Optimize the onboarding process: How HR can better organize documents and workflows

The first day at a new company is much more than a formal introduction. It shapes the first impression and influences how quickly new employees find their bearings and settle into their new working environment. One important requirement for a successful start is often underestimated: ensuring that all relevant documents are provided completely and on time.

Especially in HR onboarding, even minor organizational issues can have a significant impact. If the latest version of the employment contract is missing, important information is unavailable or documents have to be requested multiple times, frustration can quickly arise. What may seem like a minor organizational issue to HR can make new employees wonder: How well prepared is my new employer for my arrival?

Companies looking to optimize their onboarding process should therefore start well before the employee’s first day. What matters is how documents, information, responsibilities and reliable workflows work together.

What does an onboarding process look like?

A structured onboarding process begins before the employee’s first day and supports new employees throughout their first weeks and months. In general, the process can be divided into three phases:

1. Preboarding:

Between signing the employment contract and the first day, documents are prepared, information is provided, work equipment is organized and points of contact are defined.

2. First day:

Work equipment, system access, information and points of contact should be available. In addition to handling organizational tasks, the focus is on helping employees find their way around their new working environment.

3. Training and integration:

Over the following weeks, the focus shifts to role-specific training, learning and development, feedback and social integration into the team.

For HR, the challenge is to reliably coordinate information, documents and tasks across all three phases.

Why is a good onboarding process important?

Starting a new job means getting to know new tasks, people and processes. During this phase, it is not only professional training that matters, but also the employee’s experience of how organized and reliable their new employer is.
The importance of onboarding for employee retention has also been examined in academic research. A 2025 study by Pilar Mosquera and Maria Eduarda Soares, published in the Review of Managerial Science, shows a positive effect of onboarding on employee well-being and organizational identification. Workplace well-being also mediates the relationship between onboarding and turnover intention.
If important documents are missing, system access does not work or information has to be pieced together from different sources, however, the onboarding experience can become unnecessarily difficult.

Why documents can quickly become a problem during onboarding

DokumeDocuments are often regarded as a purely administrative aspect of onboarding. In reality, however, they provide the foundation for numerous HR processes and help new employees find their bearings.

Depending on the company and employment relationship, relevant documents may include:

• employment contracts and supplementary agreements
• data protection information
• internal policies
• proof of qualifications and employment
• training materials
• organizational information

A digital personnel file typically contains various types of employee-related information and documents, including employment contracts, supplementary agreements and proof of qualifications.

Problems arise particularly when information is spread across different systems, email inboxes or other storage locations. Typical consequences include:

• Documents have to be submitted multiple times.
• Information cannot be found quickly.
• Responsibilities are unclear.
• Documents are missing when the employee starts.
• Tasks are not tracked transparently.

What creates additional administrative work for HR can quickly leave new employees with the impression of a poorly organized start.

How to optimize the onboarding process: Four measures for HR

Companies looking to optimize their onboarding process should consider the entire journey rather than individual tasks.

1. Provide documents on time

Where possible, new employees should receive all the information they need at that stage before their first day.

HR should clarify in advance:

• Which documents are required?
• Which documents do new employees need to submit?
• Which information does the company need to provide?
• Who checks that everything is complete?

This requires documents to be available in a structured way rather than having to be gathered from different inboxes, network drives or systems.

Employment contracts and other documents can already be provided during preboarding and, where necessary, completed using electronic signatures.

2. Clearly define responsibilities

HR, specialist departments, managers and IT are often jointly involved in onboarding. A transparent process should therefore clearly define who needs to complete which task and by when.

Digital workflows can structure recurring processes, involve relevant stakeholders and make individual processing steps transparent

3. Avoid information gaps

New employees need more than documents. They also need information about their tasks, points of contact and work processes.

A central source of information helps ensure that this information is reliably available. A digital personnel file consolidates employee-related documents and information in a structured way, eliminating the need to search across different storage locations for the documents employees or HR teams need.

4. Review the onboarding process regularly

Regelmäßiges Feedback neuer Mitarbeitender hilft dabei, Schwachstellen im Regular feedback from new employees can help identify weaknesses in the process:

• Which information arrived too late?
• Which documents were missing?
• Where were responsibilities unclear?
• Which tasks resulted in unnecessary waiting times?

This feedback can be used to derive specific measures for continuous improvement.

How does a digital personnel file support onboarding?

Many onboarding problems arise because information and documents are distributed across different systems and storage locations. A digital personnel file creates a central source for employee-related documents. Authorized users can access the documents they need in a structured way instead of gathering them from multiple storage locations. Employment contracts, supplementary agreements and proof of qualifications can all be managed centrally.

Combined with HR workflows, recurring tasks can also be structured and responsibilities made more transparent. Employee self-services can further involve employees by allowing them to access their HR documents or submit required information themselves.

This creates a key advantage during onboarding: HR can establish reliable processes in the background while new employees focus on getting started in their new role.

Technology is not a substitute for good onboarding. However, it can help reduce the time spent searching for documents, following up on requests and handling routine administrative tasks – leaving more time for personal support.

Why employee retention starts with onboarding

Many companies invest significant resources in recruiting and employer branding. This makes it all the more important to ensure that a positive candidate experience does not end once the employment contract has been signed.

Employees who feel well supported from the outset, receive the guidance they need and experience reliable processes gain an early impression of how the company treats its employees.

The Gallup Engagement Index Germany 2025 highlights the broader importance of employee retention: only 10 percent of employees in Germany report a high level of emotional attachment to their employer.

Academic research also shows links between onboarding, employee well-being, organizational identification and turnover intention.

Of course, employee retention is not created by a successful first day alone. However, onboarding is one of the first processes in which employees directly experience how organized, reliable and employee-focused their new employer is.

Conclusion: Make onboarding structured, not improvised

A missing document may seem like a minor issue at first. But when missing information, unclear responsibilities and manual coordination start to add up, they create friction for both new employees and HR.

Companies looking to optimize their onboarding process should therefore consider the entire journey – from preboarding and the first day through to training and integration. Documents need to be available at the right time, responsibilities must be clearly defined and recurring tasks need to be organized reliably.

A digital personnel file and HR workflows can provide an important organizational foundation. Documents are centrally available, recurring tasks can be structured and responsibilities can be made more transparent.

This gives HR more time for the part of onboarding that cannot be automated: providing personal support, guidance and a positive start in the new team.