EP: Onboarding - The 30/60/90 Plan That Actually Works
Series: HR Systems Series (3 of 13) · Host: Kerri Roberts · Run time: ~30 minutes
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Buzzsprout
📺 Watch on YouTube
📖 Read the full transcript below
Episode Summary
You don't have a bad hire. You have a missing system.
A bad hire costs roughly 50% of their annual salary in year one - and most of that cost doesn't come from a bad hiring decision. It comes from failed onboarding.
If your onboarding looks like paperwork, a quick tour, and "let me know if you have questions," you've handed your new hire abandonment with a welcome sign. In this episode, Kerri walks through the 30/60/90 day onboarding plan she builds with her clients — including the pre-boarding window most companies waste, what days 1–30 should actually focus on, the right way to do 30 and 60-day check-ins, and the one question every manager should ask before a 90-day review.
Hiring is the front door. Onboarding is whether the house is ready when they walk in.
In This Episode
Why most "first 90 day" turnover isn't about the job — it's about the experience starting the job
The pre-boarding window most companies completely waste (and what to send instead)
How to structure days 1–30 so new hires feel like they made the right decision
What real check-ins look like at days 30 and 60 (hint: not a hallway chat)
The one question every manager needs to ask before the 90-day review
The five-piece system you can build in about an hour
Chapter Timestamps
0:00 The hook: was it a bad hire, or did you fail them in 90 days?
2:00 Welcome + the HR Systems Series so far
3:30 Why most onboarding systems fail (and the 50% cost of a bad hire)
5:30 Pre-boarding: what to do between offer accepted and day one
7:30 Days 1–30: orientation, culture, and the right mindset
9:30 Walking through the job description (and why "why" matters)
11:00 Intentional introductions and giving early wins
13:30 The I-9 in three days + real benefits enrollment
15:30 Days 31–60: moving from orientation to operation
17:30 Assigning a go-to buddy (without dumping on your team)
20:30 Days 61–90: independence, evaluation, and the 90-day review
22:30 The one question every manager needs to answer
25:00 Building a regular performance rhythm
27:30 What you actually need (and your one action item)Resources Mentioned
The HR Easy Button (book): saltandlightadvisors.com/thehreasybutton — paperback, hardback, and Kindle on Amazon
HR Foundations (course, under $400): saltandlightadvisors.com/hrfoundations
Free resources & freebies: saltandlightadvisors.com/freebies
Companion blog post: Onboarding Isn't Paperwork — saltandlightadvisors.com/blog
Episodes in the HR Systems Series
Episode 1 — Employer Responsibility & the HR Mindset
Episode 2 — Hiring: The 5-Component System
Episode 3 — Onboarding: The 30/60/90 Plan(you're here)
Episode 4 — HR Law & Compliance (coming next week)
Your Action Item
Before you close this tab, pull up your calendar and schedule the 30, 60, and 90-day check-ins for your most recent hire. Even if they've been there 62 days — schedule the rest. Then make it part of every hire from here forward.
GET THE MONDAY EMAIL
If this episode resonated, you'll like the Monday morning email. Every Monday at 5:28am, Kerri sends one practical idea for leaders who want to do this work better — including the conversations behind episodes like this one.
Full Transcript
I want you to think about the last person that did not work out inside of your organization. Not the last person that quit — although some of this could apply. I'm talking about the last person you had to let go, or the last person you worked way too far around because they weren't performing. Think about the last person you hired and whether or not it worked out. Hiring is only part of the job. What you do in the first 30, 60, and 90 days to set them up for success — that determines whether they're going to stay with you long term.
If your onboarding process looks like paperwork, a quick tour, and a "figure it out" attitude, you're essentially giving them abandonment with a welcome sign. That's what we're doing here. So we are getting into onboarding today. And if you haven't already been listening to these episodes, we are inside of a 13-part series — this is the third episode. I'm super excited to jump into what the 30, 60, and 90-day plan should look like for your organization.
Welcome back to another episode of Don't Waste the Chaos. I'm your host, Kerri Roberts. I spent the first 20 years of my career in corporate HR — distribution, finance, higher ed, insurance, mergers and acquisitions. Then I went out on my own a little over three years ago, in 2023, and launched an HR firm focused on small to mid-sized businesses. I work across the gamut when it comes to industries, and so I'm excited to bring these insights to you today.
When I talk about the 13 systems or 13 areas of HR, that's what I've determined based off of my 20-plus years in human resources. These 13 things need to be present. The first one is employer responsibility — the mindset. That's a baseline audit of what exists, because HR is not a department, it's a foundation in your business. The second one is hiring. The third one is onboarding — and that's what you've joined me for today. If you haven't listened to the last two, go do that. There are free resources that come along with those as well.
Today we are jumping into the onboarding portion. If you listen to this episode and you're like, "my gosh, I need more," a couple of things you can do. One: you can pick up my book, The HR Easy Button, at saltandlightadvisors.com/thehreasybutton, or grab it on Amazon — paperback, hardback, and Kindle. Or if you want more of a learning opportunity, I have HR Foundations, which is the first four of the 13 systems. That's at saltandlightadvisors.com/hrfoundations. It's about 30 to 45-minute video sessions of me, and each module comes with two to three downloadable tools, resources, and templates. Under 400 bucks. Highly recommend.
Why Most Onboarding Systems Fail
Most of the time there is no system. It's just paperwork, a tour or a desk drop, and silence. That, unfortunately, is what I see in general. Here's what a bad hire costs: about 50% of their annualized salary over the first year. Most of that comes from failed onboarding, not from a bad hire. Last episode we talked about what a good hiring process looks like, but here's what I would say — even if we make a less-than-perfect hiring decision, if we onboard well, we have an increased chance of salvaging that person and setting them up for success.
Top performers are watching how you onboard. If you've got a top performer and you're hiring someone to share the load — and they see you tossing the new person in and essentially telling the high performer to onboard them — that's not a system. You're not giving them help; you're giving them more work. We need structure because this sets the professionalism tone from day one. Bad onboarding sets up performance issues that you'll have to handle later. We need to invest in this process.
Most "first 90 day" turnover isn't about the job — it's about the experience starting the job. Hiring is the front door. Onboarding is whether the house is ready when we walk in. Is it chaos? Is it loud? Is it organized? Do we have a drink on the counter for them? Maybe some charcuterie? That's what we should aspire to with onboarding.
Pre-Boarding
I talked a little about pre-boarding in the hiring episode, but it's important. Pre-boarding is what happens from when they accept your offer to their first day. And what do most organizations do during the pre-boarding window? Nothing. Silence. We've got the accepted offer, we've got other things to do — and then there they are, starting on their first day. That is not a great look. That person is probably in a buyer's-remorse mindset. Show them you're excited, you're ready, you've prepared.
Send the paperwork or online enrollment before their first day: direct deposit, emergency contact info, tax forms, I-9, the handbook. Ideally through your HR payroll system; if not, PDFs. Either way, get it done before they arrive, then review on your end. Send messages back and forth: "Got your information, we're so excited to have you start. Here's where you park on your first day." Put together a one-pager — or better yet, a video — outlining what they can expect on day one. If they're remote, tailor accordingly. Send a congratulations message.
Space those touches every three to four days, because most professional folks give two weeks to a month of notice. Set up the cadence — automate it where you can — and one to two days before they start, message them again. "Looking forward to seeing you. Here's a brief outline of day one." Day one is not for paperwork. Day one is for culture, connection, and clarity.
Days 1–30: Orientation and Foundation
This is the orientation and foundational time period. They're not doing zero work, but the focus is orienting them and setting the framework. The job of the first 30 days is to make them feel like they made the right decision. You'll get everything you need from them if you onboard them correctly — but right now, the goal is for them to feel affirmed and excited to bring value. That's a mindset shift for a lot of business owners. Culture, values, expectations — that's what we're running through.
One of my favorite things in the first 30 days is to break up meetings. Once a week, the manager (or HR if there's a real reason) sits down with the new hire and walks through three bullets on their job description. Maybe a 30-minute meeting once a week, maybe every day for the first week — whatever works, just have a system. Walk through the bullet, what it looks like, the tech they'll use, the SOP, the login info, and why it matters here. We are setting the tone for purpose, contribution, and how this role rolls up into company success.
Set up intentional introductions. I'm not talking about a group tour — that's fine, do that too. I'm talking about every key leader getting at least 15 to 30 minutes on the calendar with this person. Why this leader is there, why they continue to stay, why this hire was important. Spend a little time. Every hire matters — and if they don't, why are you spending money to hire them? Also set up cross-departmental introductions to people they'll work with regularly.
Role clarity and early wins. Don't phone in the cascading-goals piece — the why matters. And give them some early wins. When you start a new job and can't contribute, you feel like a tiny baby that can't do anything. People want to bring value. Give them low-risk opportunities to win in the first couple of weeks. People need to feel useful — if they don't, they disengage.
Compliance and logistics. The I-9 — bane of my existence. The I-9 is one of the easiest things you do as an employer, but most of you aren't doing it within the first three days. Out of compliance, full stop. Tell them up front: bring driver's license and birth certificate, or a passport. Verify it on day one, complete the employer's portion, ship it off. Done. If it's not done by day three, they take an unpaid leave of absence until they bring the documents.
Benefits enrollment in the first 30 days. Either your broker or your benefits person should be doing this — not "read the pamphlet, knock yourself out." Real enrollment support, real education. And if you're a broker listening — bring value. When I'm working with my clients, one of the first holes I poke is, "When did you last hear from your broker?" These folks make money. They need to be checking in. Even tiny shops have benefits — paid time off, policies, all of it — and it needs to be covered in the first 30 days.
Days 31–60: Build Competence
Now we move from orientation to operation. You might be thinking, "Shouldn't they be up and running by 30 days?" Don't rush this. Have you actually asked them how it's going?
Around this point, schedule a real conversation. Not a hallway chat, not a quick Slack — an undivided-attention check-in. This should be the manager. Ask:
How do they feel like they're doing?
Where are they confident? Where do they feel uncertain?
What's something they don't understand yet?
Is there anything different than what they expected?
That last question is gold — it surfaces misalignment early. Give specific, observed feedback. Not "I love having you around." Be specific: "I see how you've picked up on X. That's going to be really helpful for us." Training continues. Take stock of what they've mastered, what they've been trained on, and what's next for the next 30 days. If you haven't already, assign a go-to team member. By now they're feeling like they're bothering the boss with questions. Send them to a buddy. The buddy will escalate to you when needed. Important caveat: pick someone who's happy to help. Don't assign your "pissy pants" employee. Maybe even pay them a little something — a bonus, an incentive — because we're asking them to stop and answer questions. Don't give a great new hire a lousy training buddy. Start measuring against the job description. Where are the gaps? If something's off, address it now. Early feedback is a gift. Late feedback is a problem.
Days 61–90: Independence and Evaluation
Move from supported to independent. By 90 days, it should be very, very clear whether this is the right hire. Schedule the 90-day review now. Make it a real conversation, not a formality. I recommend sending the employee a short review form first — through your HR payroll system, or even SurveyMonkey — 10 to 15 questions. Have you been trained on this? What's outstanding? Cultural questions. Then the manager reviews the responses and prepares for the conversation. "I see you haven't been fully trained on this — here's the plan." "I see this has gone well — we agree."
Evaluate against the job description and benchmarks. Then ask yourself — and this is the question:
If I were hiring for this role today, would I hire this person again?
If yes — tell them. Out loud. Specifically. They're still feeling a little crazy. They're still wondering if you're happy with them.
If no — coach up or coach out. And ask the deeper question: was it the hiring process? The job description? The interview? The first 60 days of onboarding? Don't kick the can. Address it now.
Then move from a heavy onboarding rhythm to a regular performance rhythm. Maybe weekly check-ins become monthly. Just communicate the change. Make it systematic and repeatable.
Ask them: What would have made onboarding better? Be open to their answer. The best feedback you'll ever get on your onboarding process comes from someone who just survived it.
You're going to spend time with this person one way or another — in the first 90 days, or later when you're managing performance issues. Spend the time intentionally now. You will not regret it. I've seen this impact retention and performance over and over. If your supervisors and managers aren't bought in, this fails. They are the ones who have to own it. So if you're an HR person listening, get on your soapbox and teach the lesson. Send them this episode. Send them the data. Businesses that don't take time to onboard are the same businesses that have a ton of employee issues — ambiguity, people stepping on toes, drama. Clean up your onboarding, set the foundation, and watch how many of those problems quietly disappear.
What You Actually Need
Plain and simple:
A pre-boarding checklist
A week one plan
A 30-day check-in on the calendar
A 60-day check-in on the calendar
A 90-day review on the calendar
Takes about an hour to build. Pays for itself every time.
Your Action Item
Schedule the three check-ins right now for your most recent hire. I don't care if they've been there 62 days. Schedule the rest. Then make it part of every hire moving forward.
I know setting some of these systems up can feel like chaos. It feels like another job. But once they're running, you're going to feel so confident and so empowered in your business — because you took the time to do it right. Your employees will notice. It will make a huge impact.
Friends, don't waste the chaos. Embrace it. I'll see you next week.
WORK WITH SALT & LIGHT ADVISORS
Need hands-on help with the work you just heard about? Salt & Light Advisors helps small businesses build the HR and people systems that don't break under pressure.
