Welcoming new team members on their first day of work can be a source of stress for both the employees and the people responsible for introducing them to the company. A well-executed onboarding process is crucial to avoid any confusion or dissatisfaction.
Creating an Exceptional Onboarding Experience: Our Approach at Snowdog
Onboarding is an important process of introducing a new employee to the company. It sounds simple, but at Snowdog it took us a while to create a process tailored to our needs, that meets our requirements while adapting to our company values.
Good onboarding means less stress for the new person and a greater chance that they will want to stay in our team for a long time. It contributes to a good and harmonious team environment and shows that the company cares about employees. A well-coordinated team very often brings people great friendships for many years; that’s why at Snowdog we want new people to meet colleagues and feel accepted among them.
I have prepared a list of practices which we apply to onboarding a new person to our team. It’s also a good preview of what you can expect after accepting our offer.
1. Onboarding starts way before the first day of work.
The onboarding process begins as soon as a candidate has accepted an offer. It is important to maintain constant contact, which also reduces barriers on the 1st day of work.
Sending a welcome email, describing the agenda of their first day at the office, planning and inviting them to meetings, completing all the formalities — these are all things that should not wait until the first day! The new employee must also have time to read a draft of the proposed contract and ask any questions.
Snowdog’s perfect pre-onboarding recipe follows one simple rule — contact should be continuous but not too overwhelming. We are not going to be sending an SMS / MMS every day or welcome gifts to your home address — we think too intrusive communication can build frustration rather than enthusiasm.
2. Trivial details are important — don’t assume that some things that are obvious to us are always clear to new people.
Onboarding is usually run by people experienced in the team, so it is sometimes hard to put yourself in the shoes of a person joining a new team, especially when you went through this process more than a year ago. It is worth remembering that sometimes things that are obvious to us are not like that for new people. At Snowdog, already during communication before the 1st day of work, I try to let newcomers know about small matters of big importance, such as bringing your own mug, information about the lack of a dress code, how to address other people or the language (English is our official language). I believe these small details will help you feel more confident on your 1st day in our company.
3. Bio & photo — it’s time to say hello!
Writing a short bio about yourself and sending a photo is a useful tool to bring a new person into the team. At Snowdog we introduce new people with a photo and short note about their interests via chat. This solution gives us the opportunity to make contact and provide topics for conversation over coffee later! An additional benefit is to immediately inform all employees about the arrival of a new person on board, which prevents awkward situations when someone does not recognize a new person in the kitchen.
4. Treat everyone individually.
We are supporters of introducing new employees individually. Each position has different job specifics and required tools, therefore only one person can go through onboarding on one day. The 1st day of work is definitely an important day for every person who joins our team, that’s why we want to make new members feel special and have time for questions. Each time, onboarding is adapted to a specific person who decides for example about how they wish to say hello to the team. We have experience in onboarding very open, sociable people but also a bit more introverted — we understand that everyone has a different pace of integrating into a new team, so an individual approach is important to us and our processes must be balanced in such a way that everyone feels good.
5. The 2 parts of onboarding.
First, “general” onboarding introduces a new person to the company’s principles, rules, office life, space, and basic tools. The second part is technical onboarding, which introduces them directly to projects and their first tasks with the new team. Each part is carried out by a different person.
6. We are ready for you!
It is important for new employees to feel we are ready to welcome them. We always try to make sure that the team lead or office manager knows about the start date ahead of time. We prepare a desk, equipment, access to tools, lists with the office plan, “ to-do list “ and welcome kit with the company’s gadget so that anyone would start with a great first day of work and leave work with a positive first impression. Small gestures in the form of a greeting card on your desk can mean a lot.
7. Call me buddy — support in the first weeks of work.
A buddy is a dedicated person from the closest team who will carry out technical onboarding and help with joining a specific project efficiently. Anyone who can and is willing to implement a new person in projects can become a Buddy. The role of the Buddy is very important — if theyefficiently help the newcomer start completing tasks, they will be able to achieve their goals faster. At Snowdog, from the beginning of the process, we try to present the role of your Buddy clearly — you can address him with any questions big or small and your Buddy will always find time to help you.
8. Feedback is important.
Discussing the progress of a new employee is very important — the sooner they find out about what is going well and what they can improve, the better. The issue of feedback the other way is also important — we are eager to listen to insights about the company and how someone is finding their work with us. At Snowdog, we try to adapt procedures to the team and not the other way round, so please share your opinions and help change the onboarding process to make it even more pleasant for the future. After completing the onboarding process and successfully passing the trial period, I send an additional survey in which you may anonymously express your opinion about the processes.
9. Remote onboarding? Of course!
Snowdog is a team of specialists from around the world. Inevitably, that means remote onboarding will sometimes be required. Fortunately, almost all of our standard activities (well, except for preparing the desk) are able to be carried out remotely using calls, emails or chat.
Remote team members are just as important for the team as those working in the office, and we can’t imagine company meetings without teleconferences. People working remotely are always included when we get our super snow hoodies, t-shirts or other gadgets. If a remote employee wishes to visit us in Poznan, we will always welcome them! In addition, once a year we meet at the New Year’s dinner. Since we work together regularly via Zoom, the barrier between us in the real world does not really exist.
10. Handbook — a guide for new employees.
The Snowdog Handbook for new employees is our latest achievement. It provides an excellent overview of all important information such as the organization’s culture or a description of the tools learned in onboarding. During the first day of work, the amount of new information is huge, so it’s great to be able to return to it several times if necessary. At Snowdog, we’re working on creating the perfect handbook for all new people, along with tips from other employees, team photos, and activities such as SNOW.DOG Adventure. Importantly, the handbook is not intended to replace onboarders or official company documentation, it is meant to complement our onboarding process and will hopefully make it even more enjoyable.
Conclusion
The process of onboarding a new employee is one of the biggest challenges of our dynamically developing team which is still changing and improving. Of course, we try not to forget that the employee is the most important element of this process and their well-being from the beginning is an important investment that will pay off in the form of a great team atmosphere.
