Redesigned onboarding for 500+ employees, eliminating paper kits and freeing 15–20 hours of HR time per week.
Onboarding was costing the company thousands in paper, shipping, and HR time. Every new hire cycle meant assembling binders, printing forms, and FedExing welcome kits. After surveying new hires, I found that 75% also thought the process was outdated and took away from their first-day experience.
I led the shift to a digital-first experience. Built the business case, then worked with IT and design to launch a pre-boarding link and resource site.
Impact:
$4,000+ saved annually in kit materials and shipping
15–20 hours of HR time freed per week
New hires reclaimed their first morning for their teams, not forms
Building binders instead of onboarding people
I owned the entire onboarding process end-to-end, from kit assembly to first-week follow-up.
$2,000 for 100 plastic kit containers and dividers
$75 per kit shipped via FedEx
2.5 hours of orientation spent on paperwork
15–20 hours of HR time per week on printing, assembling, and organizing
75% of new hires surveyed said the paper-based process felt outdated and took away from their first-day experience
iPads, laptops, and a business case for going digital
The first fix was iPads. We handed new hires iPads to fill out forms during orientation. It cut down on paper, but typing on a small keyboard was slow, and some applications didn't work well on the device.
Laptops worked better. New hires could type their forms and submit them electronically. Fewer handwriting errors, cleaner data going into the HRIS. But the kits still had to be assembled and shipped, and new hires still felt rushed getting everything done during orientation.
Going fully digital meant building a business case. Not everyone was ready to let go of paper, but the service blueprint made the cost visible. Combined with the new hire feedback, the business now understood it was time for a change.
A pre-boarding link and a resource site that gave new hires a head start
New hires could now complete paperwork before day one. I worked with IT to create an external link sent to new hires a week before their start date. Tax forms, benefits enrollment, and HR documents were all handled before they walked in the door.
For everything else, I built a SharePoint resource site. New hires had one place to find department info, company videos, benefits details, and learning and development resources. I worked with the design team to keep everything on brand and used basic wireframes to organize the site around the categories new hires actually needed.
Orientation went from paperwork to people. Instead of 2.5 hours filling out forms, new hires could spend their first morning with their teams. I still sent follow-up emails for any outstanding items and offered one-on-one benefits walkthroughs for anyone who wanted them.
Less paper, less cost, more time for what actually matters
Impact:
$4,000+ saved annually in kit materials and shipping
15–20 hours of HR time freed per week
New hires completed paperwork before day one, reclaiming their first morning for their teams
75% of new hires had flagged the old process as outdated. The new process directly addressed the issue.