Onboarding at Gini

By the end of this article you know:

• What Onboarding is
• Why Onboarding is important
• What to expect when starting at Gini

What is Onboarding?

Onboarding is the term for the time period between the signature on the employment agreement and the end of the probation period. It describes the process in which the New Gini fully understands and gets integrated into the new work environment. If you want to know all the steps that lead up to onboarding, you can read our blog article “Candidate Experience”.

This time period is divided into three stages:

1. Pre-boarding: The time between signing the contract and the first day at Gini
2. First day & first week: This time is very important to strengthen the impression from the recruiting process and the relationship between the New Gini and Gini
3. Probation period: Usually this period is 6 months long and for Gini as well as the New Gini to get to know each other even better and receiving clarity about the match

Within these stages there are three timelines of onboarding running parallel:

1. Administrative onboarding: collecting the necessary information for payroll, providing IT equipment, and required accesses (different accounts, the office itself) for the first day of our New Gini
2. Functional onboarding: supporting their integration in the new role, the tasks, and team
3. Social onboarding: overall social integration of the new colleague in the organization

Why is Onboarding so important?

The New Gini and everyone involved in the recruitment process have spent a lot of time finding each other, getting clear about expectations, and making the decision of working together. For the New Gini, this is even more of a risk as they leave their old job and the relationships there behind and sometimes also their social environment when moving to a new city alone or with the family. All this due to a promising recruitment process and attracting challenges ahead.

In order to keep this positive experience going, a well prepared and structured onboarding process is needed. It contributes to:

• the new colleague feeling welcomed and motivated
• providing the new Gini with the best possible starting conditions/work environment
• strengthening the identification and loyalty between the employee and the employer
• the new colleague sharing their knowledge and thriving for personal and professional development
• the employer being recommended and building up a reputation

What to expect when starting at Gini

At Gini, one of our values is striving for excellence. This also applies to our recruitment and onboarding processes. For us “after the signature” is “before the first day” and the bonding and trust-building continues.

The saying “there is no second chance for the first impression” also refers to the first day of a new Gini. S/he had a great experience during our recruiting process and we want to keep this vibe up. That’s why we put lots of effort into this day and the first weeks. “We” here means a team based on the recruiter, onboarding buddy, functional onboarding mentor, and steward.

Onboarding Buddy

Since the recruiting process, the recruiter has always been a constant companion throughout the process. Now they get support from the onboarding buddy whose responsibility it is to accompany the new Gini through the pre-boarding and first weeks on the levels of administrative and social onboarding. They collect the necessary information for payroll, the IT equipment preferences, and sets up an extraordinary welcome desk for the first day as well as the agenda and meetings for the first weeks.

The goal of these meetings is that within the first two weeks, the New Gini met all different entities (academies, faculties and labs) within Gini and understands their role, responsibilities, and who belongs to each. Also part of these meetings is a handbook walkthrough for cultural onboarding and mandatory training on health and fire safety in our office.

Functional onboarding mentor

Besides the onboarding buddy and all the other Ginis, the New Gini also meets the functional onboarding mentor in person on the first day. This functional onboarding mentor is responsible for integrating the New Gini in the team the best way and to introduce the role, mandates, and tasks that come along with it. The goal is to help the New Gini feel productive fast by working on actual tasks from early on. Hardly something is more annoying than starting motivated in the new role but not having anything to do.

Steward

Part of the development sphere at Gini is the Steward. The Steward is the internal coach and supports the personal and professional growth of the New Gini as well as cultural translation. During the onboarding, the Steward examines together with the New Gini the expectations for the first three and six months. They both will do regular check-ins to speak about ongoing topics of the New Gini. You can read more about our development sphere in our blog article “How we foster individual growth”.

With all these initiatives at Gini, we want to provide an extraordinary onboarding experience. Keeping our standard from the recruiting process hopefully results in working together for a long time and contributing to the Gini mission. If you want to make the same onboarding experience, have a look at our open positions.

What are onboarding experiences you made in your life? Let us know in the comments! We are curious to read about that.