How to Digitize Employee Onboarding: From Paper-heavy to Paperless in 5 Steps
The initial experience that an employee has with your organisation has a large impact on how they will feel about their entire time there; therefore, those first impressions are extremely important. Unfortunately, a large number of companies still have very outdated onboarding processes based on a large volume of paper usage and other inefficiencies, which leads them to make many mistakes, and ultimately does not accurately reflect the modern workplace. There is no reason to continue being limited by many forms and signatures, and there certainly is nothing wrong with digital employee onboarding.
At PixelsHR, we understand that an effective, interactive, and efficient onboarding experience will lead to greater talent retention and employee productivity. The move away from paper and into digital solutions allows for more than just the conservation of trees; it also provides for faster, less expensive onboarding and increases compliance while fundamentally improving the employee experience when starting with an organisation. In the current world of business, moving from a paper process to a digital process is not simply a trend but should be considered a strategic priority.
In this comprehensive guide, we will provide five easy steps to change your company’s onboarding process into an easy and effective one for both your HR staff and your new employees.
Why Go Digital with Employee Onboarding?
Before we dive into the how, let’s briefly reinforce the why. The benefits of transitioning to digital employee onboarding are manifold:
- Enhanced New Hire Experience: A digital process is often perceived as more modern, organised, and respectful of a new hire’s time. It allows them to complete paperwork at their convenience, often before their first day, reducing stress and enabling them to focus on learning their role.
- Increased Efficiency and Time Savings: HR teams spend significantly less time on administrative tasks like printing, scanning, filing, and chasing signatures. This frees them up for more strategic initiatives.
- Reduced Costs: Think about the expenses associated with paper, printing, ink, storage, and even postage. Going paperless onboarding drastically cuts these costs.
- Improved Accuracy and Compliance: Digital forms can include mandatory fields and validation rules, drastically reducing errors. All documents are stored securely and are easily retrievable for audits, ensuring better compliance with regulations.
- Better Data Management: Centralised digital records mean instant access to employee information, better reporting capabilities, and seamless integration with other HR systems.
- Supports Remote Work: With the rise of distributed teams, remote employee onboarding becomes practically impossible without a robust digital solution.
Now that we understand the compelling reasons, let’s explore the steps.
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Step 1: Assess Your Current Onboarding Process
Before you can build a better future, you need to understand your present. This first step is crucial for identifying bottlenecks, pain points, and areas ripe for improvement.
Begin by mapping out your existing onboarding journey. From the moment an offer is accepted to the end of their first week or month, document every single touchpoint, document, and task. Ask yourself:
- What forms do new hires currently fill out? (e.g., I-9, W-4, direct deposit, company policy acknowledgements, benefits enrollment forms). How many of these are physical documents?
- Who is involved at each stage? (HR, hiring manager, IT, payroll). What are their responsibilities?
- Where are the delays? Is it waiting for signatures, chasing incomplete paperwork, or manual data entry?
- What information is collected multiple times? Duplication is a strong indicator of inefficiency.
- What is the new hire’s experience like? Is it overwhelming, confusing, or welcoming?
Gather feedback from recent hires, hiring managers, and your HR team. Their insights will be invaluable in pinpointing the most critical areas to address. This audit will provide a clear baseline and help you define the scope of your onboarding process optimisation. Understanding these challenges will inform your strategy for selecting the right employee onboarding software in the next step.
27% of UK employers reported new starters failing to turn up on their first day (“ghosted”). 41% experienced resignations within the first 12 weeks.
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Step 2: Choose the Right Employee Onboarding Software
This is perhaps the most pivotal step. The right employee onboarding software is the engine that drives your digital transformation. Don’t rush this decision; thoroughly research and evaluate platforms that align with your specific needs and budget.
Consider the following features and capabilities:
- Digital Form Completion & e-Signatures: The ability to complete all necessary forms digitally with legally binding electronic signatures is non-negotiable for paperless onboarding.
- Workflow Automation: Can the software automate tasks like sending welcome emails, assigning training modules, notifying IT to set up accounts, or scheduling check-ins? This is key to true onboarding automation.
- Document Management: Secure storage, easy retrieval, and version control for all onboarding documents.
- Integrations: Can it integrate with your existing HRIS (Human Resources Information System), payroll system, applicant tracking system (ATS), or learning management system (LMS)? Seamless data flow prevents duplicate entry and ensures consistency.
- Customisation: Can you brand the portal with your company’s logo and colours? Can you customise forms and workflows to match your specific processes?
- New Hire Portal: A centralised, intuitive portal where new hires can access all relevant information, complete tasks, and learn about the company before their first day.
- Reporting & Analytics: The ability to track onboarding progress, identify trends, and measure the effectiveness of your process.
- Compliance Features: Tools that help ensure regulatory compliance, especially for forms like the I-9.
- Scalability: Can the solution grow with your company?
- User-Friendliness: Both for HR administrators and, critically, for the new hires themselves.
PixelsHR, for example, offers robust features designed to streamline digital HR onboarding for businesses of all sizes. Look for a solution that simplifies the complex, supports your goals for onboarding process optimisation, and provides a great experience.
The UK HR and payroll software market is estimated at £1.6 billion in 2025, highlighting strong vendor availability and a mature technology landscape for adopting digital onboarding platforms.
Step 3: Digitise Your New Hire Digital Paperwork & Workflows
Once you’ve selected your employee onboarding software, it’s time for the heavy lifting of digitising your actual documents and establishing automated workflows.
- Convert Forms to Digital: Take all the physical forms identified in Step 1 and recreate them within your chosen software. Ensure they are mobile-responsive and easy to fill out. Implement conditional logic where possible (e.g., if “yes” to X, then show Y field). This is where your new hire digital paperwork comes to life.
- Map Out Automated Workflows:
- Pre-boarding: What happens between offer acceptance and the first day? Automate welcome messages, links to the new hire portal, initial paperwork completion, and perhaps even a virtual tour or team introductions.
- Day 1 & Week 1: Automate IT setup requests, facility access, manager checklists, and initial training assignments.
- Beyond: Automate reminders for performance reviews, benefits enrollment deadlines, or follow-up surveys.
- Role-Based Workflows: Consider different onboarding tracks for various roles or departments, each with its own specific tasks and information.
- Integrate Systems: Work with your IT department to integrate your onboarding solution with your HRIS, payroll, and other relevant systems. This ensures that data entered by the new hire flows seamlessly to where it needs to go, eliminating manual data entry and reducing errors. This step is crucial for true onboarding automation.
The goal here is to eliminate manual touchpoints wherever possible, making the process faster, more accurate, and less burdensome for everyone involved.
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Step 4: Develop Engaging Content and Resources
Digital HR onboarding isn’t just about paperwork; it’s about integration and engagement. Your paperless onboarding system should also serve as a hub for valuable information that helps new hires quickly acclimate to your company culture and their role.
- Welcome Videos: A personalised video from the CEO or their direct manager can make a huge impact.
- Company Culture Guide: Beyond a standard employee handbook, share insights into your values, traditions, and how things “really work” at your company.
- Team Introductions: Photos, brief bios, and contact information for their immediate team and key stakeholders.
- Training Modules: Pre-assigned online training, whether compliance-related or role-specific, can be initiated before day one.
- FAQs: Anticipate common questions about benefits, office policies, IT support, or getting around.
- Goals & Expectations: Clearly outline initial objectives and how their role contributes to the bigger picture.
- “First 30/60/90 Days” Plan: Provide a clear roadmap of what to expect and what they’ll be working on.
Making these resources readily available in a well-organised new hire portal transforms the experience from a paperwork exercise into an immersive introduction. This is especially important for successful remote employee onboarding, where physical interactions are limited. Engaging content significantly enhances the overall onboarding process optimisation.
Step 5: Implement, Train, and Continuously Optimise
With your system configured and content ready, it’s time for implementation.
- Pilot Program: Before a full rollout, consider running a pilot program with a small group of new hires or a specific department. This allows you to identify and resolve any unforeseen issues in a controlled environment.
- Train Your Team: Crucially, train all relevant stakeholders – HR staff, hiring managers, IT, and payroll – on how to use the new employee onboarding software. Ensure they understand their roles in the automated workflows and how to access the necessary information.
- Communicate with New Hires: Clearly communicate the digital process to new hires. Provide simple instructions on how to access the portal, complete forms, and whom to contact if they have questions. Set expectations that their new hire’s digital paperwork will largely be completed virtually.
- Gather Feedback: Post-implementation, actively solicit feedback from new hires, managers, and your HR team. What worked well? What was confusing? What could be improved?
- Iterate and Improve: Onboarding is not a static process. Use the feedback and the analytics from your digital HR onboarding system to continuously refine and improve your workflows, content, and the overall experience. This commitment to the onboarding process optimisation ensures your system remains effective and relevant. As your company evolves, so too should your digital employee onboarding process.
Hybrid working is mainstream in the UK, e.g., 28% were hybrid workers in early 2025 — pushing more remote pre-boarding and digital onboarding needs.
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Conclusion
The journey to digital employee onboarding might seem daunting, but by breaking it down into these five manageable steps, your organisation can successfully transition from a paper-heavy onboarding nightmare to a smooth, efficient, and engaging paperless onboarding experience. This transformation doesn’t just benefit your HR team; it creates a positive first impression that significantly impacts new hire retention, productivity, and overall employee satisfaction.
At PixelsHR, we are committed to helping businesses like yours achieve unparalleled efficiency and foster exceptional employee experiences through innovative employee onboarding software and strategic insights. Embrace the future of work – a future that is digital, automated, and human-centric.
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