Onboarding 101: Setting Up Developers For Success

A common onboarding scenario at enterprise: hire the most-qualified, best-fitting candidate for an open position, send the person through the company’s standard one-day orientation training, and in three to six months of on-the-job learning hope this individual is skilled at a level considered adequate and productive. Often good enough, often not.

For software development positions, in particular, the knowledge of custom tooling and practices required for producing shippable work is high. Instead of waiting half a year for a new developer to be up to speed, product owners have ambition that a new hire can add value during his or her first sprint with the team.

Instead of waiting half a year for a new developer to be up to speed, product owners have ambition that a new hire can add value during his or her first sprint with the team.

In response to the business’ expectation that newly hired developers will start their roles with the same proficiencies in the same skill sets on the same tech stacks as developers who have been in their roles for a while, software development onboarding has grown as a phenomenon in tech engineering enterprise training. Onboarding training ensures all team members are acclimated to their new company and tackling their new roles with the same toolbox.

Let’s take a look at a few ways onboarding training can be a valuable investment for your company.

Assessment

What is the skill level of incoming employees? A resume may only reveal so much. Assessments determine an employee’s aptitude in relation to specific software development concepts. These assessments give insight as to how a company can best support new employees as they enter staff and allow the onboarding training to be tailored to meet the needs and culture of a team. In considering the skill level of a group of new hires and the development team’s agenda, a two-week or three-week bootcamp can be customized for all needs.

Big Picture

A new employee has been told by a hiring supervisor or HR professional they are a good fit for their new team, but do they see it? Onboarding training offers the new hire a peek behind the curtain of a company, allowing new team members to see how their new team uses specific coding languages, problem solves, and how developers work together. Onboarding also gives the company a chance to communicate vision, preparing new hires for the work ahead.

Meet the Team

In the first few weeks at a company, it can be difficult for new employees to fully understand the organizational chart and structure. Effective onboarding training is conducted in conjunction with a company’s current staff and managers, so new hires will have a chance to get to know and see their points of contact for various coding needs in the future.

Accelerated Growth

Sharing tips, tricks and lines of code are a natural part of a developer’s work. Onboarding facilitates discussions between new hires and experienced subject matter experts in the company. New hires get a guided tour of the company’s code base. This overview proves to be a valuable resource for troubleshooting and innovation later. Teams report higher levels of collaboration and employee engagement after the shared experiences that onboarding training offers.

Onboarding training can be a beneficial asset for companies to set themselves up for success and to equip new employees with the tools necessary to succeed in their new venture. Hack Reactor’s Enterprise Training team can help your company craft an onboarding training for your team. Visit us at www.hackreactor.com/enterprise to learn more.