For any gardener, early spring is the most important season of the year.
Even before seeds can go in the ground, gardeners are selecting plants, planning for sun and shade, preparing fertile soil and scheduling when to plant. They know that this preparatory work is what will allow them to see the fruits of their labor — quite literally.
For businesses, a robust and supportive onboarding process serves a very similar purpose. Rather than a successful harvest, the goal is to prepare new team members, like new plants, to thrive and ensure each one is positioned to handle the changing elements of the seasons ahead.
When Amanda Jaeger joined Simply Business as head of data transformation, she was grateful for a week dedicated to understanding the company beyond her role before she took on any of her own job tasks. Jaeger found the week to be crucial to her future success.
“This allowed me to really immerse myself in the learning experience and resist the temptation to try and immediately get to work without properly understanding our customers, company and culture,” she said.
While Justin Lefler’s onboarding at Forward Financing took a different shape when he joined as manager of information technology, he reaped similar benefits. He credits his onboarding experience with helping him feel deeply connected to the company in a remote environment.
“With that groundwork laid, I immediately started thinking of meaningful ways to make an impact in my role,” Lefler said.
Jonathan Vasquez, senior product manager at Hometap, shared Lefler and Jaeger’s sentiments about how important his first days at the company were for his ongoing development.
“By the end of my training, I knew what success looked like and what I needed to accomplish to reach each goal,” he said. With that foundation, Vasquez was ready to tackle a highly visible project within his first days at Hometap and continue to succeed.
By the end of my training, I knew what success looked like and what I needed to accomplish to reach each goal.”
Built In heard more from Jaeger, Lefler and Vasquez about what made their onboarding experiences fertile ground for future growth and how they were prepared to thrive in their new roles.
Simply Business is an online business insurance brokerage.
Describe your onboarding experience at Simply Business.
The onboarding process at SB was well-structured and struck an effective balance in equipping new joiners with an understanding of our customers, market, business strategy, operations, financial performance and the data and technology that fuel us. This was effectively conveyed through a mix of speakers from across various functions that not only inspired me but also allowed me to immediately build a network on top of the connections that were formed with the other starters in my cohort.
Share an early win that set the tone for working at Simply Business.
My first delivered goal was an interesting one because while it was a win for my data and analytics team, I would be lying to myself if I said it was seen as a win to our stakeholders at that time. This involved making some unpopular decisions as I shifted our team from taking in ad hoc demand from various, often uncoordinated channels to a more deliberate and centralized intake process. This process ensured we focus our scarce resources on strategically aligned and properly sized bodies of work.
While this was and still is not perfect by any means, it has allowed us to carve out dedicated time for crucial data modernization work to ensure we future-proof our data stack. It will also help keep us focused on the runway that allows us to innovate and deliver more impact to our customers and partners and drive business results.
How are relationships and a sense of community built for new hires?
One of the most remarkable aspects of SB’s culture is the openness that transcends all functions, markets and levels of hierarchy. The people at SB are genuinely welcoming and eager to collaborate, fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and supported.
One of the most remarkable aspects of Simply Business’ culture is the openness that transcends all functions, markets and levels of hierarchy.”
This approach has empowered me to ask questions and seek clarity without the fear of appearing uninformed or unintelligent, which has been pivotal in my personal and professional development. This has also allowed for a more unencumbered means of forming relationships across teams that breeds productivity.
There’s a real energy and willingness to embrace new ideas, think boldly and disrupt conventional industry norms that motivates me — it’s a refreshing change after time with large, multinational corporations.
Forward Financing is a fintech company that provides capital to small businesses.
Describe your onboarding experience at Forward Financing.
Forward Financing really excels at onboarding in a remote world. The people and culture team made sure that I got exposure to people and workflows outside of my day-to-day during new hire orientation. This three-day orientation helped me better understand the business as a whole and how each team and individual work together.
In my previous experience, employers often simply provide you a quick rundown of what your team does and assign inward-facing materials to read without supplying much context for how your work fits within the “big picture.” But during Forward’s new hire orientation, they provided me with plenty of knowledge and time to fully understand how all of the parts fit together.
During Forward’s new hire orientation, they provided me with plenty of knowledge and time to fully understand how all of the parts fit together.”
Share an early win that set the tone for working at Forward Financing.
When I joined, my team was just beginning an implementation project which seemed tailor-made for my long-term success at Forward. I was able to engage with management and individual contributors across multiple teams. Not only did I have the opportunity to learn how they operated, but in our first collaboration, I was able to deliver a solution which improved their workflows and made their lives easier. This fostered a strong sense of trust in both directions, which has continued to benefit me to this day.
How are relationships and a sense of community built for new hires?
Forward does a great job of connecting new hires with people across the business during onboarding. This is primarily done through Department 101 sessions, meetings with your manager and onboarding ambassador — who is a Forward community mentor outside your immediate department — and one-on-one coffee chats with stakeholders across the company. I found that I had something in common with everyone that I met, and these early connections have made it so easy to collaborate with them or reach out when I have a question.
Forward’s onboarding helps you see people as more than just a name on a screen or a headshot in a profile, but as colleagues you can be vulnerable with and ask questions without fear of being some anonymous “new hire.”
Hometap Equity Partners offers solutions that enable people to get more from homeownership so they can get more from life.
Describe your onboarding experience at Hometap.
Transitioning from the interviewing process to the onboarding process was seamless. My direct manager did a great job of explaining what I’d be working on and what was expected of me, and colleagues walked me through the problems they were focusing on before I even started. My manager shared an onboarding plan that was well thought out and provided me with actionable steps to be successful in my first three months at Hometap. Participating in one-on-one meetings with cross-functional stakeholders was also key in understanding the areas of opportunity for the work I’ve been doing.
Transitioning from the interviewing process to the onboarding process was seamless.”
Share an early win that set the tone for working at Hometap.
A few days after joining Hometap, our vice president of product asked me to present on a project that he had been leading and that I would soon be inheriting. He provided me with access to all the data that I needed to understand the impact and key results of the project and to determine the next steps in the project. After only a couple of weeks at Hometap, I had the opportunity to present in front of the whole company. It was a little intimidating, but members of the team helped me prepare and it was a great opportunity to really master the product.
How are relationships and a sense of community built for new hires?
I found one-on-ones to be extremely valuable to get to know other people and, perhaps more importantly, to let other people get to know me. In the first three months, I took advantage of a networking program that Hometap offers that encourages employees to meet people in the company, whom they don’t frequently work directly with, and I also participated in every virtual event the company offered. These kinds of opportunities made it very easy to feel connected to the larger team.
