For a 175-person company, the best employee onboarding setup is usually two tools: an HRIS such as BambooHR, Rippling or HiBob for paperwork, payroll and IT setup, and Trainual for the role-based training, documented processes and first-90-day goals that get new hires doing the job. The HRIS gets someone hired correctly. Trainual gets them working.
If you run operations at a company this size, you've seen the gap. The offer letter is signed, the tax forms are in, the laptop shows up on time, and the new hire still spends week two asking the same three people how things work. Each manager trains a little differently, so two people in the same role learn two versions of the job. That gap shows up early: 44% of new hires have second thoughts about their role within the first week, and 62% name inadequate training on company products and services as a top onboarding frustration.
This guide ranks the onboarding tools a 150 to 250 person company is most likely to consider, says plainly what each one does well, and shows where new-hire training fits next to the HRIS you already run or are about to choose.
Quick answer: the best onboarding software for a 175-person company
- Best for role-based training, SOPs and the first 90 days: Trainual
- Best HRIS for IT and app provisioning: Rippling
- Best HRIS for HR-led onboarding at this size: BambooHR
- Best HRIS for mid-size, multi-team culture: HiBob
- Best for payroll-first mid-market teams: Paylocity
- Best for simple payroll and paperwork: Gusto
- Best for international and remote hiring: Deel
- Best for teams already on ADP payroll: ADP Workforce Now
- Best for companies planning to pass 1,000 people: Workday
Every HRIS on this list connects to Trainual, so the choice isn't HRIS or Trainual. It's which HRIS, plus how new hires learn the job.
Why most answers to this question list HR systems
Ask for "employee onboarding software" and most roundups return HR platforms. That's reasonable: at 175 people you need an HRIS, and every major HRIS includes an onboarding module. Those modules are good at the administrative half of onboarding. They collect documents, enroll benefits, set up payroll and, in some cases, provision laptops and app accounts.
The other half is where operations leaders feel the pain. An HRIS onboarding module rarely holds the training content for a specific role, the step-by-step processes the team runs, a clear record of who owns what, or a way to make sure every manager teaches the same standard. That's not a flaw in the HRIS. It's a different job.
What an HRIS onboarding module covers (and what it doesn't)
Here's how the two halves split across the onboarding jobs that matter most at this size.
The short version: let the HRIS own the employee record, and let a training and operations platform own how each role learns the work. For a deeper look at how the two connect, see our guide to onboarding software with HR integrations.
What 175 people changes about onboarding
Onboarding that worked at 40 people tends to break somewhere between 100 and 250. Three things change.
Managers can't train everyone in person anymore. At this size you're hiring every month, often in several departments at once. If training lives in a manager's head, each new hire gets whatever version that manager has time to give. Role-based training paths give everyone in the same seat the same starting point.
Roles split across departments. "Operations" becomes dispatch, scheduling, quality and customer support, each with its own processes. A generic company checklist no longer covers what a person in a specific role needs to know, which is why a new-hire onboarding checklist has to branch by role.
One person's knowledge becomes a risk. When the only person who knows how to run month-end close or onboard a new client is out, work stops. Documenting those processes is part of onboarding, not a separate project. Our guide on documenting institutional knowledge covers how to start.
The cost of getting this wrong lands fast. Enboarder's 2025 research found 20.5% of new hires leave within their first 90 days, and every early exit restarts the whole cycle.
The 9 best onboarding tools for a 175-person company
1. Trainual
Best for: operations teams that need new hires trained on their role, their processes and their first 90 days of goals, on top of the HRIS that handles paperwork.
Trainual is training, operations and performance software for growing teams. It doesn't replace your HRIS. It picks up where the HRIS onboarding module stops: after the paperwork, when a new hire needs to learn how work gets done in their role.
The training suite holds your SOPs, policies and onboarding paths, assigned by role rather than by person, so every new dispatcher or account manager gets the same training. Knowledge checks confirm it landed, e-signatures cover policy acknowledgments, and AI answers let new hires ask questions and get answers from your own documentation instead of interrupting a teammate. So everyone knows how work should be done.
The operations suite carries onboarding past the first week. New hires get 30, 60 and 90-day goals, a scorecard for their role, and a place in the team's meetings, updates and action items. So everyone knows what needs to happen today.
The performance suite closes the loop. The first review cycle, growth areas and feedback and praise tie back to the role's documented responsibilities, so a new hire's 90-day review starts from what they were trained on and what they owned, not from a manager's memory.
What it doesn't cover: Trainual isn't an HRIS. It doesn't run payroll, benefits enrollment, tax forms or device provisioning. Pair it with the HRIS that does.
How it connects: Trainual has integrations with every HRIS on this list. With BambooHR, for example, employees are added to and removed from Trainual automatically. Teams like Trailstone Insurance cut onboarding from 3 to 5 days down to 1.5 days, and High 5 Plumbing and HVAC cut onboarding time by 80%.
2. Rippling
Best for: companies where IT setup is the hardest part of onboarding.
Rippling combines HR, payroll and IT in one platform. Its standout for onboarding is provisioning: when someone is hired, Rippling can set up their apps, accounts and devices from the same record. For a 175-person company with a lot of software and access to manage, that saves real hours.
What it doesn't cover: role-specific training content, process documentation, and clarity on what each new hire owns.
Pair it with Trainual: new hires added in Rippling can be added to Trainual and assigned their role's training in a few clicks (Rippling integration).
3. BambooHR
Best for: HR-led onboarding at companies in the 100 to 250 range.
BambooHR is one of the most widely used HRIS platforms for companies this size. Its onboarding tools cover new-hire packets, e-signatures, task lists and a welcome experience, all tied to a clean employee record that HR teams find easy to run.
What it doesn't cover: the training itself. BambooHR can assign a task that says "complete safety training," but the training content and the processes behind it live somewhere else.
Pair it with Trainual: employees sync automatically, added and removed as they're hired and leave (BambooHR integration).
4. HiBob
Best for: mid-size companies with several teams or locations that care about culture and connection.
HiBob (Bob) is an HRIS built for mid-size, multi-team companies. Its onboarding flows, people directory and culture features help new hires get oriented to the company and their colleagues.
What it doesn't cover: role-by-role process training and the SOPs a new hire needs to do the job.
Pair it with Trainual: use Bob for the employee record and Trainual for what each role learns (HiBob integration).
5. Paylocity
Best for: payroll-first companies that want onboarding in the same system as payroll.
Paylocity is a payroll and HCM platform popular with mid-market companies. Its onboarding module handles paperwork, tax forms and benefits enrollment alongside payroll, which keeps the administrative side in one place.
What it doesn't cover: role-based training paths and documented processes.
Pair it with Trainual: connect it to Trainual for the training half of onboarding (Paylocity integration).
6. Gusto
Best for: simpler payroll and paperwork, especially for companies at the lower end of this range.
Gusto is known for easy payroll and self-serve onboarding: new hires enter their own information, sign documents and set up direct deposit. It's straightforward to run, which is why many companies start on it.
What it doesn't cover: at 175 people, some teams outgrow its HR depth, and it doesn't hold role training or SOPs.
Pair it with Trainual: keep Gusto for payroll and add Trainual for training (Gusto integration).
7. Deel
Best for: companies hiring across countries or with many remote and contract workers.
Deel is built for global hiring, with employer-of-record services, contractor management and compliant onboarding across countries. If part of your 175 people work outside your home country, it handles the contracts and compliance that domestic HRIS tools don't.
What it doesn't cover: a consistent way to train people in different locations on the same processes.
Pair it with Trainual: use Trainual so every location learns the same process (Deel integration).
8. ADP Workforce Now
Best for: companies already running payroll on ADP.
ADP Workforce Now is a long-standing payroll and HCM platform for mid-size companies, with onboarding, benefits and compliance features. If ADP already runs payroll, using its onboarding module keeps records in one system.
What it doesn't cover: role training, SOPs and the day-to-day clarity a new hire needs after paperwork.
Pair it with Trainual: connect ADP to Trainual for the training layer (ADP Workforce Now integration).
9. Workday
Best for: companies planning to grow well past 1,000 people.
Workday is an enterprise HCM platform with deep onboarding, talent and workforce planning features. It's powerful, and for most 175-person companies it's more system than they need today.
What it doesn't cover: at this size, setup and cost can outweigh the benefit, and role training still needs its own home.
Pair it with Trainual: if you're already on Workday, Trainual connects to it (Workday integration).
Who owns what after the offer is signed
The clearest way to split onboarding between the two tools is by stage. The HRIS owns the employee record. Trainual owns what the new hire learns, what they're working toward and how their first review goes.
How to choose by scenario
Start with the HRIS that fits how your company runs, then add the training layer.
If you're still choosing an HRIS, pick it for payroll, benefits and IT. Don't pick it for training. Most HRIS onboarding modules stop at task lists, and the training content will need a home either way. Our guide to onboarding software for SOP-heavy operations goes deeper on the process-heavy case.
Onboarding checklist vs. onboarding training
A checklist tells a new hire what to complete. Training tells them how to do the job. Both matter, and they belong in different places.
- Checklist items (HRIS): sign the offer, complete tax forms, enroll in benefits, set up direct deposit, get a laptop and accounts.
- Training items (Trainual): learn the company's policies, the processes for the role, the tools the team uses and what the role owns, then pass a knowledge check.
- Goal items (Trainual): 30, 60 and 90-day goals, a role scorecard and check-ins with a manager.
When the checklist and the training live in the same list, training tends to shrink to a single line item. Separating them is how you measure time to productivity, not just paperwork completion.
How long does onboarding training take to set up?
It depends on how much is already written down. Most teams don't start from zero: they have docs, slide decks and recordings scattered across tools. A practical starting point is the three to five roles you hire for most, plus the company-wide content every new hire needs.
- Start with existing material. AI drafting can turn existing notes and documents into editable training.
- Use templates. Free Trainual templates cover common processes and policies, including IT setup and onboarding for new employees.
- Assign by role, not person. Build each path once, and every future hire in that role gets it automatically through role-based assignment.
- Get help if you need it. Guided implementation is available for teams that want support building their first paths.
What to measure in the first 90 days
Onboarding software should make these numbers visible, not just paperwork status:
- Training completion by role: who finished their path and who's stuck (what to track).
- Time to productivity: how long until a new hire handles core work without help.
- 30/60/90-day goal progress: tracked on a scorecard, not in a manager's notes.
- 90-day retention: how many new hires are still here after the first quarter.
- First review results: how new hires perform against their role's documented expectations in their first review cycle.
For the full ROI case, see how to measure the ROI of training and operations.
Ready to see how Trainual works?
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Frequently asked questions
What is the best employee onboarding software for a 175-person company?
For a 175-person company, the best setup is usually an HRIS such as BambooHR, Rippling or HiBob for paperwork, payroll and IT setup, plus Trainual for role-based training, documented processes and first-90-day goals. The HRIS gets someone hired correctly; Trainual gets them doing the job.
Do I need onboarding software if I already have an HRIS?
Your HRIS handles the administrative side of onboarding, such as documents, benefits and payroll. Most HRIS onboarding modules don't hold role training or process documentation, so companies at this size usually add a training platform that connects to the HRIS.
Does Trainual replace BambooHR or Rippling?
No. Trainual isn't an HRIS and doesn't run payroll, benefits or device provisioning. It connects to BambooHR, Rippling, Gusto, HiBob, Deel and other HR systems, and handles the training, processes, goals and reviews that come after paperwork.
What's the difference between an onboarding checklist and onboarding training?
A checklist tracks tasks a new hire must complete, like signing forms and setting up accounts. Training teaches them how to do their role, using documented processes and knowledge checks, and it belongs in a system built for training.
How long does it take to set up onboarding training for 175 employees?
It depends on how much is already documented. Most teams start with the three to five roles they hire for most, use existing documents and templates as a base, and assign training by role so every future hire in that role gets it automatically.
Can onboarding software track new-hire goals and the first review?
Yes, if it includes operations and performance tools. Trainual tracks 30, 60 and 90-day goals on role scorecards and runs review cycles tied to each role's documented responsibilities.
