6 min read

Onboarding tips to achieve success

Care to share?

Many believe that the onboarding process should last just a few hours. They think it stops at the end of the day when all the paperwork is done. The truth is that successful onboarding means much more than just a short training session. What does onboarding really mean? And how does it work in Divante? Here are some onboarding tips to achieve success. 

Check out available job offers in Divante 

What’s the most important thing about onboarding? First impressions matter

A study by the Aberdeen Group of senior executives says that 86% of new hires decide upon whether they will  stay long-term with a company within the first six months of employment. A survey by BambooHR found that the average company is losing 1 in 6 of their new hires each month for the first three months. Around 30% of the new hires who had quit their job said that they didn’t have any onboarding or it wasn’t well prepared. 

Onboarding helps people to be more committed to the new company
Onboarding helps people to be more committed to the new company

Conversely, 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they had completed a structured onboarding process. These facts show how important the onboarding process is. First impressions matter. 

The most important thing is to show new people what the company is all about and build a relationship with them. That will result in successful cooperation for many years. We want new people to feel good in the company from day one. They should understand the business goals, strategic mission, and values that we follow every day. Appropriate onboarding also helps to assimilate them into everyday duties. 

Natalia Urbańska, HR Director at Divante.

The Aberdeen Group study reports that 66% of companies with onboarding programs claimed a higher rate of successful assimilation of new hires into the company culture. 62% of them also had higher time-to-productivity ratios, and 54% reported higher employee engagement.

Natalia Urbańska, HR Director at Divante
Natalia Urbańska, HR Director at Divante

The two main goals on the first day should be setting expectations and introducing objectives. New employees need to get to know their job well from the beginning. They need to understand the company’s culture. Social interaction is also critical. 

Onboarding: key elements to achieving success

A good onboarding plan makes it all clear 

Good onboarding is a complicated process that has to be well planned. Make a detailed plan and share it with the new employees well ahead of an onboarding. Make sure that all responsibilities and roles are outlined for the entire team. Onboarding is teamwork. 

A Welcome Pack makes you feel like a member of the company from day one

All over the world, important guests are welcomed with small gifts. This is a sign of respect, care, and hospitality. Following this idea, one of the first elements of onboarding should be to give a new employee a Welcome Pack. Such a small gift helps new employees feel like a member of the company from day one. 

The Divante Welcome Pack is not typical. The company’s CEO, Tomasz Karwatka, recommended several books that we might give to new recruits. “Radical Candor” and “ReWork” were chosen and have proven to be very popular. 

We wanted the books to reflect Divante’s characteristic hunger for knowledge.

Natalia Urbańska

The Welcome Pack includes also practical things like a backpack with Divante’s logo, a notebook, a pen, and a t-shirt. 

Meeting with the CEO is a real ice breaker 

The main idea of the ice breaker is to give people an early chance to meet the  CEO or Management Board. 

I used to give a presentation on the history and structure of Divante myself. However, we decided that the presence of a representative of the Management Board would help. New people can get to know the background of the Divante, as well as our mission, vision, and values. Tomasz Karwatka, the company CEO, has been participating in the Divante’s onboarding since April 2019. Judging by the reactions of the new people, it brings the “wow factor”. It’s exciting for new people to get to know the CEO on the first day and be able to ask him some questions.

Natalia Urbańska.

This approach allows new people to feel the energy of Divante energy and see the vision of the founders, opening them up to experiment and implement their own ideas. The Board strongly encourages this. On the other hand, thanks to such a meeting, a thread of understanding is created for the Board. It is easier for them to meet new people in such a fast-growing company. 

Tomasz Karwatka, the company CEO, has been participating in the Divante's onboarding since April 2019
Tomasz Karwatka, the company CEO, has been participating in the Divante’s onboarding since April 2019

In Divante, during the ice breaker, people can also get to know each other better. All new employees answer three questions, as do the person conducting the session and the representative of the Management Board. The questions are:

  • What do you do professionally and what do you like to do in your free time?
  • Why did you decide on Divante?
  • What professional goals do you hope to achieve at Divante?

The next part is “Divante Why”. A HR representative, together with a representative of the Management Board, talks about the mission, vision, and strategy of Divante, as well as the company’s values.

A short tour around the office is when new hires can get to know the office and meet people working there
A short tour around the office is when new hires can get to know the office and meet people working there

New employees should feel at home from day one. They need to know people and their new office. The “Welcome to Divante” presentation gives them knowledge about the organizational structure. During a short tour through the office, they can get familiar with the place but also meet people working there. 

Lunch and team-building with mentors

Researchers have found that families who share meals regularly, reap many benefits. It provides an opportunity to strengthen ties and build better relationships. They build a sense of belonging which leads to higher self-esteem.

That’s why after the official part of the presentations in Divante, new members of a company family are invited to Divante Cafe for a Welcome Lunch. 

The lunch creates a casual atmosphere. It’s a great time to meet with new hires’ mentors. The HR specialist also prepares a game during which participants answer simple questions. This helps to introduce and start team building.

A mentor is a person from the new recruit’s team. He or she usually has a deal of experience and helps the new person get started—from logging into any account to introducing the new person to the rest of the team. To this end, the mentor sends an email to all employees, with a photo and a short intro of the new person. Also, the mentor sets trial goals and supports the new person in achieving them through regular contact in the upcoming months.

Feedback during and after the trial period 

Onboarding is more than just a one-day training session. Successful onboarding is a process that takes several months. 

The HR representative who recruited the person meets them after the first week of cooperation to ask for impressions of the Welcome Day. The HR representative makes sure that the new person has contact with the HR team, knows his or her goals, and has been provided with all  tools needed. The recruiter then meets after the first, second and third months of cooperation. Each time, he or she asks for feedback on the implementation, the relationship with the mentor, the rest of the team and the company. If necessary, the recruiter tries to answer questions, address doubts, collect ideas or pass on comments. These meetings are not only aimed at continuous optimization of the onboarding process, they also help us to do our best to make the new person feel at home in Divante and stay with us for longer. 

Natalia Urbańska
If there is a good atmosphere in the company, it is visible from the day one
If there is a good atmosphere in the company, it is visible from the day one

The onboarding process is one of the most important elements of modern recruitment 

Proper onboarding helps people to feel good in their new job. It promotes engagement, development, and trust, and encourages new recruits to get to know people, processes, and the company’s culture. It’s a win-win situation, where both sides gain benefits.  

New Divante happy employees during their onboarding in 2019
New Divante happy employees during their onboarding in 2019

Want to try? Join us and start your new adventure! There are many examples of employees, who started their careers in Divante and decided to stay here for many years. Some started as newbies, and are now leaders and tribe masters. Others created some incredible new products and developed their careers. All of them love Divante’s agile culture and a great atmosphere.

New call-to-action

Published January 21, 2020