What are the easiest ways to onboard someone, regardless of industry or experience? Think about where they’re coming from, what their backgrounds are, and how your startup differs from a professional software development firm. Have you looked at their work history? Conducted a verification process (https://checkr.com/platform/screenings/employment-verification)? These are things you need to think about.
Onboarding Software Developers
Today’s agile development methodologies reduce the need for onboarding. You can quickly build software without having to spend much time on training. Of course, some businesses might find it easier to buy existing software if there’s one that would work for the company. Some software developers have actually started creating software and then selling it online, with the help of FastSpring (https://fastspring.com/solutions/selling-software-online/). This means that some businesses might be able to just purchase software instead of building it themselves. That’s always an option.
With a software engineering background, you might have to spend a day or two learning the tools that you’ll use on a daily basis, like GitHub, Git and Jenkins. But onboarding a junior software engineer can take much longer, and usually requires heavy coaching or training.
When you hire a software developer (you could try these guys out if you are interested), the best way to ensure that you get the most out of your money is to focus on something more than just tasks. Focus on things that make the development process more efficient. Build tasks that minimize repetitive tasks, automate repetitive processes and help your developer save time.
You can build a quick workflow so that people have no more than an hour to build something. You can help them optimize their workflow by adding automation steps so that new features can be built much faster.
Set up an onboarding checklist with the right onboarding policies and processes that define expectations for your new hire. A good checklist should include details on the company’s internal communications, documentation policies, project deadlines and onboarding processes.
You should also consider what you’re asking someone to do on the first day of their job. Think about whether they’ll need access to a company desktop or phone. Ask if you can take a look at their project documents before their first day.
Onboarding Employees
To help your employees complete tasks faster, focus on helping them know what they need to do. Consider setting up communication tools that keep employees updated on each other’s progress.
From onboarding a new project manager to delivering on a project that was scheduled a week earlier, this process needs a central point of contact. When you hire an employee, ensure that they’re on the same page with one another so that they can work with a minimum of errors.
Set up short onboarding meetings, from 30 minutes to a full day, to show your employees how to use their tools and find the people who will help them. You can also show your employees what’s going on in the software development industry.
Employee Onboarding Software
If you’re not quite sure where to start, there are on-demand resources that can help you find employees who can help you out, offering solutions that cater to all size organizations, such as recruiting software for small business. When you focus on hiring employees based on their experience or past projects, you’ll be able to find great people who are working with similar technologies and software platforms.
Software development teams can often create processes that create too many steps or processes for new hires to remember. When you onboard, you should focus on setting up simple onboarding processes, training new employees so they can work quickly and perform well.
If you’re hiring new employees for the first time, consider giving them an initial role to work with people that they’re familiar with.
Infographic created by Clover Network, a retail POS system provider
