Odoo 17 has no app called Onboarding. What people mean by onboarding in Odoo 17 is assembled from parts that already exist: an employee record created from the hired applicant, a project whose stages and tasks are the checklist, email templates and automated actions for the welcome and the document chasing, and a user account with the right groups. Recruitment, Employees and Project are all in Odoo 17 Community.
A structured onboarding process helps new hires:
- ✅ Feel welcomed and informed
- 🚀 Get productive faster
- 📋 Complete required documents and training
- 📈 Boost retention and job satisfaction
Odoo 17 allows you to automate this process, reduce manual tasks, and improve employee experience right from day one.
Setting Up Onboarding Plans in Odoo
Start by designing your onboarding workflow:
- 🗂️ Create an internal project (e.g., "New Hire Onboarding")
- 📌 Add stages like Orientation, Training, Setup, Review
- 📋 Define standard tasks or milestones
You can link onboarding plans to job positions or departments for automation.
Assigning Onboarding Tasks to Departments
Use the Project or Planning module to assign responsibilities:
- 💻 IT: Laptop, email setup, software access
- 📂 HR: Policy handbook, tax forms, bank info
- 👥 Manager: Introductions, goal setting
- 📅 Admin: Workspace setup, ID badge, tour
Each task can have a deadline, assignee, and internal notes.
Creating Onboarding Checklists
Use onboarding checklists to ensure consistency:
- 🧾 Assign checklist templates to new hires
- 🖋️ Mark tasks as complete per employee
- 🔁 Duplicate and reuse for future hires
You can manage checklists in the Notes, Tasks, or Studio app depending on your setup.
Tracking Onboarding Progress
Managers and HR can monitor onboarding status:
- 📊 View task completion rates
- 📅 Track pending items and overdue steps
- 🧠 Record feedback and notes in the employee profile
All onboarding activity is centralized in the employee's record — ensuring accountability and clarity.
Automating Emails and Document Requests
Use Odoo Studio or Email Templates to:
- 📨 Send welcome emails and onboarding instructions
- 📁 Request document uploads (IDs, certificates, tax info)
- 🔔 Trigger reminders for incomplete tasks
This keeps onboarding smooth, professional, and hands-free for your team.
Conclusion
Odoo 17 makes onboarding faster, smarter, and more human. You can standardize your new hire process, keep everyone on track, and give employees a confident start — without chasing paperwork or to-dos.
Want help building an automated onboarding system in Odoo? Let our HR tech experts design it for you.
Questions we get asked
Does Odoo 17 have an employee onboarding module?
There is no dedicated onboarding app in either edition of Odoo 17. In practice onboarding is a project you duplicate per hire, with stages such as Offer, Paperwork, IT Setup and First Week and tasks assigned to HR, IT and the manager. Enterprise's Sign, Documents and Knowledge apps make the paperwork and the handbook smoother, but none of them is required.
How does a new hire get into Employees in Odoo 17?
From Recruitment. Open the successful application and click Create Employee: Odoo copies the name, contact details and attachments into a new employee record and links it back to the application. You then fill in department, manager, work address, working schedule and contract. Someone hired outside the recruitment process is simply created directly in the Employees app.
Can Odoo 17 send onboarding emails automatically?
Yes, using email templates and automated actions, both in Community. An automated action watches for a condition, such as a new employee record appearing or a task reaching a stage, and then sends the matching template or schedules a follow-up activity for whoever owns the step. Marketing Automation is a different tool aimed at campaigns and is not what you want here.
What should a new employee be able to do on day one in Odoo 17?
Sign in as an internal user carrying only the application groups their role needs, find themselves and their manager in Employees, request leave in Time Off, and log hours in Timesheets if the team bills time. Creating the user account and the employee record as two linked steps, rather than one, is what makes all of that line up.