Streamline Onboarding: Essential Principles & Trends for Tech Talent Integration

Human body expertly adapts to new conditions. When someone loses their sight, their other senses compensate, becoming superstars of the sensory world. Ever notice how people without sight often have hearing sharper than a bat’s? It’s because their body has learned to adapt and evolve to an internal change.

Or consider this: you’ve lived in sunny California all your life, and then you decide to move to chilly Minnesota. At first, the frosty winters feel like they’re biting right through you. But give it a year or two, and you’ll find yourself building snowmen with a smile on your face. Your body learns to deal with the cold, to adapt, and to even thrive in it. This is your body acclimating to an external change.

This fantastic adaptability isn’t just limited to your physical self. It applies to your work life too, especially when we talk about onboarding. When a newbie steps into your IT firm, they’re stepping into a whole new environment, and adaptation is key. They need to get comfortable with the company culture, the work schedule, the office setup, the technicalities, and the workplace social scene.

However, onboarding can be a tricky business. If not done right, it can lead to a new hire feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, and doubting their decision to join in the first place. As per a Sweetwork report, a whopping 93% of new hires confess that their onboarding experience impacts how long they stick around in an organization.

Here we’ll dive into some of the most relevant onboarding principles and fresh trends to make the onboarding journey for your new tech hires an exciting ride rather than a rocky road trip. 

 

Onboarding principles

The speed and accuracy of selecting the principles of a new hire’s onboarding have a direct impact on how fast the employee will start generating value for their new employer. In addition, effective onboarding procedures reduce the expenses associated with recruiting and hiring new staff.

We can say that onboarding is a process of mutual adaptation of the employee and the enterprise based on the acceptance or non-acceptance of the new professional and organizational working conditions by the new employee. It should be connected not only with strategic planning at the enterprise level but also with existing programs for developing personnel inside the established corporate culture.

To ensure that the hiring manager builds an effective onboarding strategy, he must implement the following principles.

1. Corporative onboarding

In order to hit the ground running, your newly-hired employee needs to get answers to questions related to the organization of the IT company:

• What is the position of the company in the market? Is it successful? What is it striving for?
• What are the mission, goals, and priorities of the company?
• Who are the key clients? Who are the main competitors?
• How is the organization managed? Who are leaders, executives, and owners?
• What is the structure of the IT company? Where are the departments located?
• Who is the employee’s direct manager?
• What is the frequency and method of reporting?
• What are the procedures and regulations?
• Who signs off on agreements?

2. Social onboarding

By accepting the position, a person adopts the team’s standards for behavior and communication and integrates into the group’s relationships, or in other words, the corporate culture. According to a SHRM report, 61% of new hires don’t receive any training on company culture, causing a feeling of loss and misunderstanding of their role in the team.

When getting acquainted with the “atmosphere of the enterprise,” the new employee must find out the answers to the following questions:

• What is the communication style acceptable to the team (friendly, formal, business, bohemian, comedy club, etc.)?
• What are the methods of communication for employees of equal levels or positions, subordinates, and managers?
• Are there any groups or specific territories in the enterprise? What are the relationships between them?
• Who has children of the same age? Who has pets? Who has similar hobbies?
• What can/cannot be discussed at corporate events?
• Who should (or shouldn’t) you go to for advice?

3. Organizational onboarding

Every working person spends most of their day at work, and this time must be arranged in a specific manner. During the first few days, weeks, and months of employment, a newbie must deal with several organizational issues:

• Where is the restroom, the lunch room, the lounge, or a gaming room (if available)?
• Where can I store my things?
• How can I get a permanent pass?
• Who will set up my PC?
• When and how are the salaries paid?
• Do they serve tea or coffee here?
• Can I hang a poster of my favorite band above my desk? Family photo? Calendar with views of nature?
• How do I book an office, meeting room, or company vehicle?
• Whom should I contact about computer problems?
• Where can I get the required corporate mobile or health insurance?
• How do you celebrate birthdays? 
• What time is it allowed to leave? Is it possible to be late in the morning?
• What are the vacation policies?

4. Technical onboarding

Each company uses its own set of hardware and software. A new tech talent during the onboarding period will have to:

• Remember new passwords, familiarize themselves with the new keyboard, set up their email software, bookmark vital websites, and add crucial contacts to their address book.

• Master a new model of tech equipment, fax machine, photocopier, etc.
• Learn the internal information storage system and remember which folders can and cannot be redacted.
• Master specific production equipment.
• Master different software.

5. Professional onboarding

This type of onboarding is tied to the professional side of the newly-hired employee’s activities. The newcomer needs to learn the following professional aspects of work:

• Technologies used at the company.
• Work standards and documentation.
• Norms and legal considerations.
• Professional and career growth perspectives.
• Upskilling and training opportunities.
• Parameters for performance tracking.

Among all onboarding principles, this would be the most relevant due to it having a direct impact on immediate performance.

6. Psycho-physiological onboarding

This is a form of adaptation to a pattern of labor and rest that is necessary in order to adjust to life inside the company. Particular attention should be paid to the psychological onboarding of junior employees with no prior work experience, especially in large IT organizations with a large number of employees. Generally speaking, fresh employees who lack work experience fall short when it comes to effective work environment behavior skills. This can result in difficulty building the internal cross-department relationships needed in order to maximize their work output, among other issues.

For successful organizational and professional onboarding, it is recommended to establish and develop a mentoring program so that a new-hire does not feel “abandoned” after starting. In partnership with HR, this mentor should be responsible for the bulk of a new-hire’s professional onboarding, as well as helping the new-hire build relationships with those outside their department.

 

New onboarding trends in 2022

Chatbots

Chatbots make the work of the HR department easier and make onboarding more interesting for the employee. They can send new employees a checklist or reminders of what needs to be done on their first working day, a tips guide on communication in Slack or Asana, as well as the history of the company. It allows new people to check compensation, apply for vacation time, or check employee training opportunities.

The Estonian company OSA Hybrid Platform uses a Slack-based bot for onboarding. A newcomer can ask the program about the rules of work, structure, history of the organization, and where to get a leave application. Chatbots increase engagement, remind workers about plans, meetings, deadlines, and help structure the information received.

Elements of gamification

Add some fun to the normally dull onboarding process. While a new-hire’s first day isn’t meant to be all fun and games, the dynamic between employee and employer in the first days after a start can be thought of like a first date: when done well, an employee’s first few days can be very memorable and leave a lasting impression. Gaming elements can help increase the newcomer’s interest in the life of the IT company.

As an example, a mobile app was implemented to streamline the HR onboarding procedure in the TalentTech IT organization. Newcomers use it to adjust to their workplace and get used to the processes involved by performing simple gaming tasks. For instance, the employee must study an analysis of his job offer, meet with a manager, and view a promotional video about the company in order to earn points, and the tasks are divided into levels corresponding to particular onboarding stages.

In addition, a coach monitors the development of the professional. The application has a dashboard that displays active events, the number of newcomers who have already started and completed the process, and what results they have achieved. Gamification elements and a rating system with leaderboards, badges, and other competitive mechanics positively and noticeably affect engagement as well.

Welcome box, letter, and introductory courses

Email marketing company MailChimp onboards several hundred employees annually and has a special team to handle that process. The newly-hired employee provides information on their favorite meal, color, and hobbies in a pre-class questionnaire. On the first day, their desk is customized to their preferences. Onboarding managers even go so far as to order sushi or pizza shaped decor for the new person’s working area.

Internet marketing agency Netpeak uses an introductory training program with interactive elements. The course helps to consolidate information about the company’s mission, values, and history. The automated process saves Netpeak onboarding managers about 200 hours per month. 

Do not neglect to send a welcome letter to a new IT talent the day before starting, including the details of what is awaiting them. Add personalized details, and the new team member will feel their value from the first working day.

Virtual and augmented reality

It can make sense to use AR and VR technologies when a new employee needs to work through various situations: production processes, negotiations, or communication with a client. For example, the American restaurant chain Honeygrow has implemented virtual learning into onboarding. Using it, employees can upgrade their communication skills or learn new dish cooking methods.

The company tracks what percentage of workers are certified as part of their training program. By the end of the first month of using VR in their onboarding, these numbers increased from 50% to 77% during that time.

Siemens AG also uses virtual reality technology. It allows the employees to simulate work on gas and oil rigs in a safe environment. It helps new employees learn what actions can lead to disaster and what to do if they make a mistake.

Active communication with the manager

It is crucial to establish communication between a new employee and a direct manager as fast as possible under the control of the onboarding team. A well-built adaptation process must guarantee that the employee does not hesitate to ask questions and treats the requests and feedback of the manager responsibly.

Do not abandon a new employee by throwing them in the deep end of the swimming pool and expecting them to swim out. That’s why tech leaders and HR managers should hold weekly meetings with their new people. Such meetings will help the new-hires relieve their anxiety, while opening up and building connections with other team members. Remember: effective onboarding is done better as a team. Don’t leave a beginner alone.

 

Are you looking for the best way to create an effective onboarding experience for your IT company? Connect with us at Bateman Fox and unlock powerful strategies tailored to bolster your business’ culture. From empowering staff members to creating a contented workplace, we can provide the guidance you need to ensure your team is set up for success. Let’s discuss the possibilities and start making changes today!