Stage one — record created
Someone in the office creates the employment record: name, role, start date, trade. This is the anchor everything else attaches to. Creating it late is why new hires spend their first week invisible to the schedule.
Stage two — the person completes their own details
Self-entry is not a convenience feature; it is a data-quality decision. The person knows their own phone number, address and emergency contact better than the office does, and typing it themselves removes an entire transcription step.
Give them a single link, a short form and a clear list of what is still missing. Chasing paperwork is the slowest part of onboarding and the easiest to systematise.
Stage three — qualifications recorded
- Trade skills recorded against the catalog your business actually uses.
- Certifications with the date obtained and the date they expire.
- For subcontractors: insurance and license documents with expiry dates.
- Anything that blocks assignment is flagged now, not on the morning of the job.
Stage four — access granted at a role
Access is granted by assigning an application role, never by duplicating an existing person's permissions. Roles are reviewable; copied accounts are not. The default should be the narrowest role that lets the person do their job.
Stage five — eligible, then placed
Only when the record, the qualifications and the access are all in place does the person become eligible to appear in scheduling. First placement should be alongside an experienced crew member, and the first week should be reviewed rather than assumed.
Onboarding ends when the person has completed a job, their hours came through clean and nothing was missing from their record. Not when the folder was filed.