Most of the time, starting a new job is exciting and crucial for the employee journey. It has been a little bit more than a month since I joinedย Growe, and I would like to share my onboarding experience and elaborate on two questions: what should a good onboarding look like and what are the most common mistakes IT companies make during the onboarding period?
Employee onboarding in IT companies typically involves several key activities to ensure new hires are integrated smoothly into the organization and are set up for success. Some of the most important onboarding activities include:
๐น ๐ข๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: Providing an overview of the company, its culture, mission, and values, as well as introducing new hires to their team members and key stakeholders.
๐น ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐: Offering training sessions to familiarize new hires with the companyโs systems, tools, and processes, as well as providing opportunities for ongoing skill development and learning.
๐น ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐: Clearly outlining job responsibilities, performance expectations, and goals to ensure new hires understand what is expected of them.
๐น ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฝ: Providing new hires with the necessary access to systems, software, and equipment to perform their roles effectively.
๐น ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐: Assigning a mentor or buddy to help new hires navigate their roles and the organization, providing guidance and support.
๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ-๐ถ๐ป๐: Regularly check in with new hires to provide feedback, address any concerns, and ensure they are adjusting well to their new roles.
๐น ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ: Encouraging new hires to participate in team activities and social events to help them feel part of the team and the company culture.
๐น ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐: Conduct regular performance reviews to assess new hiresโ progress, provide constructive feedback, and identify areas for improvement or further development. Sometimes this item might be delayed due to not having performance-driven goals.
๐น ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐: Seeking feedback from new hires about their onboarding experience and using this feedback to continuously improve the onboarding process for future hires.
By implementing these key activities, IT companies can effectively onboard new employees, setting them up for long-term success within the organization.
Letโs talk about mistakes that are usually made during the onboarding flow.
๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐ข๐ป๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ:
๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด: Not having a structured onboarding plan leads to confusion and inefficiency.
๐บ ๐๐ป๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด: New hires may feel lost without adequate training on the companyโs systems, tools, and processes.
๐บ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: Unclear communication about expectations, company culture, and other important information may cause misunderstandings.
๐บ ๐ก๐ฒ๐ด๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐: Without a mentor, new hires can feel isolated and unsupported.
๐บ ๐๐ด๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ: Not seeking or acting on feedback misses opportunities for improvement.
๐บ ๐ข๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: Bombarding new hires with too much information can overwhelm them.
๐บ ๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ: Failure to integrate new hires into the team and culture can make them feel alienated.
๐บ ๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐น๐: Without clear goals, new hires donโt know whatโs expected of them.
๐บ ๐๐ด๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐: Overlooking legalities can lead to future complications.
๐บ ๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐จ๐ฝ: Lack of follow-up after onboarding leaves new hires feeling unsupported and disengaged.
By avoiding these mistakes and implementing best practices, IT companies can improve the effectiveness of their employee onboarding process and set new hires up for long-term success within the organization.
๐ฆ๐ผ, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ? Let me share it more in a storytelling wayโฆ I consider my onboarding to be smooth, but at the same time, so much has already happened. For context, the Country Headโs role is to establish and succeed with the brand in the specific region.
On my first day, I got 2 main contacts, so-called go-to people โ the Business Partner and the regional COO. The first two weeks were quite active in terms of introductions โ I had intro calls with all the departments and their responsible managers. It was quite an intensive dive-in, as I was mostly asking questions to learn how they work and better understand the industry better. After all these calls, my biggest challenge was remembering all faces/ names/ roles and to which departments they belonged as I met about 25 colleagues in a short period.
In parallel, I was doing an online onboarding course, which I found to be very convenient โ it is structured, and you can read it a few times to memorize or return to a certain topic later. Another interesting thing was the part about gambling history. Did you know that dice were invented around 3000 Before the Common Era?
Of course, the first month was not only about meeting people and throwing back to the school time for learning history but also a bunch of business topics. On top of that, I have visited 2 new countries as a part of field research and started to learn a new language.
Do you think my onboarding was good or could be improved? What was the most interesting onboarding experience you ever had?
April 1, 2024
Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more
Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more Together everyone achieves more