How to design powerful onboarding workflows

Importance of onboarding workflows

A successful onboarding is essential for companies to retain their developers. The company’s first impression determines the future of the new hires. Surveys reveal that by the time onboarding is complete, almost 65% of employees have already decided their future with the new company. A successful onboarding results in employee satisfaction and retention. Hence, it is imperative for companies to design a powerful onboarding workflow.

Onboarding process vs. workflows

Onboarding processes and onboarding workflows are terms used interchangeably. However, there are distinct differences between them.

Onboarding processes refer to the overall process of integrating new employees into the new company. Here the focus is on actively involving the new employees in the company’s culture and values — along with instilling a sense of belonging. The developers are informed of all the necessary tools, resources, and workflows they need for the job.

In contrast, onboarding workflows are a set of tasks that need to be completed in a sequential order within a timeline to achieve specific outcomes related to the developers’ onboarding. A workflow offers a detailed, step-by-step guide for activities designed for new hires, and it supplements optimizing employee onboarding within the organization.

Onboarding workflow steps

A workflow is a meticulously designed plan. An effective onboarding workflow establishes the foundation of a productive workplace. While the workflow varies across companies, there are certain stages of employee onboarding that provide a structure to a typical workflow. The four stages of an onboarding workflow are as follows:

Pre-boarding

As the first stage of the workflow, preboarding ensures that new developers are all prepared to kickstart their careers at their new workplace. Even though the new hires have accepted the offer, they could still get cold feet and decide to skip the orientation. As a result, it’s important to build rapport with the new hires and cultivate feelings of appreciation. The necessary steps in this stage are as follows:

• Record basic information

• Get signatures on required documents

• Share employee handbook

• Send a welcome email

Orientation

Orientation marks the first day for new developers. A number of activities are arranged for the smooth integration of the new developers into the company culture. Inform the new hires about the company’s vision and goals so that the new hires clearly understand what’s expected of them. Orientation also offers new employees the chance to get acquainted with other coworkers and form strong relationships. The necessary steps in this stage are as follows:

• Host an introductory session with the HR, managers, and other new hires

• Share login details for the necessary tools (Slack, Slite, etc.)

• Assign company email and password

• Set up company equipment

• Allow building access

• Add to payroll

Training

A crucial part of the onboarding process, training involves a series of role-specific tasks that equip new developers with the right set of skills for their jobs. The goal is to improve employee performance by aligning tasks to people's strengths so that employees take full ownership of their work. Training is divided into 2 parts and the necessary steps in this stage are as follows:

i. 30-day plan

• Hand over important guidelines

• Assign small tasks

• 1-1 feedback loop with the manager

ii. 90-day plan

• Various tasks related to the role

• Additional training (if necessary)

• Evaluation report

• Performance review meeting

Integration

This is the final stage of the workflow, where the new developer is all set to become a full part of the productive workforce.

Each of these stages of developer onboarding features a specific set of steps to ensure a smooth and efficient transition.

We’ve crafted a list of the necessary steps for each of the four stages of onboarding, guaranteeing a powerful workflow for your new developer. The necessary steps in this stage are as follows:

• Evaluate employees with organizational objectives

• Assign new tasks

• Extreme ownership of the work

Onboarding workflow challenges and how to overcome them

Workflows can significantly improve both new developers’ productivity and their chances of excelling at the new workplace. However, challenges will inevitably arise. Managers can truly harness the essence of workflows by addressing and overcoming these challenges. Some of the challenges faced with workflows are as follows:

• Ineffective communication

• Lack of feedback

• Manual practices

Ineffective communication

Communication breakdowns are an obstacle to successful workflows. Different teams with their unique roles and sets of responsibilities are all involved in the process. Workflows encompass various stages, each with a set of complex tasks. Alignment between all these factors emerges as a challenge that can only be resolved with effective communication between all the stakeholders, managers, and their teams.

Lack of feedback

Feedback is often overlooked during the onboarding process. It’s important to know what’s working for the new hires and how improvements can be made to further enhance the onboarding experience for the new hires. A feedback loop ensures that a two-way exchange of information occurs at every step of the stage.

Manual practices

HR practices related to onboarding have been dependent on traditional and outdated practices like paper-based documentation and in-person orientation. These manual practices not only overburden HR professionals with an extra load of work that slows down the onboarding process but they also leave the possibility of errors. Automated workflows streamline the onboarding process. Over the years, various tools have been developed to synchronize tasks across different teams and allow space for communication and collaboration between stakeholders, managers, and team members.

Final word

To sum it all up, workflows offer a systematic approach to the employee onboarding process by dividing it into smaller tasks. These predetermined tasks are set by a timeline at the different stages of the onboarding process. Because it is experience-driven, the onboarding workflow acts as a guide for accommodating new hires within the company culture. Nowadays there are many tools that have automated the onboarding workflow, resulting in more efficient onboarding.

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