On the social network Threads, representatives of the Ukrainian IT community actively discussed the concept of "gentle onboarding" - a gradual and comfortable introduction of a new employee into the company and project. Many shared their own stories, often contrasting, and expressed their expectations for this process.
On the social network Threads, representatives of the Ukrainian IT community actively discussed the concept of "gentle onboarding" - a gradual and comfortable introduction of a new employee into the company and project. Many shared their own stories, often contrasting, and expressed their expectations for this process.
A significant number of commentators admitted that they had never encountered a truly “gentle onboarding” in their careers. Typical scenarios were being thrown “into battle” from day one, lacking documentation, and high expectations for results within a week or two.
User o.svnk described her onboarding process as: "It was supposed to be the day before yesterday, we don't have the documentation, but you're there, talk to your colleagues, maybe do some reverse engineering or something - and in a week or two we'll expect the first results from you, the project has been going on for 6 months. That's why we were waiting for you in the team."
She compared her onboarding to her husband's experience at a large pharmaceutical company, where onboarding included mandatory training and written confirmation of successful completion, and for the first 1-2 months, nothing was expected of a new employee except training.
Another user, who changed from IT to a non-IT company, noted the "gentle onboarding" in the form of a three-month course with numerous trainings and tests, where no one pushed.
"I had (gentle onboarding), this is when you are not thrown into the loophole in the first week. The first 7 days are about getting to know the company and the team, then there was a game text after microlearning, then there is a certain plan from TL to introduce you to the position, almost immediately there is a development plan and certain small tasks," said the user with the nickname vasha_boo_o.
User adelina_horban shared her experience of how she conducts onboarding. “I conduct a fairly gentle onboarding for my teams, in my opinion) First, I prepare a list of basic documentation for familiarization with remarks on what to pay attention to, I provide examples of tickets for access requests. For the first week or two, we have CT sessions every day on some topic, depending on the urgency of the project and the time available for it. After that, the person receives tasks and, if necessary, I can consult with them. With some, we have something like a 1:1 daily until the end of the month. My colleagues say that I am babysitting,” wrote adelina_horban.
User fxmaxvl notes that the onboarding process is usually lengthy in large companies. In his case, it took about two months and included several clear stages. First, he went through a two-week training project, the purpose of which was to set up the necessary working environment and familiarize himself with the high-level development and deployment process. This was followed by a week-long orientation course for all new employees, where they talked about the company's values and structure. After that, he spent a mandatory week working in one of the other teams. Then came a two-week intensive training course. Already after the user joined his main team, he notes that it took some time to get acquainted with the project's domain. Overall, in his opinion, the induction process was as gentle as possible.
Previously, IT professionals were lively discussing in Threads the story of Georgy Rysak about a developer who forgot to turn off his microphone and "burned out" while working on several projects in parallel.
The experts also shared their experience and advice on working from home, when both partners do not visit the office and are constantly near each other.
