A new employee’s first day says a lot about your company. When the laptop is ready, the accounts work and someone has explained the basics, they start contributing right away. When nothing is set up, they spend days waiting, and IT shortcuts made in a hurry often become security problems later.
Use this checklist to make IT onboarding consistent, whether you hire one person a year or one a week.
Before the first day
- Confirm the start date, role, department and manager.
- Decide which systems and shared folders the person needs, based on their role.
- Prepare a laptop or desktop: latest updates, antivirus or endpoint protection, encryption turned on, standard software installed.
- Create their email and Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace account, and add them to the right groups and distribution lists.
- Set up access to business applications: accounting, CRM, practice management or line-of-business software.
- Order a phone, headset, monitor or other equipment if needed.
- Set up their phone extension or softphone.
On day one
- Have them set a strong password or passphrase and register multi-factor authentication.
- Show them how to reach IT support and what information to include in a request.
- Connect to Wi-Fi, printers and the VPN if they work remotely.
- Walk through where files should be saved so they are backed up.
- Review your acceptable use, password and remote work policies, and have them sign off.
In the first week
- Short security awareness training: phishing, suspicious links and how to report them.
- Confirm all applications work and permissions are correct.
- Add the device to your inventory and monitoring.
Don’t forget offboarding
When someone leaves, the order matters. On their last day:
- Disable their accounts and sign them out of all sessions.
- Remove multi-factor authentication devices and change any shared passwords they knew.
- Forward or delegate their mailbox and transfer important files to their manager.
- Collect laptops, phones, keys and access cards, then wipe and reassign devices.
- Remove them from vendor portals, building access and other third-party systems.
Old accounts that stay active are one of the most common security gaps in small businesses. Our Microsoft 365 security settings guide covers more ways to lock things down.
Make it repeatable
Turn this checklist into a standard request: HR or the manager submits the new hire’s details a week ahead, and IT completes each step and confirms. With managed IT services, HuPrin Systems handles onboarding and offboarding for you, and our 24/7 help desk supports new employees from their first login. If you are bringing on a new IT provider rather than a new employee, see our client onboarding process.
Talk to HuPrin Systems
Want onboarding and offboarding handled for you, every time? Book a free consultation or call +1 (888) 576-8234. We answer in English and French.
