Onboarding and Employee Retention

CareerPlug helps you overcome your number one barrier to growth — hiring and retaining the right people. We've built an easy-to-use manager toolkit that provides a simple, proven playbook to onboard, engage, and retain employees without the stress of having to remember every detail.

In this article:

• What is Onboarding and Employee Retention?
• What are the benefits?
• What features do I get access to?
• How do I create a workflow?
• How do I edit existing workflows and tasks?
• How do I add workflows to a job?
• How do I onboard a new hire?
• How do I manage a new hire's workflows, tasks, and forms?
• Frequently asked questions

What is Onboarding and Employee Retention?

Onboarding and Employee Retention is CareerPlug's easy-to-use manager toolkit that empowers you to onboard, engage, and retain the right people. It includes everything you need to build habits that strengthen employee relationships and reduce turnover from Day 1 onward.

Onboarding and Employee Retention allows managers to:

• Easily assign Required Onboarding Forms and automatically send them to new employees when their onboarding begins
• Create customized workflows to onboard new hires or engage existing employees (for example, through weekly or monthly check-ins)
• Use questionnaires to obtain specific information or feedback from employees
• Prefill information on PDF forms
• Review, suggest changes, and approve documents
• Access and manage documents digitally at any time
• Track employees' progress through onboarding and workflows

Your applicants and employees can access workflows and complete tasks from any device, track their workflow progress, save in-progress tasks automatically, and take advantage of any prefilled fields on documents. When they complete a workflow or task, any associated documents or follow-up will automatically be sent to the employee's hiring manager.

What are the benefits?

• Onboard new hires and engage existing employees effectively with workflows and tasks
  
  • Reduce turnover costs, increase employee satisfaction, and achieve sustainable revenue growth.

• • No more onboarding steps, engagement check-ins, or employee milestones falling through the cracks thanks to task reminders for both managers and employees.

• Foster a connection between employees and their team, manager, and company
  • Employee retention begins before Day 1. Workflows foster a deeper connection than paperwork and forms, keeping your employees engaged during the critical first 90 days — and beyond.
• Save time on administrative tasks
  • Say goodbye to manual handling of paper documents and administrative burdens with tools that are fast, easy, and built for how you actually work.
• Deliver an exceptional new hire experience with preloaded workflows
  • With preloaded workflows, you're ready to begin onboarding and engaging employees immediately.

• Increase organizational efficiency and scale your business effortlessly
  • Get a centralized platform for tracking, managing, monitoring, and accessing onboarding and employee documents.
• Enhance data security and confidentiality
  • Robust industry-standard encryption protects the confidentiality and integrity of employee information.

What features do I get access to?

Onboarding and Employee Retention is exclusively for CareerPlug Grow plan subscribers and includes the following features:

• Federal employment eligibility forms (I9)
• Federal tax forms (W4)
• Contractor employment forms (W9)
• State tax forms
• Direct Deposit forms
• Automatic notifications
• Preloaded workflows
• Custom workflows across five categories, which include three types of custom tasks:
  • To-Dos
  • Questionnaires
  • eDocs
• Document repository for each employee

How do I create a workflow?

With Onboarding and Employee Retention, you'll gain access to the new Workflows tab on your Team page, where you can launch onboarding for applicants you've marked as hired, as well as create, edit, and view your existing workflows and tasks.

1. When you're ready to make a new workflow, click the Create New Workflow button and select the type of workflow you'd like to create from the drop-down menu: Onboarding, Engagement, Promotion, Offboarding, or General.

• Onboarding — Set your employees up for success and can include Federal, State, and Employee Verification forms
• Engagement — Ensure high employee satisfaction and retention by scheduling recurring tasks like check-ins, 1-on-1s, or performance reviews.
• Promotion — Ease the transition from one role to the next by preparing for their new position.
• Offboarding — Schedule tasks for when an employee leaves your business such as collecting keys or deactivating accounts.
• General — Add any one-time or recurring workflow that can be assigned like annual certifications or skill-up.

2. Enter a name for your new workflow in the field at the top of the page.

3. Add a task type template to your workflow by clicking the associated tile:

• To do - A simple task for employees or managers to complete.
• Questionnaire - Web-based questionnaires or surveys that allow you to collect information from new hires and existing employees.
• eDocs - Custom PDFs with dynamic fields that employees, or employees and their manager, can complete.
• Add from library - Existing task templates you've created for other workflows.

All of the tasks you create will appear under the task type tiles. Click the eyeball icon to view a task, the pencil icon to edit a task, or the "X" icon to delete it.

To do

To dos are simple tasks that you can assign to employees on your team.

1. Enter a Task Name.

2. Enter Task Instructions and format them using the editing toolbar.

3. Turn on the Make this task optional toggle to make completing the task optional. New tasks are set as required by default.

4. Leave the Require manager approval toggle on to require that an employee's manager sign off on a task's completion.

5. Leave the Add task to library toggle on to add this task to the Task Library for future use in other workflows. It's set as on by default.

6. Select an Assignee for the task — the person responsible for completing it.

• Employee - The employee associated with the task.
• Manager - The manager of the employee associated with the task.
• Collaborator - Another employee on your team who assists in managing your workflows (select the specific user from the drop-down menu).

7. Set the # of days until the task is due and select whether it needs to be completed before or after the employee's start date.

8. Set the # of days before the task is unlocked after the employee's start date.

9. When you're done setting up your To Do task, click the Done button.

Questionnaire

Create web-based questionnaires to help you get specific information or feedback from your team.

1. Enter a Task Name.

2. Turn on the Make this task optional toggle to make completing the task optional. New tasks are set as required by default.

3. Leave the Require manager approval toggle on to require that an employee's manager sign off on a task's completion.

4. Leave the Add task to library toggle on to add this task to the Task Library for future use in other workflows. It's set as on by default.

5. Select an Assignee for the task — the person responsible for completing the task.

• Employee - The employee associated with the task.
• Manager - The manager of the employee associated with the task.
• Collaborator - Another employee on your team who assists in managing your workflows (select the specific user from the drop-down menu).

6. Set the # of days until the task is due and select whether it needs to be completed before or after the employee's start date.

7. Set the # of days before the task is unlocked after the employee's start date.

8. Click the Next button.

9. Add questions or notes to your web form by clicking the associated tile:

• Help Text - An open field for notes, instructions, or details that are important to completing the form.
• Yes/No - A simple yes-or-no question.
• Multi Line - A question with an open-ended response.
• Selection - A multiple-choice question with response options that you edit yourself.

10. When you're done adding content to the form, click the Done button.

Help Text

1. Enter your Note Content in the Configuring Note pop-up, using the editing toolbar to format.

2. When you're done, click the Save button.

Yes/No

1. Enter your question in the Configuring Question pop-up.

2. If you want to make the question optional, turn off the Required toggle.

3. When you're done, click the Save button.

Multi Line

1. Enter your question in the Configuring Question pop-up.

2. If you want to make the question optional, turn off the Required toggle.

3. When you're done, click the Save button.

Selection

1. Enter your question and Response Options in the Configuring Question pop-up.

2. To add more fields for responses, click the Add Response Option button.

3. If you want to make the question optional, turn off the Required toggle.

4. When you're done, click the Save button.

eDocs

Upload & digitize your PDF forms so they can be completed by an employee or an employee & their manager.

1. Enter a Task Name.

2. Turn on the Make this task optional toggle to make completing the task optional. New tasks are set as required by default.

3. Leave the Require manager approval toggle on to require that an employee's manager sign off on a task's completion.

• A manager's signature or approval is required only after an employee completes the fields they are required to complete on a form.
• When an employee has completed their side of a form, their manager will get an email from CareerPlug with a link to access the form. They should click the link to view the form and take action on it.

4. Leave the Add task to library toggle on to add this task to the Task Library for future use in other workflows. It's set as on by default.

5. Select an Assignee for the task — the person responsible for completing the task.

• Employee - The employee associated with the task.
• Manager - The manager of the employee associated with the task.
• Collaborator - Another employee on your team who assists in managing your workflows (select the specific user from the drop-down menu).

6. Set the # of days until the task is due and select whether it needs to be completed before or after the employee's start date.

7. Set the # of days before the task is unlocked after the employee's start date.

8. Click the Next button.

9. Click the Select File button and choose a PDF from your computer to upload. You can also drag and drop a PDF directly from a folder or your desktop into the gray area.

10. Drag the Form Fields you want to use onto the document and configure the Field Details in the left sidebar.

• Signature - A field to capture electronic signatures or initials from the form filler.
• Text Field - A field for the form filler to enter a response or a field that you can prefill with specific data.
• Checkbox - A field for the form filler to check off (as an acknowledgment, selection, etc.).
• Date - A field for the form filler to select a date or a field that you can prefill with the current date.
• Dropdown - A field with selectable options for the form filler to choose from.

11. Click the Save and Exit button to complete your form.

Editing Field Details

Field Details vary by field type. See below for more information.

• For all field types:
  • Enter a new Field Name (if desired). You can also leave it as is.
  • Enter Instructions to provide any guidance a form filler might need in relation to this field (if desired).
  • Select who the field should be Completed by using the drop-down menu: Applicant/Employee or Manager/Admin.
  • Check the Required checkbox to make the field required (if desired).
  • Check the Opaque checkbox to add a white background to the filled field on the finalized PDF (if desired).
• For Signature field types:
  • Select the Signature Type you want from a form filler using the drop-down menu: Signature Area or Signed Initials.
• For Text Field field types:

  • Select the Text Field Type you want using the drop-down menu: Open Text Response or Large Open Text Response.

  • Add Prefill data to the Text Field (if desired) using the drop-down menu to choose what type of data will be prefilled.

• For Checkbox field types:
  • Select the Selection Type you want using the drop-down menu: Multiple Selection (Checkbox) or Single Selection (Radio).
  • Enter Answers in the available field(s). Click the Add Answer button to add another field. Click the "X" icon to remove a field.
• For Date field types:
  • Add Prefill data to the Date field (if desired) using the drop-down menu; select Today's Date.
• For Dropdown field types:
  
  • Enter Dropdown options that you want a form filler to be able to select. Click the Add Option button to add another field.

When you're done setting up the Field Details, click the Save button.

Add from library

Any To dos, Questionnaires, and eDocs you create as part of your workflows will be saved in your Task Library, allowing you to build a collection of templated tasks that you can add to future workflows.

If you've added tasks to your Task Library, you can build your workflow from existing tasks.

1. In the Task Library drawer, click the checkbox next to any existing task you want to include in your workflow.

2. Click the Submit button when you're done.

How do I edit existing workflows and tasks?

To view and edit any existing workflows, click the Edit Workflows button at the top of the Workflows page.

Click the pencil icon to edit an existing workflow. Click the garbage can icon to delete a workflow permanently.

If you have access to the Partnership Workflows tab, you can click the copy icon to copy the workflow to your My Workflows tab.

In the Copy Workflow pop-up, click the Copy Workflow button.

To view and edit any of your templated tasks, click the View Task Library link in the top-right corner of the Workflows page.

Click the pencil icon to edit an existing task. Click the garbage can icon to delete a task from your Task Library.

How do I add workflows to a job?

1. To add workflows to a new or existing job, navigate to your Jobs page.

• Add workflows to a new job
• Add workflows to an existing job 

To add workflows to a new job:

2. On your Jobs page, click the + New Job button in the upper right corner.

3. Choose whether to Use a Job Template or Create From Scratch from the drop-down menu.

4. Configure your job posting as you would for any new job.

5. When you reach the Onboarding Configuration tab:

• Select a manager for this position using the drop-down menu.
• Select the Employee Type for this job: Direct Employee (W-4) or Contractor (1099).
• Click the checkbox for any Included Forms you want as part of this job. Select as many as you want to include.
  • W-4, I-9, state tax form
  • Direct Deposit Form

• Review the Workflows associated with your job and decide whether to remove any existing workflow(s) or add more.
  • To remove a workflow from your job's hiring process, click the "X" icon on the right edge of a workflow.
  • To add more workflows to your job's hiring process, click the Add Workflow button.

6. Once you've set up onboarding and workflows for your job, click the Next Section button.

7. Finish configuring your job posting.

When you hire an applicant for your new job, CareerPlug will automatically assign them all associated workflows to ensure your new hire is set up for success from the very first day.

To add workflows to an existing job:

2. On your Jobs page, find the job you want to add workflows to and click the edit icon (pencil) to the right.

3. Click the Onboarding Configuration tab.

4. On the Onboarding Configuration tab:

• Review the Workflows associated with your job and decide whether to remove any existing workflow(s) or add more.
  • To remove a workflow from your job's hiring process, click the "X" icon on the right edge of a workflow.
  • To add more workflows to your job's hiring process, click the Add Workflow button.

5. Once you finish editing your job posting, click the Update Job Post button!

When you hire an applicant for your updated job, CareerPlug will automatically assign them all associated workflows to ensure your new hire is set up for success from the very first day.

How do I onboard a new hire?

When you're ready to hire an applicant and onboard them, navigate to your Applicants page.

1. Locate the applicant you want to hire and onboard, and click the Hire button in the Actions column.

2. Verify the Start Date. To change it, click the field and select a date from the calendar. It will default to today's date.

3. Verify the Manager for this position. To change it, use the drop-down menu. It will default to the user who clicks Hire on your new employee.

4. Verify the Employee Type of your new hire: Direct Employee (W-4) or Contractor (1099).

5. Verify the Included Forms you want to assign to your new hire. Click the checkbox to deselect any available options.

• • W-4, I-9, state tax form or W-9
  • Direct Deposit Form

6. Verify the Workflows you want to assign to your new hire.

• If you've assigned Included Forms, an associated workflow will automatically be added for each. With CareerPlug Grow, you can also take advantage of two preloaded workflows that you can assign to any job to help boost employee retention.
• To unassign a workflow from your new hire, click the "X" icon on the right edge of the workflow.
• To assign another workflow, click the Add Workflow button. In the Add Workflow pop-up, click the checkbox next to any workflow you'd like to assign to your new hire. Click the Add Workflows button when you're done.

7. Click Preview welcome email link to review the welcome email's content. This is a fixed email and cannot be changed, but we strongly recommend reviewing the email to ensure it's accurate.

8. When you're ready, click the Confirm and send email button at the bottom of the page.

9. If you're done hiring for the position in question, click the Close Job button at the bottom of the following page.

Your new hire is ready to start onboarding! You can find their onboarding documents in their employee profile.

How do I manage an employee's workflows, tasks, forms, and documents?

Efficiently review, approve, and manage your employees' workflows, tasks, forms, and documents — all from within your CareerPlug account. An employee's profile makes a great digital repository for all of an employee's information — important forms, certifications, etc. — which you and your employees can both contribute to. 

To manage an employee's workflows, tasks, and forms:

1. Navigate to your Team page.

2. Click the Workflows tab.

2. Find the employee whose tasks you want to review and click the eyeball icon. This will automatically redirect you to the Tasks tab of the employee's profile.

3. Review the tasks and forms assigned to the employee.

4. Click on a task or form to view its details or make any changes.

5. On the task details page, you can take the following actions:

• Complete Task
• Finish Later (save your progress now and return later to finish)
• Upload a Document to the task
• Change Due Date of the task
• Delete Task

6. If you need to assign more workflows to an employee, click the Add Workflow button and select whether to Add Existing Workflow or Create New Workflow from the drop-down menu.

7. In the Add Workflow drawer, click the checkbox next to any workflow you'd like to assign to your employee.

• You can choose from My Workflows (created by you) or Preloaded Workflows (created by CareerPlug) by clicking between these tabs.
• You can filter the available workflows in this pop-up by clicking the "X" icon on the right edge of a workflow type.

8. Once you've selected the workflows you want, click the Add Workflows button.

To upload a document to an employee's document repository:

1. In an employee's profile, click the Documents tab.

2. Click the Upload Document button.

3. In the Upload Document drawer, enter a Name for the document

4. Enter a Description for the document. This is optional.

5. Click the Choose File button and select the document.

6. Click the Save button to upload the document to the employee's profile.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Can I assign a state tax form for an employee who lives in another state from where I'm conducting business?

A: Yes. You can select the state the employee lives in when setting up their onboarding experience.

Q: Do I have access to the completed forms after the employee has completed them?

A: Yes. You can access an employee's completed onboarding forms on the Documents tab of their employee profile.

Q: Are these forms downloadable?

A: Yes. You can download any forms listed on the Documents tab of an employee profile.

Q: Can employees upload supporting documents for their I9 verification?

A: Yes. Employees can upload supporting documents for any form that requires it. The uploaded documents will automatically be linked to the corresponding form.

Q: Can more than one manager complete the employer side of forms?

A: Yes. The reporting manager and one additional person can access and complete the forms.

Q: Are my documents and sensitive information secure?

A: Yes, CareerPlug has multiple layers of security in place. All documents are encrypted using one of the strongest block ciphers — 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256). Documents are transmitted over the network using industry-standard TLS encryption.

Q: Can I assign custom forms?

A: Yes. Some forms are available with a CareerPlug Pro plan, but you'll need a CareerPlug Grow plan to access all of them.

Q: Can I use Onboarding and Team Management features on my phone?

A: Yes. We've even improved mobile functionality for task editing, reducing the clutter on the screen and moving important fields to the top of the page for easier access on the go.

Q: Does CareerPlug guarantee compliance with federal and state regulations?

A: Compliance with specific labor regulations can vary greatly based on industry, location/jurisdiction, and individual circumstances. As such, we strongly advise all clients to seek guidance from qualified employment law professionals who specialize in the relevant regulations pertaining to their business activities. CareerPlug is not responsible for ensuring labor law compliance on behalf of our clients.