The Onboarding Journey: From Saying “YES” to Your First Day

Imagine the following scenario: you’re sitting on the couch, scrolling through your news feed and suddenly, you see an email come through regarding that position you applied for some time ago. You open it up waiting for one of the two possible outcomes. Deep breath, a click, and there it is: “We are delighted to offer you to join the Scandiweb Team!” Any recruiter hopes that you start jumping up and down from excitement upon seeing those words!

In this blog post, our focus are the next steps. The journey starts from the moment you say the magical “YES” for the proposed offer until your first real days within Scandiweb. We also quickly take a look at the onboarding strategy we have in place. 

So, what exactly is onboarding and why does it matter? It helps the employer to adapt, engage, train and familiarize the new colleague with the company, its expectations and resources available. Any new hire needs to go through a process in which knowledge transfer takes place between the experienced and the new. It is important to show new colleagues that there is enough support to make sure they can become productive members of the team. 

When does onboarding start? The usual myth is that onboarding starts and lasts only for the first few days within the new company. However, in our case, the approach is different—starting straight away when you say “yes” to our recruitment team. From that moment onwards, our team works on all the necessary steps to ensure your onboarding journey is efficient and well operated. 

Step 1 – The details

Congratulations, you’re now hired! And before you even ask, yes, the GIF above represents our HR team celebrating this special occasion. Once you have received our “little surprise” we will also send you a welcome card that you need to fill in. The card is meant to gather necessary initial information and help you and us to enter our working relationship with ease and it is the first step towards the legal side of the onboarding process to be started.

Step 2 – Getting to know your dedicated onboarding specialist

After receiving all the details from your side, our onboarding specialist will be the one who gets in touch with you, so you can go over the start date, all the necessary details, and paperwork. 

At this point in your journey, you will receive information on everything you need to know for your first onboarding day, including all of the first planned meetings to give you a clear sense of where you are at and what to expect ahead. Since we are an online-first company, we strive to provide as much information as possible. So when you log in online on a Monday morning on your first day, you already know where to click, what to check, and what to do.

Step 3 – Q&A

The Q&A section is so important that it deserves a separate section here. Our company’s main value is transparency in communication and the ability to ask questions so we can all easily find everything needed for our work. This applies not only to every single eCommerce project we have but also to the relationship of each member to their team.

Scandiweb might be your first workplace or the 10th one, whichever the case, we want you to feel comfortable with your dedicated onboarding specialist. You can ask any work-related questions that might come to your mind. The most frequent topics we cover with our new colleagues can go anywhere from hardware setup, probation period requirements, benefits, to even company used languages, office spaces, and bonuses. The list just goes on. 

Step 4 – Your first day

We all know that an employee’s first day at a new job can be overwhelming. That’s the case not only for the new hire but also for the employer.

The two main goals for us on your first day are about setting expectations and introducing objectives from the company’s side. Looking over to your side, that’s about double-checking that everything is clear to you and well understood. 

Currently, we hire talent globally, which means that our onboarding procedures have also developed and changed together with our expansion. We mainly work on onboarding everyone online. With specifically tailored courses, we could introduce you to all that is Scandiweb and all our internal products, systems, and, of course, the teams you will be working together with on a daily basis. We will also be going through the basics of our daily routines and time management. 

The full onboarding cycle takes place around one full working week, but it does not stop there. It continues further on and within the next few weeks, you’d still be in the flow, so to speak. This implies that you are also already starting the educational part of the journey at the same time. 

For each employee, the educational path differs depending on the position and department you are joining. If you wish to find out more regarding the educational aspects, read our article on building Scandiweb’s internal education system.

Even though the first day for a new colleague is the most crucial one, we continue the introduction flow up until your first few months! You continuously go through the first weeks together with your new colleagues to make sure you are fully integrated into the team and all of the processes. You will have first-week checkup calls with your onboarding specialist, team meetings, 360-degree feedback cycles, and many more activities which are all part of your continued growth and development path within the company and as a new colleague. 

Oh, is this your first day? Then go ahead and start your onboarding adventure. Good luck, and remember to always ask questions!

Not yet there? Head on over to our Careers page and find opportunities for you to join our team. We can’t wait to see that “YES” from you.

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