Prepare a new employee's email and collaboration access from an approved role request. Giving each person an individual account makes access changes, recovery and accountability easier than reusing a previous employee's login.
01 Prepare the account before the start date
- Confirm the employee's name, start date, manager and required role. Agree the email address using the organisation's naming policy and check for collisions.
- Select the appropriate product and licence. List the mail groups, shared mailboxes, calendars, folders and applications the role actually requires.
- Create the named account through the relevant provider's administrator controls. Apply the correct organisational unit, policy or equivalent scope.
- Arrange a secure first sign-in and MFA enrolment. Give recovery instructions directly to the verified employee without sharing reusable credentials in a group conversation.
- Grant approved access to team resources and test one example of each required task. Confirm that unrelated departments' information remains inaccessible.
- Provide the sign-in address, support route, acceptable-use guidance and instructions for common tasks such as replying from a department address.
- Review access after the employee has started. Remove temporary permissions and correct missing access through the normal approval process.
Common questions
Can I rename the former employee's account?
That can mix identities, old messages, recovery settings and ownership. Create a new identity and transfer business resources deliberately unless a carefully reviewed provider workflow requires otherwise.
Should every employee be an administrator?
No. Grant administration only for a defined responsibility and use the least scope that fulfils it.
What if the person needs access before a licence is available?
Resolve the subscription or approved alternative first. Sharing another employee's password creates an ownership and access problem that is harder to unwind later.