New Hire Orientation, Hour by Hour

Use it for every new hire in a shift role, and fill it out before they arrive. Without an agenda, the first shift turns into paperwork, a quick tour and a long stretch of standing around while everyone is busy. That is the shift a new person describes at home that night. The agenda makes sure someone expects them and that they leave having done something real. OPM's orientation checklist for federal agencies puts this work before arrival too: forms completed ahead of time, a sponsor or buddy named, and a new hire told what happens on day one.

Plan the shift in blocks rather than minutes, starting from the ones listed below, and put a name next to every block. Give the middle of the shift to a single real task, practiced with the person who will be their go-to. End with time to ask what was confusing. Use the blank template below, one row per block of the shift, then compare it with the filled example. A fictional independent movie theater filled in the sample row for a new concessions hire.

• Before the shift: paperwork prepared, logins set up and a time booked to sign the forms
• Start of the shift: welcome, tour and the go-to person
• Middle of the shift: one real task, shown first, then practiced with the job aid
• End of the shift: questions, a short check and what tomorrow looks like

Download the blank template: CSV · Markdown (.md) · Word (.docx)

A good agenda has no empty stretch and no block without a name. If paperwork crowds out the welcome or the real task, prepare the documents in advance and schedule a set time to complete them. If the real task is still unclear at the end of the day, fix the job aid before you judge the new hire. A SHRM Foundation guide on onboarding names four building blocks: compliance, clarification, culture and connection, with compliance as the lowest level. An agenda that is mostly paperwork never gets past that first block.

Creation Studio drafts a short lesson and a job aid for the middle block's task from your procedures in Company Knowledge. A manager approves both before the first day, and the new hire opens them on a phone in the Web workspace. Reminders to a new hire who has not opened the lesson are planned, not available today; today the manager sees in the workspace whether it is completed. The welcome, the go-to person and the decision about when the new hire works alone stay with your team. For the weeks after day one, move on to a 30/60/90-day plan.

Public sources, checked on the date shown.

• A SHRM Foundation onboarding guide names four building blocks, compliance, clarification, culture and connection, and calls compliance the lowest level. Source: https://www.shrm.org/content/dam/en/shrm/topics-tools/news/talent-acquisition/Onboarding-New-Employees.pdf (checked 2026-10-02).
• OPM's orientation roadmap says forms should be completed before arrival, a sponsor or buddy should be identified, and the new hire should know what happens on day one. Source: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/human-capital-management/hiring-reform/orientationelements.pdf (checked 2026-10-05).