Picture this: Your new hire's first day arrives. Instead of greeting them with a mountain of paperwork and watching them spend hours filling out forms, they've already completed everything digitally before walking through your door. They're immediately immersed in your company culture, connecting with teammates, and diving into meaningful work.
Sound too good to be true? It's not—it's the reality of electronic onboarding done right in 2025.
In our work with hundreds of small businesses, we've seen how outdated onboarding processes create frustration, waste valuable time, and start the employee experience on the wrong foot. But we've also witnessed how the right digital onboarding process can transform that critical first impression and set the stage for long-term employee success.
In this article, you'll learn seven actionable best practices for electronic onboarding that create exceptional first impressions, streamline administrative work, and ensure your new team members feel valued from day one:
- Implement pre-boarding
- Create a mobile experience
- Personalize based on role
- Integrate collaboration tools
- Prioritize security
- Use video
- Collect feedback
Why Traditional Onboarding No Longer Works in 2025
The days of filling out paper forms in triplicate are long behind us. In 2025, relying on manual onboarding processes is inefficient. And it's a competitive disadvantage.
Consider this: One in four new hires report dissatisfaction with their onboarding experience. One in three have a horror story to tell about it (Enboarders 2024 State of Employee Onboarding Report)
Mobile onboarding experiences aren't just preferred by employees—they're expected. According to Pew Research, nearly 98% of Americans now own cell phones and about 91% own a smartphone. As a result, technology has become so integrated into our daily lives that paper-based processes feel jarringly outdated.
Despite significant growth in tech adoption in recent years among older generations, younger generations have often led the way in tech adoption and use. This trend has only accelerated, with Gen Z and Gen Alpha now entering the workforce with even higher expectations for digital experiences.
Transforming Your Onboarding for 2025 and Beyond
So, how do you bridge the gap between outdated processes and the modern onboarding experience your employees expect? The solution isn’t just about digitizing your paperwork, it’s about reimagining the entire onboarding journey.
Based on our work with hundreds of businesses across different industries, we’ve identified seven strategies that balance efficiency with personalization, security with convenience, and process with culture to create a truly effective electronic onboarding program.
Let’s explore each of these best practices and how you can implement them in your organization.
The 7 Best Practices for Electronic Onboarding in 2025
1. Implement Pre-Boarding to Engage Employees Before Day One
The most successful onboarding processes now begin well before a new hire's first day. Pre-boarding experiences allow employees to:
- Complete necessary paperwork at their convenience
- Learn about company culture and values
- Connect with their manager and team members
- Access welcome videos and orientation materials
- Set up accounts and review benefits information
This approach transforms day one from an administrative headache into a meaningful experience focused on integration and relationship-building.
Implementation tip:
Send a personalized welcome message with clear instructions and login credentials 7-10 days before the start date, with gentle reminders as the day approaches.
2. Create a Mobile-First Onboarding Experience
In 2025, your mobile onboarding experience must be flawless. New hires should be able to complete every aspect of onboarding from their smartphone or tablet with the same ease as on a desktop.
The best electronic onboarding platforms now offer:
- Responsive design that adjusts to any screen size
- Biometric authentication options (fingerprint, face ID)
- Offline capabilities for completing forms
- Push notifications for pending tasks or approvals
- Document scanning for required identification
When evaluating your current onboarding process, try completing it yourself on a mobile device. If you encounter any friction, your new hires will too.
3. Personalize the Onboarding Journey Based on Role and Experience
One-size-fits-all onboarding rarely meets anyone's needs effectively. Modern personalized employee onboarding tailors the experience based on:
- Department and role specifics
- Experience level (entry-level vs. senior hire)
- Work arrangement (in-office, hybrid, or remote)
- Required certifications or credentials
- Cultural background and communication preferences
For example, at Whirks, we help clients design unique onboarding templates for different positions, ensuring each new hire receives exactly what they need.
4. Integrate Onboarding with Your Collaboration Tools
In today's hybrid work environment, seamless integration between your onboarding system and daily collaboration tools is essential. The best onboarding automation now connects with:
- Team communication platforms (Slack, Microsoft Teams)
- Learning management systems
- HR information systems
- Calendar applications
- Project management software (Asana, Monday)
This integration ensures new hires can immediately access the tools they need while reducing manual data entry and potential errors.
Implementation tip:
Create automated welcome workflows in your collaboration tools that introduce new team members and guide them through initial resources.
5. Prioritize Security Without Sacrificing Convenience
As digital processes become standard, security concerns continue to evolve. Onboarding security now requires:
- End-to-end encryption for sensitive documents
- Multifactor authentication for access
- Secure document storage with appropriate retention policies
- Clear data privacy disclosures and consent management
- Regular security audits and compliance checks
The good news is that well-designed electronic onboarding actually enhances security compared to paper processes. Because employees can complete their new hire paperwork in the privacy of their own home, there's no risk of having sensitive data openly displayed to people passing by.
All sensitive data should be appropriately masked throughout the completion process, with customizable workflow processes controlling who within your company can access new employee information.
6. Use Video and Interactive Elements to Convey Culture
Paperless onboarding doesn't mean impersonal onboarding. The most effective programs now incorporate:
- Welcome videos from leadership and team members
- Virtual office tours
- Interactive company history and values presentations
- Gamified learning about policies and procedures
- Digital "getting to know you" activities
These elements help new hires feel connected to your organization's culture, which is especially important in remote or hybrid environments where in-person interactions may be limited.
Implementation tip:
Record short, authentic welcome videos from team members rather than overproduced corporate content. Authenticity resonates more effectively with new hires.
7. Collect and Act on Onboarding Feedback
The final best practice involves continuously improving your onboarding process based on direct feedback. Modern electronic onboarding should include:
- Pulse surveys at key milestones (day 1, week 1, month 1)
- Digital suggestion boxes for process improvements
- Analytics tracking completion rates and time spent on tasks
- Manager feedback loops on new hire readiness
- Periodic review and refinement of onboarding content
This feedback-driven approach ensures your onboarding process evolves with changing workforce needs and expectations.
Making Better First Impressions with Electronic Onboarding
If you're still using manual processes for employee onboarding, the good news is that transitioning to electronic onboarding is more straightforward than ever. Modern systems are designed for easy implementation, with templates and workflows that can be customized to your specific needs.
When evaluating potential solutions, consider these factors:
- Integration capabilities with your existing HR systems
- Mobile functionality and user experience
- Security features and compliance certifications
- Customization options for your industry and company size
- Available support for implementation and ongoing maintenance
Most importantly, remember that electronic onboarding is more than just using technology. It's about creating meaningful first impressions for new hires that set the tone for their entire journey with your company.
From Past Paperwork Pains to Future Onboarding Excellence
We've come a long way from the days of deciphering handwritten forms and chasing down missing documents. The evolution from paper-based processes to today's sophisticated digital onboarding processes represents one of the most significant improvements in the employee experience.
Today, electronic onboarding provides the security, efficiency, and personalization that both employers and employees need. In the near future, we'll likely see even more integration of AI-powered onboarding assistants, predictive analytics for success, and immersive virtual experiences.
The question is: will your onboarding process be stuck in the past, or will it embrace these best practices to create exceptional first impressions that drive engagement and retention?
If you're ready to transform your onboarding experience and provide the modern, efficient welcome your new hires deserve, we're here to help. Check out our article, "5 Benefits of Electronic Onboarding for Small Businesses" to see just how quickly this investment pays off.
At Whirks, we don't just streamline your onboarding. We support your entire employee lifecycle with comprehensive people services that give you more time to focus on growing your business. Let's get one step better together.
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