5 Best Employee Onboarding Software Tools for New Hires

This article was originally published in January 2023. It was updated with new information about top onboarding software tools in March 2024.

How does your company welcome its new employees and set them up for success? The onboarding process is a foundational part of the employee experience, setting the tone and showing what it’s really like to work at your company. But, just 52% of new hires say they were satisfied with their onboarding experience — 55% found it confusing or disorganized. That could be the case at companies that don’t have a structured plan or are not using onboarding software.

With the right technology, you can create an awesome onboarding experience and give your HR team tools for managing every aspect of the onboarding process easily. With so many software providers on the market, you have lots of options and can be sure to find the best onboarding software for your business.

Did you know that 55% of new hires say their onboarding process was confusing or disorganized? Create structure and organization with the right onboarding software:

You’ll need some resources to get an effective onboarding plan off the ground, but the good news is that the initial investment has a huge payoff. A solid program supported by customized onboarding software is shown to increase engagement, performance, and retention.

• 70% of employees who had a great onboarding experience say their job is the “best possible job.”
• Employees who are confident they can be top performers in their role are almost two times more likely to say their onboarding was excellent.
• Employees who agree they understand how they can grow at the company are 3.5 times more likely to strongly agree they had a good onboarding experience.

You might think that with these kinds of results, great onboarding programs — and onboarding software — would be ubiquitous at companies across all industries. But surprisingly, only 12% of employees say their organization is doing a good job with onboarding, and 80% of undertrained employees say they want to quit. Considering these statistics, it’s clear that investing in your onboarding program is well worth it.

With a structured onboarding plan supported by robust software, you can get ahead of the competition, stand out to candidates, and foster engagement, motivation, and retention among new hires and throughout the employee lifecycle. Check out these onboarding software solutions available today.

5 Top-Rated Onboarding Software Products

1. ClearCompany

ClearCompany Onboarding software is part of a full-spectrum talent management platform that connects the entire employee lifecycle with modules to support data-driven recruiting, performance management, employee engagement, and workforce planning strategies. The award-winning software has everything your HR team needs for a seamless onboarding experience — and an excellent employee experience from the day they’re hired.

Key Features

ClearCompany’s cloud-based Onboarding system is designed to simplify and automate HR processes, eliminate paperwork, and set new hires up for long-term success at your organization.

ClearCompany’s onboarding tools and features include:

• Employee self-service portal where new hires can access documents, company information, and employee handbooks and learn about their fellow team members
• Mobile accessibility and intelligent forms so new hires can complete welcome packets, watch team introductions, and sign documents from their mobile device
• Built-in Background Checks, E-Verify, and WOTC forms with autocomplete enabling faster completion, fewer errors, and consistent compliance
• Digital, cloud-based storage of important documents, including offer letters, tax documents, and other required paperwork
• Automated task tracking and notifications to keep HR and new employees on track effortlessly
• Integrations with a variety of payroll and HRIS systems to easily sync new hire data between systems
• Interactive reports and dashboards for a birds’-eye view or in-depth look at onboarding data, including the number of new hires, pending tasks, and more
• Part of a Talent Management ecosystem with modules built to handle the entire employee journey in one platform, from Recruiting and Onboarding to Employee Engagement, Performance Management, and Analytics & Reporting

ClearCompany equips human resources teams to create an excellent onboarding experience for every new hire and to build better systems that help them save time and money. Best of all, it also helps companies take advantage of their own people data so that their strategic decisions are driven by what’s actually happening at their companies. With ClearCompany, organizations experiencing high turnover among new hires can drill down into the data to pinpoint potential causes and make changes that have a positive impact.

Product functionality and customer support have earned ClearCompany top ratings and reviews from clients and recognition as a top HR software provider from major software review sites. Some recent awards include:

• Listed as a G2 2024 Top 50 HR Product
• Named to the 2023 Capterra Talent Management Software Shortlist
• Recognized as a 2023 Applicant Tracking Software FrontRunner by Software Advice
• Most Likely to Recommend and Easiest to Use for HR Analytics by G2 for Winter 2024

Pros and Cons

Learn more about ClearCompany Onboarding — sign up for a personalized demo today.

2. UKG Pro

UKG Pro is an industry-leading solutions provider for human capital management, people and performance management, benefits administration, recruiting, learning, and payroll processes. UKG Pro Onboarding provides a people-focused process that helps employees build a connection to their new company and relationships with colleagues.

Key Features

UKG Pro Onboarding’s features include a new hire dashboard where they can sign documents and get familiar with their onboarding plan. New hire portals can include dynamic content like videos. The software also has an integrated payroll system and allows managers to receive completion notification emails when new hires finish an onboarding task.

Pros and Cons

3. eloomi

With eloomi, users can drive growth and productivity among new hires beginning before their first day. Clients can customize onboarding courses or choose from ready-made programs. Employees can access their learning courses on a computer or mobile device.

Key Features

eloomi offers preboarding and onboarding packages to match your culture, manage expectations, and ensure compliance. You can also automate learning paths for each role to streamline onboarding.

eloomi helps to boost employee performance with targeted training and personalized development plans. Stay in the loop with real-time progress updates for managers and HR professionals.

Pros and Cons

4. ADP Workforce Now

ADP Workforce Now offers a suite of solutions for clients, including payroll, time, HR, talent, and benefits, as well as ADP Onboarding. ADP Onboarding eliminates paperwork and makes it easy for new hires to fill out forms accurately and submit their information with confidence.

Key Features

ADP Workforce Now key features include:

• A mobile-first design
• Turnkey integration with ADP systems
• Customizable onboarding workflows
• New hire templates for part-time, hourly, and international employees
• Welcome messages and videos for new hires

The software is only available for use to ADP Workforce Now clients who are using Payroll and Enhanced HR.

Pros and Cons

5. Eddy

Eddy is an employee management system that offers hiring, onboarding, payroll, and time-tracking services designed for small businesses and HR teams of a few people — or less. Eddy’s paperless onboarding software helps its users start preparing their new hires for their roles prior to their first day.

Key Features

The software streamlines onboarding by giving new hires the ability to manage their own onboarding process digitally. HR can keep an eye on new hires’ progress from their own dashboard. In addition to onboarding, Eddy users can manage employee time tracking and PTO and keep training certifications current with training tracking.

Pros and Cons

How to Choose Employee Onboarding Software

With so many options on the market, you may be wondering how to choose the best employee onboarding software. There are lots of considerations to make, but here are a few of the most important when looking for a new onboarding solution:

• What problems does your organization need the onboarding software to solve?
• Can this solution meet the needs of your business now and in the future?
• How many employees will be using the software, and which ones?
• Does the software provider offer the right amount of client support and training?

ClearCompany developed a guide that walks you through the steps you can take to find the best employee onboarding software for your business. Read our Onboarding System Buyer’s Guide to learn what to look for and how to make the right choice.

Why is Employee Onboarding Important?

Onboarding new employees with a structured plan is important because what happens during their first few days and weeks shapes their entire employee experience. That’s a critical time for retention because your new hires may have accepted their positions, but that doesn’t mean they’re committed to your company. 90% of new employees will decide if they’re staying at a company long-term during the first six months, and up to 22% of turnover takes place in the first 45 days.

Did you know that 22% of new hire turnover happens in the first 45 days? Find the perfect onboarding software to engage and retain your new employees:

It’s critical that companies mitigate the high costs that come with high turnover, especially among new hires. Estimates vary, but replacing employees can cost as much as 300% of their salary. Replacing hourly workers is no different, with average costs ranging from $3,500 to $10,000. Your onboarding program has a significant influence on whether or not new hires will stay and on how they will perform in their roles — which means it also has a big impact on hiring budgets.

• After a positive onboarding experience, 69% of employees are more likely to stay at the company for at least three years.
• When companies focus on employee onboarding, they retain 50% more employees and can even experience a 62% increase in productivity.

The employee onboarding process is the most important time to help employees feel welcome, ensure they understand what’s expected of them, and show them how their work is connected to company goals. It’s your company’s chance to prove that the candidate experience truly reflects what it’s like to work there and that you care about every new employee’s success.

Taking the time to build a program and ease new hires into their role, rather than throwing them right into their new job duties, shows them that your company will not only allow but also empower them to do their best work. It’s also a time to show off your other priorities: employee learning and development, connections with colleagues, and a supportive work environment.

Wondering where to start with building your own onboarding process?
Check out ClearCompany’s complete employee onboarding guide.

What are the Top Features of Onboarding Software?

Manual onboarding is a tedious task with lots of important steps, many of which are required for compliance reasons and need to be completed as quickly as possible. 40% of HR managers spend more than three hours onboarding each employee without software, while 16% spend an astonishing five or more hours. As such, onboarding software is designed to help your company create a seamless experience for new hires and make the onboarding process easier for HR teams and hiring managers, too.

These are some of the processes that onboarding software can help HR teams manage more efficiently and effectively:

• Compiling and sending documents, including offer letters and tax documents, to new hires
• Verifying employment status and completing background checks
• Adding new employees’ data automatically to other HR systems, like payroll and benefits software
• Welcoming new hires and introducing their team members and other colleagues
• Assigning and keeping record of each employee’s company-owned devices and equipment
• Onboarding groups of new hires in bulk
• Setting onboarding goals to ensure new hires are prepared for their roles
• Getting new hires’ feedback on their onboarding experience

9 Key Features of Onboarding Software

Look for these essential features in your onboarding software to help your team give new hires a warm welcome:

1. HR workflow automation: Enable your HR team to automate onboarding tasks like transferring employee information into your payroll and benefits systems, setting up direct deposit, and assembling welcome packets.
2. Employee self-service portal: Allow new hires to log in and complete paperwork, review their onboarding plan, meet their team, and learn about company culture from the time they sign their offer letter.
3. Built-in background checks: Quickly complete mandatory tasks like background checks within the system.
4. Employment verification tools: Just like with background checks, look for a system with built-in I-9 processing, E-Verify, and Audit Trail Reports.
5. Digital welcome packets: Instead of stacks of paperwork, create digital welcome packets specific to each role, saving time for HR and enabling faster completion of necessary documents.
6. Bulk onboarding: Onboard groups of new employees rather than individual manual onboarding.
7. Comprehensive task tracking: Stay on top of outstanding tasks for both HR and new hires with a task-tracking dashboard and automatic notifications.
8. Device and equipment management: Assign and keep tabs on the devices and equipment each employee has in their possession.
9. New hire performance reviews and surveys: Evaluate new hire performance and get their feedback on their onboarding process.

Switching to digital onboarding saves tons of time and money for the business while also helping your company put its best foot forward to new hires. The software helps organizations provide a streamlined, structured experience for every new employee that reflects your company’s commitment to their long-term success.

What is onboarding software? Read ClearCompany’s complete guide.

Benefits of Employee Onboarding Software

If you want to improve your employee onboarding experience, a software solution is the way to go. With onboarding software, HR teams reap tons of benefits:

• Eliminate or greatly reduce paperwork and inevitable errors that happen with manual data entry
• Store records more efficiently and make them accessible to all relevant employees
• Speed up lengthy hiring processes that can cause disengagement or even turnover among new employees
• Save tons of time (and money) spent manually onboarding employees so they can focus on the work that can’t be automated
• Get onboarding insights with reports and dashboards to help your team continuously improve its processes

Onboarding software also has many advantages for your new employees. With software, they can prepare for their roles before they even start:

• Sign and submit onboarding documents online before their first day with less chance of making mistakes thanks to intelligent forms
• Start to get familiar with company mission, vision, and values, as well as company culture, right away with digital resources in their new hire portals
• Watch welcome videos or read introductions from leadership and their new teammates
• Access new hire portals where everything they need is centralized in one location

The benefits of a software solution continue when new hires’ first day arrives. With onboarding software, HR and new hires can:

• Stay on track and ensure compliance with automated notifications about onboarding tasks
• Set goals for the first few months to ensure new hires are progressing as expected
• Keep a digital employee profile that always shows the most accurate, up-to-date information with a cloud-based system
• Create an “employee journal” — a digital record of the employee’s journey at the company that begins with their application if the software is part of a full-spectrum talent management platform

Onboarding software automates the boring parts of the process that can’t be skipped. It allows HR to create more efficient workflows so new hires can get to the important parts of onboarding — learning about their new job duties, coworkers, and company.

Find the Best Onboarding System for Your Business

Maximize your employees’ talent by empowering people at every stage of the employee journey with ClearCompany. The ClearCompany Onboarding platform helps users connect people and streamline processes. ClearCompany integrates data-driven best practices, expert-informed content, and tailored software tools to recruit, ramp, recognize, and retain employees, uniting people and processes to achieve business success.

Sign up for a personalized demo of ClearCompany’s Onboarding platform with an expert today.