Onboarding new employees without the paper chase

A new employee’s first week often goes like this: a pile of forms, a request for passport photos, a copy of every certificate, a guarantor form that needs a signature from someone in another town, and a bank account number written on a sticky note. Half of it arrives late, and some of it never arrives at all. Six months later, payroll still can’t find their SSNIT or pension number.

Onboarding doesn’t need to be a paper chase. Most of it can be done before the person even arrives.

What to collect, and when

Before day one

• Full name, date of birth, gender and contact details
• Home address
• Emergency contact and next of kin
• Bank account details for salary
• Statutory numbers: SSNIT and Ghana Card in Ghana, or pension (RSA PIN), tax ID and NIN in Nigeria
• Guarantor details, if your policy requires a guarantor
• Educational and professional qualifications

On day one

• Signed contract and policy acknowledgements
• Role, department, branch, supervisor and start date confirmed in your HR system
• Attendance setup: biometric enrolment, NFC card or mobile app access

In the first month

• Probation goals agreed
• Any outstanding documents followed up

Let the new hire fill it in themselves

The quickest way to get complete, accurate records is to send the new hire a secure link and let them enter their own details on their phone. They know their bank account number better than HR does, and they can photograph their certificates rather than photocopy them.

A few tips:

• Verify the person with a one-time code sent to their email or phone, so only they can open the link.
• Break it into short steps: personal details, contact details, employment details, then extras like qualifications, dependants and guarantors.
• Let them save and come back. Guarantor details often take a few days.
• End with a review step so they can check everything before submitting.

Fixing records for staff you already have

The same approach works for existing employees. If your records have gaps, send everyone a link to fill in what’s missing, such as next of kin or updated bank details, instead of chasing people one by one.

Common mistakes

1. Paying the first salary before bank details are confirmed. Payments bounce, or go to the wrong account.
2. Missing statutory numbers. Contributions without an SSNIT number or RSA PIN can’t be credited properly.
3. No next of kin on file. You find out on the worst possible day.
4. Records split across email, paper and spreadsheets. Nobody knows which version is right.

How Eban handles onboarding

Eban sends new hires an onboarding invitation by link. They verify themselves with a one-time code by email or phone, then fill in their personal, contact and employment details, plus qualifications, dependants, guarantors and emergency contacts, and review everything before they submit. Their progress is saved as they go, so they can finish over a few days.

For a big intake, such as a new branch or a batch of seasonal staff, you can share one data-gathering link instead. Everyone fills in the same form, HR reviews the submissions, and each one becomes an employee record without anyone retyping it. Eban also checks for people who are already on your records, so nobody is added twice.