In this article, I would like to share with you the original onboarding programs of two American giants: Google and Facebook. Indeed, these tech companies have understood the importance of the onboarding phase for new employees and have made it a priority. So, who’s ready for an immersion in the heart of the Silicon Valley?
How Google integrates new employees?
In its new employees' integration program, Google focuses on practical and cognitive learning to create connections between employees. Their strategy for integrating new employees focuses on different activities that require group work and coordination to prevent certain new recruits from being isolated.
Google has also set up a "Just-in-time" alert system: a recall email is sent to the manager of the new recruit the day before his arrival.
The goal is to encourage them to perform 5 small tasks that will have a big impact on the productivity of the newcomer:
- Having a discussion about their roles and responsibilities
- Assigning a buddy to the new hire
- Starting to build a Network inside the company
- Setting up employee integration check-ins once a month for the first 6 months
- Encouraging open dialogue to reduce the risk of internal conflicts
How Facebook integrates new employees?
According to chief information officer @facebook, Tim Campos, the first 45 minutes of the On-Boardee are decisive. Indeed, for Facebook’s management, the company must immediately arouse an interest in the newcomer’s mind for the culture and work of the company to make employees more productive. The mission, culture and values are put in the spotlight during this integration phase.
For Campos, rather than focusing on abstract discussions about what the New recruit could to do, it is better to familiarize the onbardee with the practical work aspects. So, activities that transmit the values, roles, missions and practices of the company are therefore scheduled in advance. We can also note that the preparation of the workstation and software is made before the arrival of the new recruit.
Even more original, all the engineers who join Facebook, regardless of their training, their product, their office or their seniority, are invited to participate in a six -week bootcamp at the headquarters of Menlo Park.
Here, the engineers familiarize themselves not only with the Facebook code base, but they also have an overview of the company’s culture. As an engagement tool, engineers are responsible for writing codes to provide solutions to problems from the first day. This gives them real and practical experience. Participating in this bootcamp is also a source of motivation for new engineers and gives them a feeling of instant gratification. This helps ensure that employees seize all the opportunities that Facebook has to offer.
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