Developer onboarding best practices

by Mykola Komarevskyy

Onboarding best practices: overview

1. Define the objective: reach productivity fast

2. Focus on people, knowledge, and performance

3. Follow a structured process

4. Assign a mentor

5. Facilitate with tools

6. Measure the impact

7. Get new referrals

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1. Define the objective: reach productivity fast

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Reach productivity in minimum days

2. Focus on people, knowledge, and performance

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People

Knowledge

Performance

I

II

III

• Team • Client • Stakeholders • Admin & support

Contacts

Organization

Culture

• Business domain • Systems • Technology • Process & standards • Tools

Domains

Resources

Trainings

• Targets with deadlines • Expectations • Pace setting • Milestones • Weekly status meetings

Ramp-up

KPIs

Career map

3. Follow a structured process

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Pre-entry First day First month Follow through

• Complete HR paperwork

• Prepare workplace

• Prepare infrastructure

• Share company info, e.g. profile, clients, benefits etc.

• Meet at the door

• Introduce to: -the boss -the mentor -the team (lunch) -the company in

Welcome email

• Provide infrastructure: -Computer -Phone -Email etc.

• Tour facilities

• Walk through first steps: check out, build, commit

• Meet important stakeholders

• Gain expertise -Identify

knowledge gaps -Commit to a

learning plan -Attend trainings -Master the most

critical knowledge

• Get productive -Easy tasks on the

first week -Growing

complexity after

• Review progress with the mentor weekly

• Review performance regularly

• Collect feedback after 90 days

• Measure onboarding success

First day: -Meet people -Get to work -No paperwork

Complete paperwork before

4. Assign a mentor

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Mentor responsibilities

1. Set the pace

2. Ensure the onboarding process

3. Introduce to & help to meet people

4. Identify knowledge gaps & help to build learning plan

5. Identify professional development needs & coach

6. Help to get up to speed on the most critical knowledge, e.g. processes, standards, tools & systems

7. Assign the tasks of increasing complexity

8. Review the code and provide feedback initially

9. Track the progress weekly during the first 30-60 days

5. Facilitate with tools

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Useful tools

1. First day agenda

2. Organization chart with key stakeholders, incl. client a. Photos b. Contacts & the preferred way of interaction c. How they can help

3. Schedule of meetings & sessions for the first week

a. HR meetings b. Meeting with the boss c. Meeting with the mentor d. Training sessions e. Other meetings, e.g. networking happy hour

4. Knowledge map – to identify gaps

5. Onboarding milestones

6. Career map

6. Measure the impact of onboarding

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Metrics

1. Progress milestones

2. Time to productivity (days)

3. Calls to helpdesk

4. Churn (in 90 days or 6 months, in 1st year, annual)

5. Employee referrals within the 1st year (or 6 months)

6. Employee satisfaction a. Do they feel satisfied? b. Would they recommend the company?

7. Total cost of a new hire

30, 60, 90, 180, 360 days

Establish a baseline with the current 1st year employees

7. Get new referrals on the first day

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1. When: first meeting

2. Who: the boss (direct manager)

3. How: a. Tell about roles & skill profiles that the team is looking

for b. Tell about the referral program, i.e. the referral bonus c. Ask who the new hire knows d. Suggest to contact/introduce them immediately –

great first day contribution! e. If the new hire feels uncomfortable, suggest to write

down the names and contact them later – when the new hire gets more familiar with the company and the project

f. Follow up

Referrals

Operate the onboarding process well…

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© Dilbert.com

Source: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2006-10-22/

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Mykola Komarevskyy

http://www.linkedin.com/in/mkomarev

Thank you!