The Hidden Cost of Manual Onboarding
Here's the trap: onboarding always looks simple when you glance at it. A contract goes out. A new account in Google or Microsoft 365. Slack invite. Maybe a CRM license. IT orders a laptop. Done, right? But if you sit with HR or IT and actually map out the steps, the hidden costs jump out.
Let's do the math.
HR easily spends <strong>10–20 hours per new hire</strong>: drafting contracts, sending reminders, collecting documents, entering details into payroll, creating tickets for IT, coordinating with managers, and chasing signatures. IT adds another few hours setting up email, Slack, CRM, and ordering equipment.
At <strong>one hire per month</strong>, that's already <strong>150–200 hours a year</strong> spent on repetitive admin. That's almost a full month of someone's time — just shuffling forms and clicking through settings screens. Scale it up to <strong>three or four hires a month</strong>, and suddenly you're burning <strong>700+ hours a year</strong>. That's like hiring a part-time "Onboarding Assistant" whose only job is copy-pasting data across tools.
And the money side? Managers often need Salesforce or SAP licenses just to approve access. A license here and there doesn't sound like much, but 20+ extra licenses at €1,500 each adds up to <strong>€30,000 wasted annually</strong> — for approvals no one wants to do in the first place.
Meanwhile, new hires feel the pain too. Instead of diving into their role, they're stuck waiting for IT to finish tickets. First impressions matter, and nothing kills excitement faster than sitting at a desk with no email access.
<strong>That's why onboarding is the perfect candidate for automation.</strong> It's repetitive, rules-based, and full of bottlenecks that software can handle better than humans. And the earlier you fix it, the more you save as you grow.
Phase 1: Automating Onboarding for Small Businesses (50–80 Employees)
At the small business stage, hiring is usually light. Maybe one new person joins each month. The process often looks something like this: HR drafts a contract in Word, sends it through DocuSign, copies the details into a spreadsheet, and emails IT to create accounts in Google Workspace and Slack. Managers get cc'd for approvals, and equipment orders are handled ad hoc.
On paper, it works. In reality, it is slow and messy. HR spends **10+ hours per hire** chasing paperwork, filling out the same details across systems, and following up with IT. IT spends another 2–3 hours setting up accounts. Managers waste time replying to email chains just to say "yes, give them Salesforce." The new hire shows up and sometimes waits half a day to even get access to Slack or their CRM. It is not exactly the smooth Day 1 experience you want to give.
<strong>How onboarding automation changes this picture:</strong>
The impact at just one hire per month:
Even at this early stage, automation is not about the raw euros saved. It is about creating a consistent, professional onboarding experience and freeing your HR and IT teams from repetitive work that will only grow as you scale.
Phase 2: Automating Onboarding for Scale-Ups (100–200 Employees)
Fast forward a couple of years. The company has grown to around 150 people and is now hiring 3–4 people every month. To handle recruiting, they have added tools like Greenhouse (ATS) and Workday (HRIS). The stack is more sophisticated, but the pain points remain the same: approvals, IT provisioning, and compliance.
Without automation, onboarding looks like this:
<strong>How onboarding automation scales up:</strong>
<strong>The impact at scale:</strong>
At this size, automation is no longer a "nice to have." It is the difference between running smooth operations and burning thousands of euros and hundreds of hours on repetitive tasks.
Our Methodology: How We Work With You
Onboarding automation is not a plug-and-play app. Every company has its own mix of tools, its own quirks, and its own approval culture. That is why our process is designed to be collaborative and transparent. Here is what working together looks like:
1. Discovery & Assessment
We start by sitting down with the people who live with onboarding every day: HR, IT, and at least one manager. Together we map out the current process step by step — from sending contracts, to approvals, to account setup. We look at which systems are touched, how much time is spent, and where the biggest bottlenecks are. By the end of this phase you have a clear picture of the hidden costs and where automation will have the biggest impact.
2. Design & Collaboration
Based on the discovery, we design the first version of the workflow. For a smaller business, this usually covers contract signing, approvals, and creating accounts in the core tools (Google Workspace, Slack or Teams, CRM, Payroll). For larger companies, it might include ATS and HRIS integrations. We work with you to define access bundles for each role and department so provisioning is consistent and repeatable. This stage is about collaboration — we bring the framework, you bring the inside knowledge of your company.
3. Implementation
Once the design is agreed, we set up a dedicated automation instance for your company. This is where the workflows run securely, with your API credentials and service accounts. We connect the systems, add AI modules to handle unstructured inputs like contracts and emails, and build the audit trail so every action is logged. You get visibility into how the system works — no black box magic.
4. Testing & Rollout
Before going live, we run a pilot with one or two hires. HR, IT, and managers get to see the automation in action, and we fine-tune the workflow based on real feedback. Once everything feels smooth, we roll it out across all new hires. From here, the process becomes repeatable, consistent, and scalable.
5. Support & Scaling
Onboarding automation is not static. As your company grows, new tools come into play. ATS, HRIS, Salesforce, Workday — we can plug them in as needed. We also handle monitoring, updates, and support, so you do not have to worry about the plumbing. Our goal is that your onboarding keeps running smoothly in the background while your team focuses on people, not paperwork.
Working with us is about partnership. You know your business, we know automation. Together we design a solution that fits your stack, saves your team hours every month, and grows with you as you scale.
Before vs After: The Impact of Onboarding Automation
It is one thing to talk about hours and licenses, but the clearest way to see the value of onboarding automation is side by side. Here is how life looks before and after automation.
| Aspect | Before Automation | After Automation |
|---|---|---|
| HR Time | 10–20 hours per hire, chasing paperwork and retyping data | 2–5 hours per hire, reviewing and confirming automated steps |
| IT Time | 2–3 hours per hire, manual account setups | 30 minutes or less, only handling exceptions or hardware |
| Manager Time | Email chains and extra Salesforce/SAP licenses just for approvals | One-click approvals in Slack or Teams, no extra licenses needed |
| Compliance | Approvals buried in email threads, no clear audit trail | Every step logged automatically with roles and timestamps |
| Employee Experience | Day one often spent waiting for access or equipment | Day one fully ready with accounts, tools, and welcome info |
| Annual Cost | 700+ hours of staff time wasted + €30k in unused licenses | 500–700 hours saved + €30–40k saved in license costs |
The difference is not just about saving money. It is about confidence. HR no longer worries if they forgot a step. IT no longer dreads onboarding week. Managers do not waste time logging into systems they barely use. And new hires start with the tools they need, feeling like the company is ready for them. That is the power of automation when applied to one of the most repetitive but critical processes in any business.
Why Automate Onboarding Early
Most teams only start looking at automation once the pain becomes unbearable. HR is drowning in admin, IT is weeks behind on tickets, and new hires are left frustrated. By then, the process feels like a fire drill rather than a smooth welcome.
The reality is that onboarding is one of the easiest processes to automate and one of the most expensive to ignore. At one hire a month, the wasted time feels small. HR shrugs and says, "We can handle it." But by the time you are hiring three or four people every month, that hidden workload has silently grown into hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of euros every year.
Automating early has two big advantages:
The earlier you build the foundation, the more time and money you save as the company grows. And more importantly, your people start on the right foot — ready to work, not waiting for someone to set up their email.
Conclusion: Onboarding That Just Works
Onboarding is never just about paperwork. It is the first impression a new hire gets of your company, and it sets the tone for how organized and prepared you are. The problem is that most businesses handle it with duct tape: emails, spreadsheets, and overworked HR teams. It works until it doesn't.
The numbers tell the story. Even at one hire a month, manual onboarding eats up more than 150 hours a year. At three or four hires a month, you are suddenly spending the equivalent of a part-time salary and tens of thousands on licenses that managers barely touch.
Automation is the way out. Start small with the basics: contract triggers, AI to parse details, one-click approvals in Slack, automatic account creation. Then grow into deeper integrations as your stack matures. The process scales with you, from SMB to scale-up, without ever having to rip and replace.
The result? HR and IT get their time back. Managers stop wasting energy on approvals. New hires walk in on day one with everything ready. And the business saves real money along the way.
If you recognize yourself in this story, you are not alone. Onboarding pain is universal — but with the right approach, it does not have to be your reality.