklist template pack designed for teams that prioritize Learning and Development (L&D) and prefer tangible, offline resources. Instead of a software platform, Valamis provides a suite of practical documents, including multiple Excel and PDF layouts. This approach is perfect for organizations that need printable checklists for physical new-hire packets or prefer the flexibility and familiarity of spreadsheet-based tracking without committing to a new software tool.

The key differentiator is the inclusion of companion guidance and specialized checklists, such as one dedicated to crafting the perfect welcome email. This educational component helps HR professionals not just execute tasks but also understand the strategy behind effective onboarding. The templates come in different formats, such as a version for a single new hire and another designed to track multiple employees simultaneously, offering a level of versatility not always found in simple downloadable files. This makes it a great starting point for building a structured process from the ground up.

Key Features and Implementation

• Multiple Formats: Downloadable pack includes single-employee checklists, multi-employee tracking sheets in Excel, and print-ready PDF versions for maximum flexibility.
• Companion Resources: The pack contains a dedicated checklist for writing welcome emails and other guidance to improve the overall onboarding experience.
• Manual Management: As a static file, it integrates into any existing workflow. Simply download, customize in Excel, and share via email or your company's shared drive.

Our Take: Valamis is an excellent resource for teams wanting a comprehensive, no-cost starting point without the learning curve of a new platform. The L&D focus provides valuable context. However, its static nature means all updates and tracking are manual, and it lacks the real-time collaboration of project management tools.

Best for: HR managers and L&D specialists who need a flexible, printable employee onboarding checklist template and appreciate supplementary educational content.

Access it here: Valamis Onboarding Checklist Template

10. Softr

Softr bridges the gap between a static spreadsheet and a full-fledged HR system by empowering you to build a lightweight, web-based onboarding portal from a Google Sheet. Its core strength is turning your familiar spreadsheet data into an interactive app with role-based access, Kanban boards, and resource libraries. This is an ideal solution for companies that want to graduate from basic documents to a more engaging, portal-like experience without investing in custom development or a costly HRIS platform.

The platform provides a ready-to-use employee onboarding checklist template that you connect to your Google Sheets data. You can create a centralized hub where new hires can track their tasks, access important documents like the employee handbook, and view a team directory. For managers, it provides a clear overview of each new hire's progress. This no-code approach allows for quick deployment and easy updates directly from the source spreadsheet, making it highly accessible for non-technical HR teams.

Key Features and Implementation

• Google Sheets Integration: Use a Google Sheet as your backend database, making content and task updates simple and familiar for anyone who uses spreadsheets.
• Role-Based Permissions: Customize what different users can see and do. For example, a new hire sees only their tasks, while an HR admin has a global view of all onboarding employees.
• Interactive Components: Build a portal with Kanban boards for task management, a resource library for documents, and a team directory with photos and contact info.

Our Take: Softr is the perfect choice for teams wanting the functionality of a custom onboarding portal without the development overhead. It effectively turns a simple employee onboarding checklist template into an interactive application. The main consideration is that it introduces another tool into your stack, and unlocking more advanced portal features requires a paid Softr subscription.

Best for: Small to mid-sized businesses that use Google Workspace and want a customizable, app-like onboarding experience without coding.

Access it here: Softr Employee Onboarding Template

11. Template.net

Template.net offers a straightforward, no-frills approach to onboarding documentation. Its core strength is providing a vast library of downloadable and editable employee onboarding checklist templates in familiar formats like Microsoft Word, Excel, and Google Sheets. This makes it an excellent resource for teams that prefer to manage their processes using traditional office software rather than adopting a new project management platform. The focus is on providing a solid, printable document that can be easily customized with company branding and specific procedural steps.

The platform is ideal for organizations looking for a quick, budget-friendly solution to formalize their onboarding process. You can select a design, download it, and start editing immediately. This simplicity allows HR managers to quickly create and distribute checklists to hiring managers and new employees without any learning curve. For those looking to build a more comprehensive process around a static document, you can learn more about how to structure a complete onboarding program template.

Key Features and Implementation

• Multiple File Formats: Templates are available for download in Word, Excel, Google Docs, and Google Sheets, catering to different company preferences.
• Editable and Printable: All templates are designed to be easily modified with your company logo, colors, and specific tasks before being printed or shared digitally.
• Large Template Library: Beyond onboarding, the site offers a wide array of business document templates, making it a versatile resource.

Our Take: Template.net is the go-to for organizations that need a functional, file-based checklist without the complexity of a software platform. While it lacks the collaborative and automated features of project management tools, its value lies in speed and simplicity. Be aware that some of the higher-quality templates may require a Pro subscription.

Best for: Small to mid-sized businesses or teams that need a simple, downloadable, and easily brandable employee onboarding checklist template.

Access it here: Template.net Onboarding Checklist

12. Etsy

Etsy provides a marketplace for creative entrepreneurs to sell their custom-designed digital templates, offering a unique alternative to corporate software. Its strength is the sheer variety of styles and formats available for a one-time purchase. Instead of a standardized system, you can find an aesthetically pleasing or highly specific employee onboarding checklist template in formats like Notion, Google Sheets, Excel, or Microsoft Word. This approach is perfect for small businesses or teams wanting an affordable, visually appealing document they can own and modify without a subscription.

The platform allows you to browse countless designs from different sellers, each with their own take on what makes a great onboarding experience. You can find minimalist designs, vibrant and colorful layouts, or highly detailed, niche-specific checklists. For instance, you could find a template tailored for creative agencies or remote-first startups. Reading seller reviews is a crucial step in vetting the quality and comprehensiveness of a template before purchasing, ensuring it aligns with new employee onboarding best practices.

Key Features and Implementation

• Diverse Formats: Purchase and instantly download templates for the tools your team already uses, including Google Sheets, Notion, Excel, and more.
• Seller Ratings and Reviews: Evaluate the quality and user satisfaction of a template by reading feedback from other buyers before committing.
• Instant Digital Delivery: Gain immediate access to your purchased files, allowing you to copy the template and begin customizing it right away.

Our Take: Etsy is the best source for finding a low-cost, visually customized onboarding checklist that feels more personal than a standard corporate template. The primary risk is the variability in quality, as templates are unregulated. However, for a small investment, you can find a unique and effective tool that fits your company's brand and workflow perfectly.

Best for: Small businesses, startups, and teams looking for an affordable, one-time purchase of a stylish and easily editable template.

Access it here: Etsy Onboarding Checklist Templates

Top 12 Employee Onboarding Checklist Template Comparison

From Checklist to Competitive Advantage: Your Next Steps

We've explored a comprehensive landscape of tools, from dedicated HR platforms like Workable to versatile project management powerhouses like Asana and ClickUp. We've seen how a simple spreadsheet in Smartsheet or a sophisticated portal in Microsoft SharePoint can serve as the backbone of your onboarding program. We've even delved into niche marketplaces like Notion and Etsy for highly customizable, aesthetic solutions.

The central takeaway is clear: a modern employee onboarding checklist template is far more than an administrative to-do list. It's a strategic framework for accelerating productivity, embedding company culture, and boosting long-term retention. As research consistently shows, organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70% (Brandon Hall Group, 2015). The templates and tools discussed are your launchpad for achieving these results.

Synthesizing Your Onboarding Strategy

Moving forward, your goal should be to evolve from a static, one-size-fits-all checklist to a dynamic, personalized journey for every new hire. The most effective onboarding programs are not just about completing paperwork and setting up IT access; they are about connection, clarification, and building confidence.

Think back to the templates we reviewed. A tool like Asana or ClickUp excels at creating transparent, task-driven timelines with clear ownership. A platform like Notion or Softr allows you to build a rich, interactive "new hire hub" that serves as a single source of truth for company information. The key is to select a tool that aligns with your company's existing tech stack, budget, and desired level of customization.

Your Actionable Path Forward

To turn these insights into action, avoid analysis paralysis. Instead, follow a structured approach to implementation:

1. Revisit Your "Why": Before selecting a tool, redefine your onboarding objectives. Are you trying to reduce time-to-productivity, improve first-year retention rates, or better integrate new hires into your specific company culture? Your primary goal will dictate your choice. A startup focused on rapid integration might favor a flexible Notion template, while a larger organization prioritizing compliance might lean towards a structured solution like SharePoint.

2. Start Small, Then Scale: Choose one or two promising options from our list and run a small pilot program. For instance, you could use the MyCulture.ai 30/60/90-Day Plan Generator for an incoming engineering hire while simultaneously testing a ClickUp template for a new marketing team member. This allows you to gather real-world feedback without overhauling your entire process at once.

3. Integrate, Don't Isolate: Remember that your onboarding checklist is one piece of a larger ecosystem. Consider how your chosen template will integrate with other systems. Does it connect with your ATS? Can it pull information from your HRIS? Seamless integration reduces administrative burden and creates a smoother experience for everyone involved.

4. Measure and Iterate: Your first implementation won't be perfect. Establish clear milestones and KPIs from the outset. Use pulse surveys, 30/60/90-day check-ins, and performance metrics to gauge success. Use this data to continually refine and improve your employee onboarding checklist template.

Ultimately, the right template transforms onboarding from a procedural hurdle into a foundational element of your talent strategy. It's your first and best opportunity to prove that you are invested in your new hire's success. By choosing a tool that supports personalization, clear communication, and cultural immersion, you are not just checking boxes; you are building a competitive advantage, one successful new employee at a time.

Ready to build a truly strategic onboarding plan that scales? Start with MyCulture.ai's 30/60/90-Day Onboarding Plan Generator to create customized, role-specific roadmaps that embed your company culture from day one. Move beyond generic checklists and design an experience that drives retention and performance by visiting MyCulture.ai.