Onboarding Engineers
Yash Prabhu
Warner Bros. Digital Labs
@yashvprabhu
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Goals of onboarding
➢ Introduce new hire to team and company culture
➢ Ramp them up on processes and coding styles
➢ Get them to contribute soon and grow professionally
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Team Culture
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Enlist Team
Have a Company Onboarding process
Have a Team Onboarding process (with an end goal)
Have a Buddy System
➢ Build trust
➢ Mentorship
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Create a Safe Space
Use Slack channels/hangouts to ask questions
Discourage DMs (unless personal)
Encourage normal working hours
Encourage discovery
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Processes
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Set up
Have up-to-date onboarding docs
Keep setup simple
Have a task for junior and senior devs
Involve devs in standups and meetings
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Ramp up
Ask new hire to update onboarding docs
Give them tasks of varying levels -> various point persons
Coding practices - small PRs, coding styles, no silos
Celebrate small wins
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Ramp up
Ask new hire to update onboarding docs
Give them tasks of varying levels -> various point persons
Coding practices - small PRs, coding styles, no silos
Celebrate small wins
Caution: Different ramp up periods
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Communication
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Credit
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Check in
Depends on experience or personality
Check in often at beginning, as needed later on
Weekly team hangouts
Company check in - 60 days
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Feedback
Have 1:1s
Always stick to your 1:1 time
Ask how you can improve onboarding process
Create good habits early
Company 360 reviews/peer reviews
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To Do
Improvements
Add onboarding into the
job profile
Talk about onboarding in
interviews
Involve other teams
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Takeaways
➢ Have a buddy system
➢ Check in often
➢ Give and receive feedback
➢ Encourage questions and transparency