Preboarding: what to send before day one
The cheapest onboarding improvement available, and the one most often skipped.
Most of what makes a first day stressful can be removed before it happens. Preboarding is not a program; it is a handful of well timed messages.
What to send, roughly in order
Confirmation of the practical facts within a day of signature: start date, first day time and location or link, who meets them, what to bring, dress code if there genuinely is one. People reread this message repeatedly.
Paperwork with a clear deadline, in one batch rather than dripped. Contracts, right to work or work authorisation documents, tax and payroll forms, benefits enrolment where it must be done in advance.
A week before, the shape of the first week. A draft calendar, the names and roles of who they will meet, and the ninety day plan in draft.
Two days before, a short human message from the manager. Not admin. Looking forward to it, here is where we are, here is one thing to read if you want to.
What not to send
Optional reading lists longer than a page. Access to systems they cannot yet be trained on. Anything that reads as work.
The line you should not cross
Asking someone to do actual work before their start date is unpaid labour, and in most European jurisdictions and several North American ones it creates real exposure. Reading and admin are fine. Producing deliverables is not.
Be equally careful with informal social invitations that carry an implicit obligation. Invite, make clear it is optional, and mean it.
One message they will remember
Ask, before they start, if there is anything that would make the first week easier. Accessibility needs, caring responsibilities, a religious observance, a preference about being introduced in a large meeting. Most people say no. The ones who say yes will remember that you asked for a very long time.