How we welcome people
At Zego, we aim to hire only the best people who can bring experience, drive and passion to their every day work. We’re always super excited when a candidate accepts a role with us and we can’t wait for them to get started as a Zegon.
We know that the time between accepting a job offer and actually starting can feel like an eternity; by the time your first day comes around, you can be left feeling quite disconnected from your new company. It may have been a good few weeks (or even a few months!) since you’ve been in touch with anyone there. That’s why, at Zego, we make the most of this time! The new joiner’s manager will be in touch with their new team member frequently, having calls or going for lunch, keeping them up-to-date with company developments and team news. We also have monthly socials, so as soon as someone has accepted a role at Zego they will be invited to join in these events. Whether it’s coming to our summer party or taking part in a scavenger hunt, it’s an excellent way for our new Zegons to meet and get to know some of the team.
We like to make all new starters feel really welcome and part of the team from day one. Turning up on your first day can be daunting, and there’s nothing worse than arriving in a room full of people who don’t have a clue who you are. To make sure that this doesn’t happen, we always announce the arrival of a new starter over email and we always introduce them in our Monday morning stand-up meeting. All new Zegons are also assigned a buddy. This is someone from outside of their team, who is another friendly face in the company who they can grab a coffee or go for lunch with.
The first two weeks are always among the most important in any new job; it’s the time when you will figure out if the company is everything you thought and hoped it would be. Zego is an undeniably fast-paced environment, so we want to make sure that people get up to speed quickly, but we don’t want to shock them and leave them feeling totally overwhelmed. Most of our new starters don’t have a background in insurance, which means the first few weeks are usually a steep learning curve. To help with this, we plan a tailored induction for each new joiner so they get to understand what it truly means to be a Zegon. By presenting our new starters with a good overview of how the insurance industry works, we are better able to explain what it is we’re doing here at Zego.
One of our biggest priorities is making sure that all of our new starters are set up for success so that they love working at Zego and can reach their full potential. One of our values is We don’t need permission to do our jobs — this autonomy enables Zegons to have freedom in deciding how they want to do their work. At the same time, we appreciate that this can seem quite overwhelming to somebody coming into a new role. Therefore, to help guide our new joiners, we set clear objectives for their first 30, 60 and 90 days so they know what is expected of them. New Zegons also have weekly 1–2–1s with their manager to give feedback (from their manager to the new team member and vice versa), discuss progress and for managers to understand what extra support or tools new starters need to be able to achieve their objectives.
Welcoming and supporting our new team members is of the utmost importance. It’s the people that make this business, and so it’s important to look after them right from the very beginning.
