The Art of Onboarding
Four steps to create an onboarding worth bragging about
People talk about the importance of making a great first impression as an individual, but what about the first impression as a company? What you choose to say, present, and introduce to your new colleague during their onboarding is the first impression your company makes on them.
That first impression has the power to create a honeymoon phase, and it also has the power to create a feeling of uncertainty, like not knowing what to do or whom to approach for help or even if joining the company was the right choice.
At MAG we strive to have autonomous game teams. In my role within People & Culture this means enabling our teams to function without any unnecessary bureaucracy. So, before we start it’s important to mention that creating a successful onboarding is mainly the responsibility of MAG team members. My role is just to give them the right tools to succeed.
Now, buckle up and get ready for four key steps on how to create a first impression worth bragging about!
STEP 1 — Next level pre-boarding
Remember, many new joiners often come from a comfortable and familiar environment where they know who to talk to and how to go about their work. Hence, it is crucial to use the time you have before your new colleague joins to make sure they will feel taken care of and have a sense of belonging when they land at MAG. For most people getting a new job is a big deal, a major life change that requires support.
Being organized is key. Don’t send out information to the new joiner from all different directions. One common mistake is to not have a clear idea of how to communicate with new joiners about things like tech and hardware, bank details, finding out about their general interests and other important stuff that has to work from day one.
When you are structuring and establishing who will be doing what during the pre-boarding process, it’s time to get personal. Many companies send a nice, personal welcoming email. This is a chance for you to walk the extra mile; give them a call as well! You can personally introduce yourself by asking if they’ve seen the email and if they have any questions. I’ve found that personally giving new employees support before they officially start their position has a more positive impact. Plus it gives them the advantage of having a social connection from the minute they join the company.
I can’t overstate how great an opportunity that first email is to crank up the personal approach. Show that the information you’re sending is specifically created for them and that you’ve made an effort to make sure that they are well informed. In our case, being a mobile games company, this entails a pre-boarding document where the new joiner can read about their game team, what games they should play before joining and what to expect during their first day!
STEP 2 — The first day
Let’s assume that our new joiner is a developer. Before this point we’ve hopefully informed our new developer if they need to prepare anything, where and when to show up and a short brief on what they can expect on their first day.
Once they’ve shown up and gotten a good look at the office, it’s time for them to get their eager hands on their equipment. It’s no coincidence that some of the most viewed YouTube-channels contain people unboxing stuff. Apparently, people love seeing something concealed being revealed, no matter if it’s their brand-new MacBook or a pair of MAG branded socks. That’s why we put some extra time into setting up their welcome package. Everything they need or don’t need (like tons of awesome swag) should be waiting for them on their arrival.
Our developers are usually very ambitious and eager to jump right in there and get things done. However, I find that my role at that point is to firmly hold them back. Taking it nice and easy might sound tedious, but it’s critical in order to avoid an overload of information. Too much information in a short amount of time will accomplish nothing but fatigue and forgetting the things you just learned. There will be plenty of time in the future for them to do actual programming, but how many opportunities will they get to put stickers all over their computer, try all the different types of coffee we have or find the perfect avatar for each system?
STEP 3 — Getting to know us
Speaking of opportunities, we’ve arrived at the phase where we need to create social opportunities for our new developer. I’ve been exposed to (and regretfully exposed others to) a concept known as “schedule your meetings and other stuff with different stakeholders as you see fit”. Even though this concept was highly unpopular with me, I had the audacity to put others through the same treatment. But rest assured, I’m reformed and nowadays a strong believer of the approach now known as “actually creating social opportunities for new employees”.
In my experience there are several ways of doing this, and not every method floats every company’s boat. It doesn’t have to come from a pragmatic point of view. Every meeting doesn’t have to be directly connected to, in this case, the game production or code base. Include meetings that give the new joiner a sense of company culture, what values you cling to and how the organization operates.
I used to introduce people on their first day with, “We have a new colleague called this who’ll work with that joining us then”. But when I joined MAG, I saw that we had a specific Slack channel dedicated to introducing new joiners in an exciting way. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer my first encounter to be in the likes of “Hey! I heard you also love putting mustard on your pancakes!” instead of “Hey! Welcome”.
STEP 4 — Measure, reflect & change
Now when your new developer is properly introduced and up and running, it would be nice to know if you gave them a good onboarding, right? Previously we only asked them if their onboarding experience was positive, which doesn’t really help us figure out how we can improve our process. Now we measure the success of our onboarding using an employee survey system called &Frankly instead. In our current example, our developer would receive a survey concerning areas like if they received the correct information, if they felt welcome and if they have someone to ask for help. This helps me in my role to improve our process so it is more effective and agile.
Being data driven is great, but we can’t lose the personal touch either. As we measure and analyze, we also have the aforementioned follow-up meetings where you give the new employee a chance to reflect on their onboarding experience. The surveys give us quantitative data, perfect for making general changes, but each individual supplies us with qualitative feedback that helps us understand their experience better.
For us it’s important that we operate like our fellow game teams, as agile and autonomous as possible. If we discover an area of the process that needs improvement, we have to have an enabling work environment that allows us to make this improvement happen without further ado.
Conclusion
I assure you, there is value to be found in investing in your onboarding process. Word does get around, and you only have one chance to create a great first impression. Your efforts will not go unnoticed, both internally in terms of building a healthy culture and externally when it comes to employer branding. And ultimately in increasing your chances of finding new amazing talent!
Fancy getting a first hand experience? Check out our current openings at our recruitment page!
