From recruitment to contract: A paperless digital onboarding process

A new hire enters their personal details. HR copies them into the HR system, then into the employment contract, and then into several other documents. It’s a familiar process, but it doesn’t have to be.

Employee data should only need to be entered once. From the onboarding questionnaire to the signed employment contract, a digital onboarding process eliminates repetitive data entry, reduces errors and saves valuable time.

Too much administration before day one

The period between extending a job offer and an employee’s first day often involves more administration than expected. Every manual transfer of data increases the risk of mistakes, whether it’s a typo, an incorrect date or outdated information copied from another document.

The challenge becomes even greater for organisations with multiple locations. In industries such as retail, employment contracts are often prepared at headquarters, sent to individual branches for signature and then returned to the central office. While this may work for a handful of new hires, it quickly becomes inefficient during seasonal recruitment, rapid expansion or periods of high employee turnover.

Fortunately, much of this process can now be managed digitally.

One source of data, multiple documents

Digital onboarding can start as soon as a candidate accepts your offer.

Instead of completing paper forms or spreadsheets, new employees receive an online onboarding questionnaire that they can fill in before their first day. The information can then be reviewed and approved by HR, the hiring manager or any authorised colleague.

Once approved, the data is automatically transferred into the HR system and used throughout the onboarding process.

With OKbase, employment contracts and other HR documents are generated automatically using data already stored in the system. Employee details, salary information, job title and other required fields are populated without manual copying, ensuring consistency across all documents while significantly reducing administrative effort.

Electronic signatures without the paperwork

The final step can also be completed digitally.

Documents can be sent for electronic signature, allowing employees to sign them remotely without visiting headquarters or waiting for paperwork to arrive by post or courier.

The appropriate type of electronic signature should always be selected based on the document type and applicable legal requirements. From an HR perspective, however, the result is simple: documents move through the approval process faster, and HR teams always know which documents have been signed and which are still pending.

Better experience for HR and new employees

For HR teams, digital onboarding means less manual work, fewer errors and no more searching through email threads or paper archives for missing documents.

Because all employee data is stored in a single system, every document is generated from the same source of truth. Electronically signed documents are immediately available in the employee's digital record, making them easy to access whenever needed.

New employees benefit too. They only need to provide their information once, can complete paperwork before their first day and enjoy a smoother, more professional onboarding experience from the very beginning.

Ready to digitise your onboarding process?

If you'd like to see how digital onboarding could work in your organisation, get in touch with the OKbase team. We'll be happy to discuss your current process and show you how you can reduce administration while improving the experience for both HR and new employees.