Onboarding is a key part here: at the starting point, the employee makes decisions before building any loyalty. So you need to show every bit of dedication in the most streamlined manner.
Our team does just that for living: we optimize and automate HR processes. With the help of BOTO, your Human Resource managers can focus on crucial stuff (like corporate prosecco brunches).
But let’s focus on your very own onboarding scenario. How to make a new team member happy? You need the goat. Sorry, the G. O. A T.
GEOGRAPHY
Start from the basics - toilet locations and “yes you can take any cup you prefer”, “no, not that one” yadda yadda. Complete paperwork. Greet the team. Tell all the little essentials.OBJECTIVES
Now your employee needs some clarity about the work: KPIs, objectives, and all types of expectations from the team. Newcomers want to show their best so tell them how.ASPIRATIONS
The next step is to build the right environment for ambition fulfillment. Show more than the basic agenda and leave some room for outperformance.TIME
Onboarding is not a week-long adventure. The whole three-month probation cycle should count as adaptation.Now let’s dive deeper into the goat (with even more gross puns ahead).
🚀 We felt an urge to update the checklist due to the fact that the world turned into a depressing hellhole bursting into flames. Relocation is on the rise and these sexy yellow thingies include some much-needed extra steps.
DAY -1: BEFORE THE OFFER
Act nice. Keep the conversation going. Give a glimpse of the office and the team. Just don’t fall into the “overly-attached girlfriend” trope.🚀 Share a boarding checklist with the aspiring applicant. Fill it with:
– bureaucratic requirements – all the documents to pass the border and apply for a legal job;
– pros and cons of the specific country (weather, infrastructure, religion, etc.);
– things you need to pack (from region-specific medical stuff and clothes you will need to e-cig supplies and kitchen utensils);
– short questionnaire about the relocation circumstances (family, pets, place to live, reasons to leave).
DAY 0: YAY!!! OFFER!
Now you have to pay the guy, so time shouldn’t be wasted. There’s a lot of stuff to be explored before DAY 1. This quite useful data dump consists of:✔️ A list of documents and a quick troubleshooting guide – usually some papers are missing/expired/eaten, so tell what to do in that case.
✔️ Office address (please, draw a map with all the “turn left before the red garbage bin” milestones), parking info. In case of remote work, provide all the info about your apps of choice.
✔️ COVID-19 guidelines (let’s all hope not to add monkeypox to the list).
✔️ Dress code (duh).
✔️ Brief description of the upcoming DAY 1.
✔️ Some ultra-specific extra questions (clothing size if you have some uniform or something like this).
🚀
– It’s good to track your hire’s location (not in a creepy way). Ask about the flights and arrival times.
– Check on arrival – mom tells it’s a nice thing to do.
– Provide the newcomer with some insights collected from the relocated members of the team. A small user-friendly guide will come in handy.
DAY 1: CORPORATE JETLAG
Yes, your deep philosophical vision of the company's role is important but heads have a tendency to explode. For DAY 1 stick to the basics:✔️ Ask company executives to greet your newcomers. That shows universal anticipation better than anything. “See, they are not sitting in a high castle”. In case they actually do, a short video greeting will be enough.
✔️ Send the first-day FAQ checklist (checklists inside the checklists are tight!):
– where to bring all the papers;
– how to obtain The Stuff (laptops, ID cards, sharpies);
– fantastic welcome packs and where to find them;
– tips on how to get acquainted with the team/team leader;
✔️ Provide some feedback from the previous newcomers – in-person or as quotes. Show that first-day anxiety is okay and this disorientation will not last (hopefully).
✔️ Give the “HUMAN MAP” (it sounded better in my head) – a list of contacts and their team roles. Here’s your assigned buddy, that’s your team leader’s name, call your HR manager by this phone – that stuff.
🚀 Buddypicking (is it even a word?) for relocatees requires some extra effort. Try to pick someone with relevant experience: little kids, same origins, shared hobbies.
✔️ Give the “ACTUAL MAP” (better) – the layout of the office.
✔️ As mealtime emerges provide a list of nice spots around or inside the office. Reviews from the local foodies are highly appreciated.
As the first day comes to fruition it’s time for FUN STUFF (no).
✔️ Provide a short quiz to cement the essentials like names and locations.
✔️ Give an adaption memo (with everything important summarised).
✔️ Send a regular pulse survey (How comfortable was your day).
DAY 2: DEEP INTO THE RABBIT SOMETHING
Sequels are usually worse, so we should try hard to make DAY 2 more of the Godfathers and Terminators.✔️ Send an extended contact list because new names are cool.
✔️ Offer a 1-2-1 meeting with a manager and the HR specialist. Provide the agenda and put some reminders. Collect feedback.
✔️ It’s finally time to learn about cash and relaxation. Give your newcomer a file with all the workflow details (hybrid office, holidays, sick leave policy, payroll, etc.).
✔️ Day 2 is perfect for a cultural walkthrough. Tell about the company values, guide through the corporate glossary, and remind of all the communication do’s, don’t’s, or whatever’s.
That was a lot to chew on, but evening quizzes are inevitable.
✔️ Provide a short quiz about everything learned today.
✔️ Send a regular pulse survey (How comfortable was your day).
DAY 3: CAN’T WAIT FOR AN EVENING QUIZ
Yeah, so do we, but before it happens you need to dig into the intricate structures. Exciting!!!✔️ Guide the employee through the corporate hierarchy with all the departments and business segmentation.
✔️ All of a sudden drop the link to a corporate wiki. Surprise-surprise, you had it up in your sleeve all that time.
✔️ Arrange a meeting with the team – no need to make a public outing, call just the people, new hire needs to know better. Sorry, John, you are not invited.
🚀 It would be nice to bring more relocates for the gig. Socialism is our end-goal. Sorry, I meant socialization. Or not.
✔️ Tell about some extra activities company provides.
TA-DA!!!
✔️ Provide a short quiz about everything learned today.
✔️ Send a regular pulse survey (How comfortable was your day).
🚀 The spreadsheet of useful local services and sites comes for the rescue at this point. Indeed, how do they call Craigslist in Lithuania?
DAY 4: TOOLS’N’RULES
From abstract to utilitarian is the right way to channel the info diet. So let’s move on.✔️ Instruct the hire over the essential tools (e-mail, Trello, chainsaws) and drop some guides most of these instruments provide.
✔️ Boring? What about a benefits package? Inspire your newbie with all the perks of being a corporate cog in the capitalism machine. Health insurance, discounts, gyms, you name it.
🚀 At this point, people usually start to think about the crazy load of stuff they need for propper living: school for kids, some furniture, paperwork attendances, you probably know the drill. It would be nice to discuss some rescheduling with spare day hours during the first months.
✔️ Our experience shows people don’t usually die of papercuts until DAY 4. Show your first aid kit NOW.
✔️ Provide a short quiz about everything learned today.
✔️ Send a regular pulse survey (How comfortable was your day).
DAY 5: PREVIOUSLY ON “THE OFFICE”
Day 5 is like that sitcom episode with clips from previous ones.✔️ Review all the feedback from DAY 2 1-2-1 meeting.
✔️ Run through the adaptation memo together and clarify existing issues.
✔️ Send a regular pulse survey (How comfortable was your day).
✔️ Recap the first week in a single document and congratulate your highly informed employee.
✔️ (optional) Tequila shots.
WEEK 2: WICKED WEEK
The new office persona is hatching. Give it some space.✔️ It all starts with the task list for the upcoming week.
✔️ Later on, drop an invitation for a welcome meeting with company executives. For some reason that counts as encouragement.
✔️ Here comes some corporate fortunetelling – it’s time time to speak about education and possible career developments: from courses (in-house or external) to extra projects (public talks, arranging internal events, yadda-yadda).
✔️ Hopefully, at the time your hire is already in love with the company. Isn’t that a perfect spot to announce a referral program? Get a qualified friend hired and that rad t-shirt with three wolves is yours forever. Woof!
✔️ As the week comes to it fruition, arrange another 1-2-1 meeting with a neat checklist of an agenda.
✔️ Day 10 is perfect for something fun. What about some self-assessment over the tasks completed during the week?
✔️ Even more fun comes with an extended well-being survey.
Too much fun, please go to sleep.
🚀 Two weeks have passed and it’s time to check on employees’ well-being not just inside the office. Gently ask about living conditions and adaptation issues.
That would also be great to have a chat with the previously attended buddy.
WEEK 3: MY HEART WILL GO ON
From baby steps to... Er… Regular size ones.✔️ Start the week with a task list.
✔️ At the end of the week, the employee receives their tasks back with a request to reflect on them.
✔️ Regular survey. Oh, didn’t we tell, survey results need to be monitored by the HR manager? Well, yeah.
WEEK 4: WHAT HAVE I BECOME
Traditional bangers like task lists with a little bit of something new.✔️ Start the week with a task list.
✔️ Share some slides on the company’s internal processes. By now something this info must be easily digestible.
✔️ The employee is asked to collect feedback from their co-workers and receives a checklist on how to ask for feedback.
✔️ At the end of the week ask your employee to reflect on the tasks completed through the week.
✔️ A regular pulse survey (a little bit extended) finishes the week.
🚀 At this point, the prolonged vacation turns into actual relocation. And here you come with:
– local cultural events digest;
– language practice masked as lunches with local employees.
MONTH 2: WHAT HAVE I BECOME.
Are you still here?✔️ Half the probation is over. Time for an extended survey about employees’ well-being.
🚀 Once again, some rain check over living conditions might help – your potential worker of the week is halfway through probation.
✔️ Yet another checklist for the 1-2-1 evaluation.
✔️ Task-list recaps the meeting and the tasks discussed.
✔️ Remind the newcomer of the carrier possibilities (grades and leadership programs).
MONTH 3: PROBATION ANNIHILATION.
Boy, that was a lot. Now it’s time for a final showdown.✔️ The employee needs a run-down of evaluation criteria.
✔️ Performance review – no pressure (probably a lot of pressure).
✔️ Final survey over the entire probation period.
Now depending on performance, it’s time for “see you next week, congrats” or “see you somewhere else”.
Of course, surveys are good not just for probations so you are free to continue.
As you’ve seen, the process can be easily automated. BOTO has all the tools for you to use. We can also tweak any scenario for the exact case. But of course, no strings attached, you can easily build your own routine and use this checklist as a bit of free advice.
🚀 The key point for a relocatee now is some kind of a roadmap. Next steps, raise options, and extra benefits. As long as some certainty is attained, the company needs to drive it even further.
BONUS TRACK: INTERACTIVE TOOLS
Match: Introducing employees
Making friends is hard. This tool randomly picks a co-worker to chat with. Arrange dinners, plan DND sessions, discuss new season of whatever hot mess is popular now.
Assessment 360
A tool to arrange and run performance reviews. The bot helps with self-assessment and gathers feedback. It’s also cute and incorruptible!!!
DAMN, THAT’S A LOT!
Can you help us, dear digital sir?Yes. Bots are superior at automated tasks:
- they save time;
- they store and organise information;
- they automate this 100-page process you just read about.
Boto Onboarding
Drop us a line (or two) and we will calculate the price of onboarding for your company.
💬 LinkedIn💌 julia@boto.education
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