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Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

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Re: Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

#71

Post by swerveonem »

pcmoney wrote: post #64
projectramo wrote: post #7

This is how I've seen it done in very small companies: 1. Greet the new person and ask them what they are doing there? Are they a vendor? client? someone who accidentally walked in? Oh, they're a new employee. 2. Ask them if they know what their job is supposed to be. If not, find them a spot to sit down while you ask around. 3. Ask IT to get them a laptop. If they don't have one, send out to get one from best buy. W…

Out of undergrad I was recruited by a major defense contractor and selected for a leadership development program. Aside from making me fly various places and do nothing they also made me do nothing at my "home" desk in a secure facility (so no cell phone or playful browsing) by myself. I found a bunch of old math texts and starting reading them and doing practice problems out of sheer boredom. It was then without the…

You passed up a leadership career at a defense contractor to read some books you could have read at home? Sounds like they recognized that this person they hired wasn't all that and decided that rather than fire you and risk a lot of paper work they tucked you away knowing that you would quit eventually, this is often preferable to termination. The odds that your lack of productivity went unnoticed is slim, they noticed. I've been in a similar situation, the appropriate action and the path worthy of leadership would be to self seek out innovations and begin drafting proposals for business process improvements. You might have actually been stealing time. What were your interactions with your direct supervisors like, what would you talk about?

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

#72

Post by swerveonem »

laurentl wrote: post #5

What follows is my usual way of working and/or the type of behavior I appreciate when onboarding someone in my team. YMMV. 1) You're going to have plenty of questions, and a lot of the stuff you'll see / hear / read won't make sense at first. - Accept this fact - When you get stuck on something or don't understand it, make a note of it and move on to another topic. You'll have plenty to look at anyway. - Keep a runni…

As a manager I appreciate all these tactics from my team members. Committing to a system like this facilitates communication and can greatly reduce onboarding stress and friction for the entire team. Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

#73

Post by spicytunacone »

pcmoney wrote: post #64
projectramo wrote: post #7

This is how I've seen it done in very small companies: 1. Greet the new person and ask them what they are doing there? Are they a vendor? client? someone who accidentally walked in? Oh, they're a new employee. 2. Ask them if they know what their job is supposed to be. If not, find them a spot to sit down while you ask around. 3. Ask IT to get them a laptop. If they don't have one, send out to get one from best buy. W…

Out of undergrad I was recruited by a major defense contractor and selected for a leadership development program. Aside from making me fly various places and do nothing they also made me do nothing at my "home" desk in a secure facility (so no cell phone or playful browsing) by myself. I found a bunch of old math texts and starting reading them and doing practice problems out of sheer boredom. It was then without the…

Very jealous. There was a defense contractor in my city I admittedly applied to out of undergrad mostly because I wanted to peruse their library, mostly texts on discrete maths. Glad you could discover your interest in the subject.

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

#74

Post by mathattack »

My 2 cents... Create a 1 pager in advance with:

1 - A few sentences on job description.

2 - Key metrics

3 - A list of contacts (including suppliers and customers) they should meet.

4 - A list of things to read.

5 - A list of meetings to tag along to.

6 - Someone who will take them to lunch the first few days.

This gets people who are moderately self sufficient a chance to be productive.

And if you can’t supply a laptop on day 1, you’re pissing money away.

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

#75

Post by theyinwhy »

projectramo wrote: post #7

This is how I've seen it done in very small companies: 1. Greet the new person and ask them what they are doing there? Are they a vendor? client? someone who accidentally walked in? Oh, they're a new employee. 2. Ask them if they know what their job is supposed to be. If not, find them a spot to sit down while you ask around. 3. Ask IT to get them a laptop. If they don't have one, send out to get one from best buy. W…

(Very) big company onboarding story:

On day one, a battle tested project manager talked to me 8 hours straight, telling me every single detail about everything. He even talked during lunch.

On day two, he asked me to do something really massive because by now I must surely know me way around.

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

#76

Post by dirktheman »

onion2k wrote: post #66
dirktheman wrote: post #51

I usually prepare a laptop with all the necessary software, give all coworkers a heads up that the new guy/gal is starting next monday. On his/her first day I show them around, introduce the rest of the staff and cover the basic office stuff (where to find food, supplies, etc.). I encourage all staff to sit down with the new guy/gal to get to know each other. You'll notice that at this point the new employee hasn't t…

Not knowing who everybody was / feeling ignored We give new starters a map of where everyone sits in the office as part of their first day paperwork (I drew my own on my first day.. it became standard practice after that I think). It's goes a long way to helping people know who's who, plus it means no one has to ask someone to repeat their name if they forget.

That's a great idea! Once I couldn't remember the name of a co-worker and after a couple of weeks it becomes really awkward to have to ask...

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

#77

Post by mdrzn »

jordan801 wrote: post #31
Adamantcheese wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just don't spend 2 weeks on step 5, because that happened to me at my current job. They completely forgot they even hired me and wondered who that guy was in that cubicle over there.

That happened to me. I was hired at a company, left to go to army basic training, came back and they didn't manage me at all for months. Then they gave me a job to do with about two minutes of explanation, forgot about me, then almost fired me 6 months later because I was doing it wrong. No management, no training. But I am still here almost 8 years later.

You being there for 8 more years was an unexpected twist. Any other "situation" that you could share?

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

#78

Post by acct1771 »

privacypoller wrote: post #53
mud_dauber wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP here. Agreed - #2 is great. I've bought a squeaky-clean notebook for the new gig. Page 1 is already titled "onboarding questions". /fistbump.

This is good but (and it's a big but) DO NOT ACT ON THEM IMMEDIATELY. There are likely plenty of things that seem askew or just plan wrong - and many of them are - but you have neither the understanding or earned authority to act on them. I love the idea of inventorying things you think are issues, problems or mistakes then reviewing them after 3,6,12 months (you'll know when you have the right to question the status…

I'd not say the opposite, just that same process, but much faster, and more blunt.

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for onboarding new employees?

#80

Post by drdeadringer »

During one series of interviews I asked about their onboarding process. My question was the first time the person had ever heard the word, let alone what it meant. Their product was nice, and I am glad I don't work there.

You are ahead of the game against some at the very least by asking your question.

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