When we talk about onboarding in a company, several notions come to mind: the arrival of an employee, the HR department and possibly the team that welcomes him or her.
On the other hand, no one thinks about the IT department, which plays a major role in the company.
No IT = failed onboarding.
You've all experienced that moment when you walk through the door of your new company with sweaty palms.
Here, expectations are at their highest on both sides: the new employee has a strong desire to do well, and the company needs help on a specific point.
Everything depends on this moment. To ensure that the momentum and motivation of the departure lasts as long as possible, you need to get theHR and IT onboarding right for your new employee.
What do we mean by IT onboarding?
Arrivals generate a number of actions on the IT side, but let's be precise about what needs to be seen on this occasion:
- computer equipment
- access to different systems, tools, applications and software
- assign specific rights to each user
- company safety rules
In some cases :
- cyber risk training
- training in certain tools
- an internal process guide on application requests, password resets, VPN access, use of business/personal devices...
What's the point of real IT onboarding?
Onboarding needs HR and IT to be balanced.
When we talk about IT onboarding, we're talking about a real process, not just something that works more or less.
At this point, the benefits are significant ➡️
- Employees are up and running more quickly, which contributes to the company's productivity.
- The satisfaction of having all their access rights proves to employees that they were really expected, and creates a strong sense of belonging.
- Company security is enhanced when employees are trained in cyber risks.
- The accesses and rights granted to each person are adjusted to their needs and activity, limiting the impact in the event of a cyber-attack.
- An employee who has all his or her accesses, with clear access request processes, will find it easier to plan for the long term, knowing that his or her work tools will evolve with his or her needs and trends.
- Employees trained in the company's IT system are less likely to ask forhelp from support, and less likely to carry out costly manipulations.
Key topics in IT onboarding
You're all set to welcome a new colleague, but how do you structure yourself without getting lost or looking cluttered in front of them?
Common company tools
Talk to him about the software that keeps the company running, the ones that keep you informed, chat with others, hold meetings, retrieve company documents, find processes...
Every company has chosen its chat channel, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and so on. That's where you need to be to stay informed and, above all, not feel left out.
It may be necessary to train him in tools such as the telephone for call transfers, meeting room reservations, the use of a photocopier or a printer protected by a card or code.
It's easy to smile when you read it, but never forget that if you're comfortable with Microsoft tools, the new employee may come from a company that was only on Google Workspace, with a different environment.
If you have many tools, he may not be familiar with them.
Without training, employees may feel excluded, uncomfortable or mocked by their colleagues, which is not a desirable situation.
Business tools
The newcomer may need to use a software program or application specific to his business, which is difficult to learn. If he doesn't master the software, training is necessary, 1) to avoid discouraging him, 2) to get him up and running as quickly as possible.
Identify the software and applications that are hard to get to grips with, but which are essential for the department the employee will be joining.
If you already have documentation, give it access. If you don't, it may be more cost-effective to produce documentation for every newcomer than to re-explain each time. Something to think about.
It may also be necessary to train employees to respect company processes, or to deepen their use of the application.
Cyber risk training
It is no longer possible to ignore the fundamental role played by users in the fight against cyber attacks.
When a new user joins the company, it's the right time to teach him or her the best cyber practices for different types of threat: phishing, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, president's attacks, and so on.
It's also a good time to explain the benefits of tools for securing the information system (as part of the zero-trust approach) and data in transit using a VPN. We'll also cover SSO, MFA, the use of a password manager, the use of a screen privacy filter, etc.
We'll look at other aspects of security, such as the ban on using USB sticks or 'found' USB sticks, the need for confidentiality on social networks, and the risk of sharing passwords and accesses.
The company surely has procedures in place in the event of an attack that everyone should be aware of, and this is the right time to share them.
It is also at this point that the elements needed to detect suspicious activity and encourage employees to report it as soon as possible are provided.
Computer support presentation
Support can be contacted in a number of different ways, and you'll show new employees how to contact support depending on their needs.
You'll also give him the procedures for making his requests for computer resourcespassword reset requests.
Last but not least, you'll need to give him a deadline for responding to your requests (which will help you avoid unnecessary reminders).
What actions should the IT department take when a new employee arrives?
Assigning equipment and creating access are among the main tasks of the IT department when a new employee arrives.
The basis of the actions to be carried out for IT onboarding will be :
- material preparation
- creation of users(identities) and their accounts(access)
- transmission of logins and passwords
But be careful!
The new member of staff must have access to the system, but beware: not every user needs the same level of access, and the principle of least privilege must be respected.
Just because his colleague has such and such a level of rights, doesn't mean that the newcomer has to have the same level. It's likely that the more senior colleague has other responsibilities, or even rights that had been granted temporarily and that we forgot to re-evaluate 🙈.
Security groups must be created and the most sensitive ones monitored.
The number of groups must be kept under control and known to all members of the IT team. A new group should not be created for each new arrival, as this would make it difficult to monitor and set up.
A real strategy needs to be defined.
What resources can facilitate IT onboarding?
I've explained the benefits of having an IT onboarding system in place, I've outlined what falls within the IT department 's scope when it comes to carrying out this onboarding and I've presented the topics to be covered during the employee's arrival.
Now let's get down to the nitty-gritty: how can we make it easier to carry out all these actions?
- The most time-consuming part of the process is account creation, because all the information has to be obtained, and each account has to be set up according to the company's nomenclature, taking care to select the groups in which the user will be placed.
- What takes up the most mental space are all the little things you have to do every time, and don't forget.
1. Automate user account creation
At this point, you're faced with three issues: easily obtain information on employee arrivals, create your users' accounts, centralize applications to facilitate account creation, and have an overview of users' accounts and access.
This is where tools such as IAM(Identity and Access Management) come into play.
The IAM concept is to secure and facilitate arrivals, movements and departures.
At Youzer, for example, we make onboarding easy and, above all, reliable.
We specialize in small and medium-sized businesses, and have designed a solution that is simple, quick to implement and dedicated to facilitating processes.
1️⃣ All your software and applications are connected and centralized on the IAM platform.
2️⃣ The HR source (HRIS, Excel file or other) is connected to the platform.
= User arrival information is automatically sent from the HRIS to the IAM solution, so HR doesn't have to enter it twice. This saves IT departments a considerable amount of time, as the information is reliable and known immediately after HR entry.
Depending on your rules, the user is assigned to groups with specific rights. Access to certain applications is assigned automatically.
Your part? Make sure everything's right!
On your dashboard you can see who has access to what. Practical 😀
2. Create IT onboarding checklists
Many HR solutions allow you to create checklists. I suggest that you don't spread yourself too thin. The IT department doesn't have access to the HR software, so the easiest thing to do is stay with the identity and access management tool.
You'll have a checklist module in which you can assign a checklist to each new user who arrives. You can then check off what has been done.
You can create several checklists.
In conclusion
IT onboarding is an essential and strategic stage in the integration of a new employee into a company.
It's not just a matter of providing the necessary hardware and creating access to the company's various systems and applications.
IT onboarding also encompasses a series of actions designed to familiarize the new employee with the company's tools, internal processes and IT security rules, including cyber risk awareness.
To facilitate and optimize IT onboarding, we recommend the use of IAM tools that enable users' identities and access to be managed and secured centrally and automatically.
HR and IT onboarding is a step not to be neglected, as it plays a decisive role in the successful integration of new employees and their ability to become operational as quickly as possible.
Don't neglect the arrival of IT staff - the human and financial costs are too high!
