Free onboarding template
An employee onboarding checklist with a 30-60-90 plan.
A free Google Sheet that gives every new hire in a role the same path: what’s ready before day one, what they learn in the first 30 days, what they do with support by day 60 and what they own by day 90. Every item has an owner, and every stage ends with a check.
What should an employee onboarding checklist include?
An onboarding checklist should cover what’s ready before day one, the tasks a new hire learns first, the work they do with support and what they own by the end, with an owner for every item. According to KPI’s training team, the part most checklists skip is the check: proof the person can do the job, not just that they showed up.
What’s inside.
A Google Sheet. Make a copy for each new hire, or download it as an Excel file. No email needed.
How to use
Six steps to turn the example into a plan for your role, plus what each stage is for.
30-60-90 plan
Week-by-week tasks from before day one to day 90, each with a type, an owner, a link to its SOP, a due date and a status.
Knowledge checks
Real tasks the new hire does at days 30, 60 and 90, with what passing looks like. Not a quiz.
Sign-off
A 90-day record of what the person can now do on their own, initialed by their manager.
What is a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan?
Three stages that move a new hire from learning to owning the work.
BEFORE DAY ONE
Ready when they arrive
Accounts, equipment, a buddy and the first week booked, so day one isn’t spent waiting for logins.
DAYS 1-30
Learn
How the business works, the tools and the core tasks, done alongside someone who knows them.
DAYS 31-60
Do with support
The new hire does the core tasks, with work reviewed before it goes out, and learns the common exceptions.
DAYS 61-90
Own it
The full workload with spot checks only, an exception handled end to end and a signed-off record of what they can do.
Questions
Questions.
What are the stages of employee onboarding?
Models split it differently, but a practical version has five: preparing before day one, orientation in the first week, learning the core tasks, doing them with support and working on their own. This checklist follows that path, with a check at the end of each stage.
How long should onboarding take?
For most roles, about 90 days until someone works on their own, which is why the template uses a 30-60-90 plan. Simple roles can move faster. Roles with a lot of judgment or exceptions often take longer, so stretch the stages rather than skip them.
Who owns onboarding, HR or the manager?
Both, for different parts. HR or the office usually owns paperwork, accounts and equipment. The manager owns what the person learns and when they’re ready. A buddy who isn’t their manager makes the day-to-day easier.
Do we need SOPs to use this checklist?
They help a lot. Each task in the plan should link to the SOP that explains it, and where there isn’t one, that is usually the first gap the checklist exposes. Our free SOP template is a good place to start.
Want it built for your team?
We turn your processes into onboarding that sticks.
Our Training Programs work builds onboarding and role-based training from your documented processes, in the platform your team already uses. KPI is Trainual Certified.
What keeps going wrong?
Tell us about the process or task that needs fixing. We’ll tell you honestly whether it’s a project, and roughly what it would take.
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