Turn the offer into a welcome plan. Coordinate documents, equipment, introductions and check-ins, with clear tasks and owners before a new starter walks through the door.
Product Designer · Your first month, mapped out.
3 days to goInteractive example · Illustrative people and data
From a signed offer to a confident first review, October keeps every task, owner and conversation moving.
Moving her to Pre-Onboarding in the pipeline sends a branded form to her personal email. Address, emergency contact and ID, with no login and no licence until she starts.
Who it’s for
A good first week depends on people outside HR doing their part on time. These teams feel it most.
New starters every Monday, across engineering, sales and support.
“Each start is a thread of Slack messages and somebody always forgets the laptop.”
One template per role builds the plan, with every task dated from the start date and given an owner. HR sees each onboarding in progress, how far along it is and what is overdue.
Frontline starters who fill in paper forms on their first morning.
“Bank details arrive late, so the first pay run is wrong.”
Pre-onboarding sends a branded link to the starter’s personal email. Bank and tax details can wait for phase two, released when the candidate is hired, and land on the record at conversion.
Different paperwork and rules depending on where someone works.
“Our checklist is a master list with half the items crossed out for each country.”
Build templates per country, department or level. With US compliance switched on, an I-9 Section 1 task can be added to the plan automatically.
They find out about new starters on the morning they arrive.
“Give us a week’s notice and the account will be ready.”
Department tasks can fall due before the start date. Owners are reminded before, on the day and when overdue, and late tasks escalate to their manager after three days.
Why first weeks go wrong
TodayStarters bring ID copies and bank details on paper, and HR retypes them into three systems.
With OctoberStarters fill in a secure form before they join. Their answers are encrypted and copied onto the employee record at conversion.
TodayThe checklist is a spreadsheet only HR updates, so nobody else knows what is theirs.
With OctoberEach task has one owner, a due date and, where needed, a prerequisite. Everyone sees their own work.
TodayIT, managers and buddies hear about a start date too late to prepare.
With OctoberTasks are dated from the start date, including preparation before day one, with reminders and escalation built in.
TodayContracts go back and forth as attachments until someone gives up and prints one.
With OctoberWith contracts switched on, a contract is generated from your template and signed inside the onboarding.
Inside onboarding
Collect what you need early, give every task an owner and keep the new starter in the loop.
Pre-onboarding
Send a branded link that asks for exactly what you choose: address, emergency contact, ID, banking and tax details, and your own custom fields. Split it into two phases so sensitive details wait until the job is certain.
The plan
Templates turn into a plan the moment you start an onboarding. Tasks belong to the new hire, their manager, a department such as IT or a named colleague. They can request uploads, collect signatures, send emails and book calendar events.
The new starter
New starters see their own checklist, their welcome meeting and their buddy. Buddies see who they are supporting and the check-ins assigned to them, without access to pay or contract details.
After day one
Lifecycle processes reuse the same tasks, documents and check-ins for maternity or extended leave, promotions and internal moves. Dates hang off the leave start, the return or the effective date, and handovers name the colleagues involved.
Return tasks get dates once HR sets the expected return.
One new starter
An illustrative start at a 120-person software company, hiring through October Recruitment.
Moves Sipho into the Pre-Onboarding column. Phase one of his form goes to his personal email.
Moves him to Hired, which releases phase two for his bank and tax details.
Converts him to an employee from his candidate page, picks the Sales template and assigns Thandi as his buddy. The plan appears with owners and dates.
Reminds IT that account set-up is overdue. The manager’s CRM task stays locked until it is done.
Welcomes Sipho in the meeting already in both calendars. Slack announces him to the company.
Gets a reminder three days before their check-in, has the conversation and marks it complete with a note.
Please join us in welcoming Sipho Ndlovu to the team as Account Executive in Sales.
Ready before they arrive. Settled soon after.
How it works
Create plans per role, department or country. Add tasks with owners, due days, prerequisites and the documents they need.
Set up a pre-onboarding form, choose what goes in each phase and attach it to a job or send it yourself.
Convert the starter, pick the template and assign a buddy. Follow every onboarding from one list.
Care with personal data
Answers are encrypted. After submission the link no longer shows them back, and the pre-onboarding copy is cleared once it is on the record.
A buddy sees the starter’s checklist read-only and their own tasks, not pay, contract or the employee record.
Sensitive steps can be limited to the assignee and HR, and documents are shared only with the tasks allowed to see them.
Lifecycle processes are suggested from leave, promotions or appointments, and start only after someone reviews them.
Where onboarding connects
Pre-onboarding answers become the employee record, with documents, assets and access in one place.
ExploreProbation checkpoint reviews can be scheduled from the start date and assigned to the manager.
ExploreMapped leave types can suggest a maternity or extended-leave process when a request comes in.
ExploreThe same task engine runs the exit plan, with owners and dates relative to the last day.
ExploreExplore the workflows, tools and practical details that support onboarding throughout the working day.
Automated workflows guide new hires through every step: pre-boarding forms, contracts to sign, equipment, introductions and check-ins. Managers see each new starter's task progress on their dashboard, and HR sees every onboarding in flight.
An internal opportunity board, career profiles and skill matching make it easy to promote from within before looking outside. Managers see who on their team is exploring a move and can support the conversation.
Exit plans cover asset recovery, IT access tasks, final pay, knowledge handover and exit interviews. Alumni management maintains the relationship afterwards, tracks career moves and enables boomerang hiring.
Reminders before a task is due, on the day and when overdue, escalating to the owner's manager after three days.
Internal candidates matched to opportunities by skills, interests and goals.
Explore the detail behind onboarding.
Yes. Build templates for each role, department or country and choose one when you start an onboarding. Tasks can belong to the new starter, their manager, a department such as IT, or a named colleague.
Offboarding plans include IT tasks for access revocation and asset recovery. Assigned assets are flagged automatically, and admins are alerted on the last working day if anything is still open.
We’ll walk through the real product with your team and show how it connects to the rest of October People.