6 Best Tools for Onboarding New Employees [+ Free Template]

When it comes to team member and manager relationships, first impressions are everything on both sides of the equation. Of course, a team member proving they’re a great addition to the team is a natural step in the hiring process. But you should also demonstrate that your organization is a good place to work – that can be key to keeping new hires around. 

A good employee onboarding process is an excellent way to check all these boxes. A great onboarding process involves a handful of helpful tools. Below are several valuable tools for onboarding that can help you create a more streamlined experience.

• What is an onboarding strategy?
• 6 best onboarding tools for new employees
• What are the 4 phases of onboarding?
• How do I make an onboarding checklist?
• How to track the onboarding process
• Free onboarding checklist template

What is an onboarding strategy?

An onboarding strategy is a step-by-step process to help new hires adapt to your organization’s culture and practices. It can help new team members smoothly transition into their roles while laying the groundwork to keep them on for the long term. Think of it as your own interview in the hot seat, where you show new hires that your organization can be a home for life.

6 best onboarding tools for new employees

Your organization probably has procedures for new employee orientation, but if they’ve been there a while, it might be time for a change. New tools can improve your onboarding. Below is a list of some great tools for onboarding so you can see all the options. 

• eduMe
• Charlie
• Fellow
• Matter
• Juno
• Quinyx

1eduMe

eduMe is an onboarding software platform for team members who work away from a desk. You can use the program to send training courses to your on-the-go team members, helping new hires adapt to the job more quickly. With its seamless integration into onboarding flows, real-time performance data, and ease of use, eduMe can help you optimize your onboarding experience.

Key features:

• Easily integrates with your existing onboarding software
• Tracks team performance to find weaknesses in your onboarding process
• Offers a simple interface for a top-notch user experience

Price: eduMe pricing is custom and based on your number of users.

2Charlie

Charlie is an HR software platform designed to make employee onboarding as simple as possible. It keeps your onboarding process consistent across all new hires, guiding them through the process while collecting the key starter information you need. Charlie automates your onboarding while keeping you involved, with comprehensive customization features. 

Key features:

• Consistent onboarding experience for all new hires
• Numerous customization options
• Automated onboarding process that collects key new hire information

Price: Charlie offers a 14-day free trial. After that, it costs £4 (approximately $4.64 USD) per team member per month.

3Fellow

Fellow is a professional meeting software that includes several useful tools for your onboarding process. You can use Fellow to collaborate on meeting agendas to plan training meetings with new hires. You can take meeting notes right from your agendas too. Plus, Fellow provides an easy way for new team members to offer peer feedback. That means you can address questions and concerns as they come up – you’ll always be there for your new hires. 

Key features:

• Shareable meeting agendas to stay on track during onboarding
• Note-taking tools to help you keep track of your onboarding
• Real-time peer feedback for an easier new hire transition 

Price: Fellow is free for teams of up to 10 people. From there, paid plans start at $6 per user per month.

4Matter

Matter is a program that gamifies user feedback and encourages employee recognition. You can show that your organization cares about new hires’ contributions with “kudos” templates that help the entire team celebrate each win. With Matter, your team can also set up automated feedback to improve their skills. 

Key features:

• “Kudos” templates to easily celebrate team member wins
• Easy win sharing with the whole team
• Continuous, automatic feedback for improving individual skills 

Price: Matter offers a free 30-day trial. After that, plans start at $9 per month. 

5Juno

Juno is a program that makes it easier to look after your new hires’ well-being – and show that your organization is one to join. As an all-in-one wellness software, Juno can give your team access to hundreds of health benefits they can purchase with “Juno points.” That means no more searching for wellness vendors and worrying about admin costs – you’ll bring benefits directly to your team and let them choose. Plus, you can keep an eye on your team’s overall health with Juno’s analytics.

Key features:

• Give new hires access to over 500 health programs
• Find wellness vendors and streamline your admin spending
• View your team’s physical and mental health at a glance

Price: Juno’s plans start at $3.50 per team member per month. 

6Quinyx

Quinyx is an onboarding program and workforce management software that can help you keep track of your team. Its AI-powered scheduling lets you easily integrate new hires into the normal workflow with few disruptions. Its interface allows for fast communication through targeted content, recognition tools, and quick feedback surveys. Additionally, Quinyx can tailor its onboarding solutions to a bunch of industries – maybe including yours.

Key features:

• AI-optimized scheduling easily integrates new hires
• Quickly send targeted content, recognize your team’s work, and send feedback surveys
• Fine-tune features for your industry.

Price: Quinyx’s Bronze plan has no minimum annual contract fee. Its Silver plan and higher tiers start from at least €10,000 ($10,027.12 USD) per year.

What are the 4 phases of onboarding?

Once you have your tools for onboarding in place, you’re ready to start the onboarding process. The four phases of this process are explained below. 

• Phase 1: Pre-boarding 
• Phase 2: Orientation
• Phase 3: Formal job training
• Phase 4: Set goals

Phase 1: Pre-boarding 

The pre-boarding phase happens right after a new hire agrees to work at your organization. It ends on their first official day on the job. There can be a lot of uncertainty in this part. New hires might be a bit anxious about their first days. Any slip-ups in the onboarding process can lead to more stress. But there are solutions, of course!

You should collect important paperwork from the new hire right away to give them a sense of security. Then, you should help them through the process as much as possible. Early on, give them a bit more time than usual time to turn things in so they can slowly get used to your organization.

Phase 2: Orientation

Orientation is when you officially welcome new hires into the organization and start getting them used to how you operate. Go slow here – most new hires’ knowledge base about your organization is still growing. That makes it important to introduce what they should know about your organization in bite-size pieces. All you need to do is outline your company culture, values, organizational structure, and benefits packages. This way, your new hires start off knowing the essentials.

Phase 3: Formal job training

Most new team members will have at least some knowledge of their role’s typical responsibilities. The training phase is more about teaching them how to apply that know-how within your organization. Without this training, it can take longer for new hires to become more productive and self-sufficient. The more your team can move through tasks on their own, the higher your employee retention and satisfaction will go. Giving your new hires all the tools they need to succeed is often key to a strong workforce.

Phase 4: Set goals

Letting new hires loose without any guidance when their training is complete isn’t the best idea. You don’t have to hold their hands, but setting actionable goals for their first week or two can help them see your expectations. Plus, once they’ve done their work, you can invite them to a one-on-one meeting where you show them what’s gone well and how to improve.

How do I make an onboarding checklist?

The onboarding process often requires a lot of care to do right. There are so many steps (and steps within steps) that it’s easy to lose track of a few. But consistency is key when onboarding new hires so that everyone starts on the same page. One of the best ways to reach that consistency is with an onboarding checklist. This can vary between organizations, but generally, the items you’ll want to list are:

• How new hires are recruited
• The new hire’s role in the organization
• What documents are needed
• An introduction to company culture
• Introducing new hires to their team and manage
• Formal training procedures
• When management will check-in with the new hire

How to track the onboarding process

There’s plenty of onboarding software available that you can use to easily keep track of your onboarding. Many of these platforms streamline the process so much that team members need minimal supervision to get through it. It’s also possible to track the onboarding process manually as you personally help your team members. That’s best for smaller organizations. But there’s one way big and small organizations alike can make the most of the onboarding process: meetings.

Free onboarding checklist template

Onboard with the best for the most success

Onboarding has a lot of moving parts that can become more difficult to track as your organization grows. But it’s important to get it right so that new hires can put their best foot forward – and that’s where Fellow comes in. Fellow is a professional meeting tool you can use to run more organized meetings for new hires and get and give feedback. With collaborative meeting agendas, note-taking tools, and a feedback suite, even your newest team members can feel right at home as soon as possible.